The founders of the African Survivor Foundation (ASF) recently addressed pupils at Avante Primary School on the importance of self-examination for testicular cancer.
Iain Batten and Gert de Beer have been dedicating their lives to this cause and are well-known for educating pupils and residents on this subject. They visit countless schools in order to educate pupils about testicular cancer so they can be aware of this disease.
Iain Batten, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2003 and one of the founders of the African Survivor Foundation (ASF) told the boys his story of how he discovered he had testicular cancer and how that changed his life.
The school hall was packed with schoolboys, eagerly awaiting to learn more about this cancer. In a humorous way, using rugby balls to demonstrate self-testing, they started their talk. In 2003 Iain went for a hernia operation when it was discovered he was in stage three of testicular cancer.
When he ended up in hospital, the pain was unbearable and he physically turned grey. He explained there are no symptoms in the early stages, symptoms only starts in stage three and four and then it is already too late.
It was like a death sentence,” Iain said.
Panic overcame him and he researched all he could on testicular cancer, treatment and if any, survivors.
He also started asking questions to find out if members of his family had cancer, and then found out there was more than one member that suffered at the hands of this illness.
He went through several chemo treatments and described how the body hardly keeps any nutrients in-between the treatments. In 2009 he got the news that there were lumps found on both sides of his lungs. After he found out, he decided he can not go through with more chemotherapy sessions but after that became very ill.
He was alone in his room when he heard a voice and he knew it was God telling him: ‘My son, stand up and no longer keep quiet’.
Since then he went back for the “Red devil chemo” that involved 15 chemo treatments including morphine. His recovery was slow but he pulled through and now he is passionate about ASF.
Iain and Gert also mentioned what the symptoms of testicular cancer is.
They are:
• A feeling of heaviness in one or both testicles
• One testicle is larger than the other
• Hard pea shaped lump on one or both testicles.
A very crucial part of this awareness it to educate men to do self evaluation in order to detect an early onset of testicular cancer. This includes all boys and even single mothers who can teach her sons about this serious illness. They illustrated this by an easy step by step guide to evaluate yourself. A strong point that was brought across was illuminate the stigma surrounding cancer.
A cancer survivor remains a man even after he had surgery and people living with cancer wants to be treated like any other human being. Another perception is that testicular cancer is a “white man’s disease” and therefore cancer sufferers do not come to light and they do not seek help. The pupils also was shown how to exactly test themselves and also had a chance to ask questions.
ASF would like the community to invite them to their schools, churches, interest groups and events. In order to implement the various projects in South Africa and Africa, they need partners to invest in there vision. Any sponsorships and donations are welcome.
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Also read:
‘It was like a death sentence’ – testicular cancer survivor
Cancer awareness at W’aria Primary
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