Did it affect your libido for a while, I mean during treatment?

No actually it didn’t, no it didn’t affect anything like that, no. Me wife thought it would and it should, uh and I said Don’t worry about it, it’ll only burn you!’

Were you told to take different precautions when you were having chemotherapy?

Well funnily enough, because I was having chemotherapy it was in me system you know. I was told, uh, I wasn’t told, no, I wasn’t told to avoid sex or anything like that. I don’t think they actually thought I’d be capable of it to tell you the truth! But me being an awkward bugger, I obviously I was, yeah, I’ve still got erections through and after treatment, yeah.

And they didn’t tell you to wear a condom or anything like that?

No, no. Mind you I just used to tease the Mrs and say It’ll burn you girl!’

But she didn’t notice any difference?

No.

So is sex just the same?

Afterwards I mean, to be quite honest with you, I enjoyed it more [laughs]. But uh, no I mean theres no, I couldn’t find any difference at all with sex at all. There is none. I mean they did say to me they could freeze my sperm but seeing as it wasn’t active beforehand that would have made no difference to me, but for other people they can, they can freeze, freeze half a gallon of the stuff if you want about a thousand babies, I mean its up to them. But you literally, once you’ve had the op you don’t really know you’re walking around with one testicle.

So for you sex is just the same, you’ve had an erection just the same, you can ejaculate just the same?

Oh in fact I found I ejaculate more. It seems to produce more whatever it is it’s producing, but it seems to produce more.

That’s good.

Yeah, everything, literally everything in that quarter, none of its gone; it was just the same.

Do you think younger men might feel embarrassed if they were in the shower?

No, because you couldn’t tell, you couldn’t tell, by looking, by looking at the sack you can’t tell that you’ve only got one testicle. It’s as simple as that, you just can’t tell. Even me wife had to feel around and say, Are you sure you’ve only got one?’

Did she? Oh right, so that’s reassuring.

Yes, so I mean honestly, if you go in the shower, nobody, unless they say to their mate Look, I’ve only got one that’s it. Nobody would ever know quite honestly.

At the time she just put a brave face on it but she literally fell to pieces inside. But its one of those that if you don’t tell her, shes gonna find out eventually, shes gonna find out anyway and sometimes its best just to grab the bull by the horns and say Well this is what”

When I came home uh that Christmas Eve and I said Right that’s it girl I, I’ve got tests to go to but I’m clear now. that’s when, that’s when it all came out. That’s when all the tears happened and I got called names and God knows what else for telling her and You’d be the only person that would come home and say you’ve got cancer. you know, moan, moan, moan. It came out in bits over the next couple of months, you know that shed, how bad shed been feeling and what have you. But they won’t tell you, they won’t tell you the truth while you’re going through it, no, they’ll, they’ll wait until you’re clear and then give you a right earful!

It was, I was always fully informed as to where I was with me treatment, how well it was going or how, you know, if it wasn’t going well. I was lucky; it went well all the way through for me.

Did you, were you given enough information about the disease itself?

Yeah, oh yeah, overkill, literally overkill. If you wanted to know you could find out anything, you only have to ask a nurse and a nurse would just uh, you’d only have to ask the, the GP specialist. You know, even if you didn’t ask you was told!

Were you?

Yeah! You know you can get quite boring on the subject you know!

So there was plenty of information?

Oh there was plenty of information once you was in the, being treated by cancer specialists, yeah, there, there was no hidden corners or anything. You was given what could happen, why this could happen you know, nothing was hidden from me, no. I mean I was told what the teratoma was, a wild cancer you know, it could be, you know, could re-appear anywhere in me body, and whatever, which is why I needed the scan, they did the scan, there was no, there was no sign of it anywhere else in me body and then they went ahead with the plasma treatments and what have you, the plasmatics’, that’s what they’re called, and burnt it out of me blood system.

Were you given written information as well?

Oh there was written information all over the place if you wanted to read it but to be quite honest we was all bored with it. Well, you’re, you’re in there, you know what’s happening to you, and that’s all you’re bloody interested in really.