31/10/2023
This year, we’re taking part in Movember.
As a charity that helps men with mental health struggles, su***de prevention and those with prostate or testicular cancer, Movember is an important cause to us, as an employer with 80% men on our workforce.
Tomorrow we’ll be sharing our Movember team & their freshly shaven faces, but today, one year to the day that he found out that the testicle he’d just had removed was cancerous, Ryan Clifford shares his story…
“One year ago today, I sat in a waiting room to be told that the testicle I’d just had an operation to remove had a germ cell cancer lump on it.
I never want to sit in that waiting room ever again. As a keen runner, non smoker and generally fit lad, cancer was never a word I expected to hear.
That “C” word made me break down in tears instantly and I sat in shock with my wife Soph trying to console me.
It wasn’t something I ever thought I’d have to deal with and was totally ignorant to the effects, symptoms and more importantly treatments.
The word chemotherapy scared me the most. I had absolutely zero idea of what it involved. I went home that night and I just wanted to sit on my own.
I then spoke to a few people who had had testicular cancer and educated myself with the cancer booklet the hospital provided. Once educated, I was prepared to tackle what it threw at me.
Two days later, I received the amazing news the scans and tests showed it hadn’t spread, and they were recommending five years of surveillance rather than any chemo or drugs.
Again, I cried in sheer relief. It was the longest 2 days of my life waiting for that news and I’d never felt so lucky.
The surveillance program was offered due to extensive research being undertaken on these germ cell tumours.
You just never know just when you might need their research and help.
I was lucky. I had been hit in the groin with a tennis ball and found a lump. If I hadn’t been hit, it could have been there for years without me knowing.
Lads, please just check yourself. It might not only save a beloved testicle but might just save your life.
Please donate anything you can to Movember, to help anyone suffering or recovering from the horrible word cancer.
Thank you :)”
https://sbhomes.co.uk/this-year-we-are-supporting-movember/