This Men's Health month we spoke with people about their cancer experiences to gain some insight into men’s health.
One of these people was Shane.
Shane’s partner Kim told him he needed a routine check-up—a few months later he was diagnosed with cancer. Having conversations about his health with his friends helped Shane cope.
“They’ll say, oh I know someone who had the same thing or oh, I had the same thing. It just helps take the pressure off. And you sort of know what to expect then, it’s not unknown.”
We also spoke with Jill to hear her experiences with Men’s Health. Jill’s husband Neil was diagnosed with stage four testicular teratoma when he was just 23. Feeling ‘fit, healthy and bulletproof’ they initially ignored the symptoms of Neil’s quick acting cancer.
“He was told if he'd left it a few more weeks it would have been too late. Perhaps if we’d acted earlier he might have had 3-5 months treatment instead of 13 months treatment that he was extremely lucky to survive. The surgery would have been a lot less complicated.”
After Neil’s treatment, Jill and Neil had two daughters, “so it’s a very, very happy ending”.
