Innishannon dad urges men to check themselves for cancer

AN Innishannon dad-of-three who lost one testicle due to cancer is encouraging other men to ‘stick a hand down there and have a feel’ in a bid to rid the stigma of testicular cancer.

Speaking to The Southern Star from his home near Ciudad Real in Spain, Michael Grimes, who has stage four testicular cancer, said people don’t tend to talk about testicular cancer, one which can be dealt with quickly if caught in time.

‘I would advise any man to check themselves regularly as testicular cancer can affect any man from the age of 18 to 55. I was 51 when I was diagnosed,’ said Michael, who has been living in Spain since 2000 with his wife Rose and their family.

‘I had a lot of pain in my groin area around April 2022 and got it checked out and they said it was an infection, gave me antibiotics and it cleared up after a while. However, by November I knew something wasn’t right and it didn’t look right as my left testicle was getting quite big and out of shape.’

Following tests in January, it turned out to be a tumour and his testicle was later removed, but doctors found that his tumour markers were through the roof.

‘The doctors did further Cat scans and found that there were four or five tumours in my lungs. I started chemotherapy then which was going okay for a while,’ said. But then he began to feel tired all the time, and lost his hair. ‘Things were not going good,’ he recalled.

However, Michael was then referred on October 12th to a hospital in Madrid for stem cell transplant.

‘It’s heavy chemotherapy, but it kills your bone marrow and without that, you have no white blood cells or defences.’

He was recently discharged from the hospital after a longer wait than normal for his immune system to kick back into action, following the latest cell transplant.

Despite his difficult situation and travelling regularly to Madrid for treatment, he has maintained a positive attitude throughout. But he admits it has been tough as he and Rose run a guesthouse and language school and their finances have been stretched because he hasn’t been able to work.

‘It’s getting very difficult financially, as there is no help in Spain if you are self-employed, so we had decided already that we would move back to Ireland, because Rose is originally from Mayo,’ he said. ‘But obviously my diagnosis stalled that plan. Since then, things have moved on well and the level of care is excellent here in Spain. But we miss the family support that we would get if we were home in Ireland.’

Both his parents still live in Innishannon as does his sister Dorothy. Now Michael believes it’s the right time to move back home with Rose.

‘My children ¬– Conor, Cliona and Declan – are great and it has been tough for them but we have always been totally open and honest with them. We have all kept a positive attitude, which is very important.’ It’s now over a year since he got his testicle removed and he’s feeling optimistic, but added that people don’t seem to want to talk about testicular cancer.

‘Stick a hand down there and have a feel that everything is okay,’ he urged other men. ‘If there is a problem, then get it checked out because it can be dealt with very quickly. You can avoid what I had to go through.’

His sister Dorothy has set up a GoFundMe page to help Michael and his family move back home and it’s already at over €35,000 with a target of €60,000.

‘The financial stress is a huge worry and concern for them, especially with three young children,’ said Dorothy. ‘All Michael wants to do is get back to Ireland and to be able to teach his children to sail Kittiwake, his beloved Drascombe Lugger sailboat here in Ireland. Michael is overwhelmed by the response to the GoFundMe page, with money coming in from family, extended family, friends and lots of strangers.

‘I look to men like cyclist Lance Armstrong who had testicular cancer in his 20s and got through it and ended up winning six Tour de Frances. It is curable and I’m hoping they’ve got it this time. Once I get the all-clear we can then start planning the move back home.’

Meanwhile, his former classmates from Mount St Michael secondary school in Rosscarbery are also rallying around Michael and his family and are organising a music fundraiser night in O’Donovan’s Bar in Fisher Cross on Easter Sunday March 31st from 7pm with music by his classmate James O’Sullivan and many more.

For more, see ‘Michael’s Battle with Stage 4 Cancer’ on GoFundMe.