The ball is in your court
JOBURG – A testicular cancer survivor raises awareness about cancer through his inspiring life–changing journey.
Almost half of testicular cancer cases are discovered in men aged from 20 to 34 years.
This is according to the National Cancer Institute’s Suveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) programme, which also discovered that 80 percent of cases occur before the age of 45.
David Scott from Cape Town said he noticed swelling in his testicle just after his 30th birthday and after watching it for weeks, he realised that it was growing rapidly and went to see a urologist who diagnosed him with testicular cancer.
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Scott said that having cancer led him to a life–changing journey into understanding the disease. He refused to see it as a death sentence and instead used it as an opportunity to change the way he approached his life and diet.
“Going through the journey itself, I would say I was very fortunate as I am young and healthy. I did have some bad habits, the typical South African ones of binge drinking and occasionally smoking but those are now gone. I’ve become an athlete and pay a lot of attention to my health. Focus on your diet and be as healthy as possible and get over the experience emotionally. Stay away from negative people, harmful substances and bring it all down into bite–sized chunks you can manage. It is a mountain that can be climbed and learned from,” said Scott, who is now a cancer survivor.
Testicular cancer can affect anyone at any time of their lives. It is broken down into seminomas and non–semionmas.
One of the most common symptoms is having a painless lump, although the testicle can become swollen or grow bigger without evidence of a lump. Another sign according to Cancer.org that is rare is for a man’s breasts to grow and become increasingly sensitive due to a shift in hormone production.
Testicular cancer has a 95.4 percent suvival rate over five years if discovered early therefore men are advised to pay attention to the size and shape of their testicles.
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