A 21-year-old man is crediting Reddit for saving his life, after a post highlighting testicular cancer symptoms prompted his own diagnosis from the life-threatening disease.
Taylor 'Chase' Tyree recognised his own symptoms in those described by Reddit user 'uniballer'. Despite experiencing symptoms for months, but it was only after reading the Reddit post that he decided to visit the doctor.
According to ABCnews, doctors immediately sent Chase for further tests. After performing an ultrasound scan doctors found a cancerous tumour in his left testicle and - just four days after reading the Reddit post - Chase had surgery to remove his left testicle.
Testicular cancer most commonly affects young to middle-aged men and more than 2,000 men are diagnosed with it in the UK each year.
Research conducted by the UK’s male cancer charity, Orchid, earlier this year revealed that 75% of UK teenage boys aged 14 to 18 are unaware of their higher risk of testicular cancer and aren’t checking for symptoms.
Considering that when diagnosed, testicular cancer can be treated effectively - there is a 98% chance of survival with treatment if caught early - it seems critical that everything is done to check for the disease.
See below for a list of symptoms, from Orchid and NHS website.
SYMPTOMS:
- A dull ache or sharp pain in your testicles or scrotum, which may come and go
- A feeling of heaviness in your scrotum
- A dull ache in your lower abdomen (stomach area)
- A sudden collection of fluid in your scrotum (hydrocele)
- Fatigue
- A general feeling of being unwell
- Dragging sensation in 29% of cases
- Breast swelling or tenderness (called gynaecomastia). This is rare but may be caused by hormones, which are produced by some types of testicular cancer
- Enlarged lymph nodes in the back, which have enlarged due to spread of cancer