A young man is urging men to ‘check their nuts now’ after the small lump he discovered at the age of 24 turned out to be testicular cancer.
Tom Haddon, 25, had just embarked on an adventure to Australia from Britain when he first felt the hard, pea-sized lump in his left testicle.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the young salesman admitted he knew he should get it checked straight away, but like many men in their 20s, he didn’t and was focused on having fun and enjoying his time Down Under.
The GP visit remained on his to-do list for months because it didn’t ‘seem urgent’, but when he had the time again, he would make an appointment as soon as possible.
‘I swept it under the carpet, I just said I’ll deal with it. “I should have gone earlier,” he said.
Tom Haddon, 25, ignored a lump in his left testicle because he was busy ‘having fun’. He had just moved to Australia, pictured here in the Blue Mountains, and wanted to explore
Speaking to FEMAIL, the young salesman admitted he knew he should have it checked straight away, but like many men in their 20s, he didn’t.
Six months later, in August 2023, Tom noticed the lump had grown, so he finally went to have it checked.
Alarmed doctors told him it was probably cancer and ordered an ultrasound to confirm this.
The lump Tom felt was one of three mixed non-seminomatous germ cell tumors growing in his left testicle.
“The others grew on the other side, where I couldn’t feel them,” he said.
The terrifying diagnosis came at a bad time for the avid runner.
His father, back home in Britain, had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy, meaning his family could not fly to be with him as he dealt with his own battle with cancer.
Tom went to his GP six months after noticing the lump. A week later he was in hospital and the testicle was removed
“I was alone on the other side of the world and of course I couldn’t fly home to support my father, which I wanted,” he said.
The treatment option for Tom was relatively simple, yet very daunting: his testicle would be removed as soon as possible.
He was booked in to have it removed just a week after seeing the GP. After the operation, he would have to have routine blood tests and scans over the next 12 months to make sure the cancer cells had not spread.
“It was quite difficult, I felt alone and isolated and it was just a scary thing to happen,” he said.
After a long period of bed rest following a successful operation, Tom is now back in action and even fitter than before his diagnosis.
“I’ve run a few half marathons, I feel really good,” he said, adding that he’s “functioning” exactly the same.
His father, pictured, was simultaneously going through his own battle with cancer at home in Britain. Tom said he was scared and alone in Australia
“If you remove one testicle, it doesn’t actually change testosterone levels or sperm production,” he said.
Tom urges men to go to the doctor immediately if, like him, they feel a lump in their testicles.
Although he was lucky and the cancer did not spread, not everyone gets rid of it so easily.
“It’s not just about feeling a lump, if you feel a change in the weight or size of your testicle you should get that checked too,” he said.
“If you remove one testicle, it doesn’t actually change testosterone levels or sperm production,” he said
Now he’s urging men to check their balls – for lumps, weight changes and changes in appearance
He and his friends talk all the time about doing routine checks. Now he’s trying to make the “awkward” conversation “normal” for all men.
‘I’m happy that I can have the conversation with anyone. “It was a scary time, I had a lot of ‘what if’ questions in my head, but I tried to focus on what I could control, be positive and wear a smile on my face,” he said.
Tom now volunteers as an ambassador for Movember and shares his story to highlight the importance of men’s health and commitment.
Testicular cancer is the leading form of cancer in men aged 15 to 34 in Australia. but there is a 95 percent survival rate for men who contract the disease in its early stages.
According to the experts at Hopkins Medicine, men usually wait four to six months after finding a lump before seeing their doctor, which significantly increases the chance of the cancer spreading.
All men should check themselves thoroughly once a month and consult a doctor if any changes are noticed.