By: Movember South Africa

Sign Up for Movember and Stop Men Dying Too Young

As a fireman and paramedic, Mo Bro Timothy Hart is used to helping others to keep a positive outlook on life in the face of disaster and despair, but in 2014 when he was 29 years old he struggled to talk about the worrying symptoms he was seeing on his own body.

“I experienced extreme pain just after I had completed the Argus Cycle Tour,” he said. “My one testicle was swollen and sore and I had very sensitive nipples.”

Timothy’s wife was pregnant with their daughter, and he wrote the sensitive nipples down to ‘sympathy pains’ and it took him three weeks to pluck up the courage to go and see the doctor.

“I was diagnosed with stage 1 testicular cancer, and the main emotion that I felt was embarrassment. I didn’t even tell my wife straight away.”

Doctors removed the affected testicle, and he opted to wait to see if the cancer was gone before starting with chemo. Unfortunately, two months later a checkup revealed that the cancer had spread to his lymph glands and abdomen, so he underwent 21 sessions of chemo over nine weeks.

All this happened just after his daughter was born.

‘It wasn’t easy for my wife. I was too tired to be able to help her,” Timothy said. “Luckily my work was very understanding and gave me 4 ½ months off to recover.” Testicular cancer often occurs in younger men. It is one of the easiest cancers to treat, provided it is caught early.

“If you ignore the warning signs, it spreads fast, so my message to men is to get over yourself and go to the doctor straight away if you are worried about anything,” he said. “And allow yourself to get all the support you need. Those of us who have been through this are proof that there is life and hope beyond the cancer diagnosis.”

“Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men aged 15 – 39, but if detected early, there is a 95% chance of survival,” says Garron Gsell, chief executive and founder of the Men’s Foundation, which manages the Movember campaign in South Africa under license from the Movember Foundation. “There is a lot that needs to be done, but by talking about the disease, by encouraging our friends to take action for their health and supporting them, we can help keep the men we love around to live happier, healthier, longer lives.”

The Movember Foundation is the leading global men’s health charity, raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity.

To kick off the campaign this Movember 1st, Movember is asking everyone to be the difference and take action to support the health of their loved ones, and themselves.

Here’s how you can help:

Grow a Mo, save a Bro

The moustache is the Movember Foundation’s ribbon for men’s health. Use it to raise funds as a walking billboard for men’s health.

Sign up to grow your moustache for 30 days. Want to take your Mo to the next level? Sacrifice your beard, auction off your face to the highest donor, or dye your Mo a different colour every day. Get creative to attract attention and raise funds.

Move – get active for men’s health

Raise funds for men’s health while you do something good for your own health. Join the Move challenge and make a commitment to be more physically active for the month. Get friends and family to donate to your efforts, and become healthier in the process.

Donate

Show the Mo Bros and Mo Sistas in your life that you support their Movember challenge by donating to their Mo Space. You can check in on their progress to see how their Mo is growing, or see how far along they are in their Move goal. Every little bit counts to help stop men dying too young.

Choose how you’ll get involved and get your friends, your family or your workplace on board. Spread the word, start a conversation, and raise money for vital men’s health programmes.

The Movember Foundation is working to help men live longer, happier, healthier lives. With money raised, the Foundation has funded over 1,200 game-changing programmes in prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide prevention around the world, whilst positively challenging the way in which men’s health issues are researched and addressed.

Be the difference. Join the fight at za.movember.com and and donate or sign-up as a Mo Bro or Mo Sista to help stop men dying too young.