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Testicular cancer can affect anyone

Charles Solomon on the podium at Die Burger-fietstoer in December 2011.
Charles Solomon on the podium at Die Burger-fietstoer in December 2011.

He was super-fit, followed a healthy diet and generally looked the picture of health. Yet avid cyclist Charles Solomon was diagnosed with cancer following a routine test.

 Solomon (of Daikin-GU) came in third overall at Die Burger-fietstoer on 4 December 2011.  As is routine for coming in the top three spots, he was  automatically tested for substance abuse after the race. It was here that medical officials picked up irregularities in his urine samples and they advised him to seek medical attention. Advice which he is very glad he took.

A month later he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

“Before the diagnosis I would have considered myself very healthy, I did a lot of running and I completed the Ironman and represented South Africa in a Duathlon. I ate very healthy, exercised and led a healthy life style.

“Looking back I had experienced perineum discomfort before, but overall I felt healthy.  I n fact I went for a prostate check-up six months prior to the diagnosis and everything was normal,” he said.

Why early detection is so important

 Fortunately for Solomon he heeded the medical advice he was given and went for an ultrasound exam and blood test where he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. 

He subsequently underwent surgery to remove one testicle and underwent two sessions of chemotherapy treatments over a period of three weeks. 

“The doctors told me the tumour was very small and was most probably not older than two months,” he said.

Three months later tests revealed the treatments had been a success and he is now in remission.

“I am still struggling with nerve pain on my perineum, and cannot cycling at the moment. But my advice to other men is to go for regular check-ups and just because you lead a healthy life does not excluded you.

“You only have one body - look after it.”

Do you have a similar story to share? E-mail us at community@health24.com

For more information on men’s health and testicular cancer visit our Men’s Health section.

 

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