Dad's warning after doctor took one look at lump on genitals and said 'sinister'
A super-fit dad has urged men to check their tackle after a 'sinister' pea-sized lump on his penis turned out to be cancer.
Stuart Barnes was enjoying a family holiday to Spain with his wife Julie Barnes when he noticed a bump. After jetting home from holiday the charity consultant looked up his symptoms before booking an appointment with a urologist. The specialist immediately recognised it was cancer and booked the 56-year-old in for surgery. Two months on from his op, Stuart said he's healing well and post-op his penis 'looked better' than he expected. He now faces an anxious wait to see if the cancer has spread and if he needs further treatment.
Stuart wanted to share his story to warn other men of the dangers (Kennedy News and Media)
Stuart got cancer despite being super fit (Kennedy News and Media)Stuart, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “I am fit and healthy, I'm at the gym five days a week, I run marathons and cycle. I was on holiday at the time, I thought 'this isn't right, I need to deal with this when I get home'. For four or five days I did all the things you shouldn't do and played Google doctor. I booked a private consultation with a urologist who was a penile cancer specialist because by this time I had a suspicion because I couldn't find anything else it could be. I went with the expectation it wasn't but because he was a specialist I would believe him and move on. I went to the specialist but he didn't tell me it wasn't. He said 'that looks very sinister' and within a minute he said he was able to say it was cancer."
"I'm sharing my story because although there's a lot about prostate and testicular cancer, there aren't many talking about penile cancer. Unless you go looking you might miss the signs. A lot more people survive cancer now than they used to but it's still a killer. Doctors have seen what you've got before. Which would you rather do? Drop your pants for a minute or two of embarrassment or six months down the line tell your partner and your kids that you've possibly not got long left? I get the embarrassment, I've been there but people I know really well, younger than myself, have died of cancer. After reading my story if someone goes to the doctor sooner than they would have done, then it's worth it."
Stuart said penis cancer can cause some people some embarrassment (Kennedy News and Media)Stuart underwent a two-and-a-half-hour op at The Christie in Manchester and underwent a circumcision and partial glansectomy. Days later he was given the devastating news it was an aggressive grade 3 cancer, a result he says 'knocked him sideways'. He added: “I wasn't quite ready to hear that. That knocked me sideways. It was pretty horrible to look at when the dressing came off but they [doctors] told me what it would look like.
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"They said it would look swollen, bloodied and have lots of stitches. It looked better than I thought because they'd chopped a bit off but they pulled skin from elsewhere and pulled that over. So unless you want to get on your hands and knees and look in close detail, which nobody's going to be doing, [it's good]."
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