'I was preparing for hol then got cancer bombshell - my advice could save lives'
Billy Adams felt perfectly healthy and was preparing for a lads' holiday when he found a lump while in the shower.
He was just 27-years-old at the time and thought it was probably nothing, but decided to get it checked out anyway due to a history of cancer in his family.
But Billy, who works as a TV set dresser, got the devastating news that he had testicular cancer and was rushed into hospital for treatment.
Now, 38, the cancer survivor is speaking out during testicular cancer awareness month.
Billy has shared advice that could save your life - and says going to get a lump checked out at the doctors is nothing to be embarrassed about.
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Billy Adams and his partner, Leigh Divey (Supplied/Billy Adams)
The pair now have two children together, and a third is on the way (Supplied/Billy Adams)Do you know someone who's survived testicular cancer? Let us know in the comments...
Billy, from Hertfordshire, said: "I was going to Malia on a boys' holiday. It was kind of a last-minute thing but one of them said there was still space if I fancied it, so I jumped in at the last minute, I'd never been on a lads holiday before.
"It was the weekend before I flew out, six or seven days before.
"To start with, I found it and then because I was prepping to go bowling I didn't think about it til the next day - once I remembered that I spotted something I thought, 'ah, I should go back and look at this again'.
"A wave of worry came over me, so I called my doctor and told them I was going away, and they booked me in to get it checked out and the hospital booked me in for an ultrasound scan.
"I had that and a blood test, then they called me back to say I'd need an operation to remove the testicle.
"I was really lucky, I found it so early that purely an operation to remove the testicle was all that it needed.
"My angle is different to most in my situation, a lot of men tend not to talk about things that are potential issues, my outlook was different.
Billy urged others to speak out about their health (stock image) (Getty Images)"As soon as I found it I went straight to Facebook and put a post out there, telling everyone I was off into hospital to get what we thought was cancer checked, and I urged others to go get anything checked if they have concerns."
Billy was rushed through the system so quick that he didn't have any time to worry about the operation, or think about what it would be like to have a part of him removed.
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He continued: "I didn't have time to think about it, it was a worry but I didn't have that much time to panic about it.
"I did go into a bit of a spiral over it afterwards.
"I was doing great for a year and a half, then just a random conversation with friends in the pub one day set me off.
"One said I'd lost a third of my manhood. He didn't mean it with any malice but I did wonder if I was less of a man now, it took quite some time to talk about it - it affected my relationship at the time.
"It had been quite active up til that point but that comment had dug itself into my brain and it made me shut myself away a little bit."
Billy's operation was a success and he's now been cancer-free for ten years, but for years afterwards he feared that he may never be able to be a parent.
That had an effect on his love life, but eventually, he got back on the horse and started dating his partner, Leigh Divey, and now the pair have two children, Emily, who's eight, and one-year-old Amy - and a third baby is on the way.
Billy continued: "It affected my love life quite a lot at the beginning but it didn't completely destroy it - a bit later me and my girlfriend got pregnant with our first child, it was amazing to achieve that with only one testicle.
"For the sort of like next six years after that comment in the pub it shook me, so there's six years between my first and second child - intimate times became few and far between.
"All three have been conceived on one testicle. The worry was there a little bit - I was single when I went through the cancer and I met my partner about four months after the operation, but apparently it all works absolutely fine.
"I feel that the way I dealt with it is very different to a lot of the people I know who have been through the same, I wanted to shout from the rooftops that I'd found this, I'd had this happen, and encourage people to go get checked.
"I think the whole stigma around the way men talk to each other and try and hide problems, especially of the intimate area type thing, it's not the sort of thing we deal with in the same way that women do.
"I've been through Movember and spoken to people in different situations, men have this 'get it sorted and get on with life' attitude towards problems.
"It's a difficult conversation for a lot of people to have - you don't go to work and say, 'guess what I found last night, I found a lump'.
"I initially went to the doctor about a cough and when I was done with the cough I told him about the lump.
"I was still concerned about how to approach it and tell them I found something that shouldn't be there. But getting people to talk and making people aware that if they find something, or a change of anything, just get it looked at. It's safer to annoy the doctor than not sort out a potential problem that could get worse.
"I'd tell people to not worry about a thing, the doctor that took my testicle out made me aware that it was likely my remaining testicle would produce everything the left one did - there would be no issues at all.
"It's not something you pay much attention to, but the long and short of it is your body can work with one and you're not less of a man because you've had one taken out.
"You're still you."
Billy has spoken out as part of a campaign organised by KP Nuts and Movember, called 'know thy nuts'.
KP Nuts have launched a limited edition 'Pants Pack', where 10p from each sale is donated to Movember.
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