Mark Bromham, senior scheme owner for UK savings and retirement at Aviva, speaks to Health & Protection about his diagnosis and treatment for testicular cancer, the benefit of group income protection and changing perspective on life.
I was 40, hoping for a good year and career progression and instead I got cancer and a few lifelong lessons.
I was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the end of September 2021 with a secondary tumour in my paraaortic lymph node. In the spring and summer before that I had started showing symptoms. My testicle would get a little swollen and soft or it would get really tight and hard. It would go between the two until it eventually got bigger and swollen and stayed like that.
I thought I’d better get this checked out so went to see my GP, but around the same time, I was trying to get a referral for physiotherapy for my back pain as well.
They somehow lost my referral for my ultrasound for my testicle on the system and I wasn’t getting anywhere with my physiotherapy.
So, I put if off for another couple of months, but ended up getting an appointment using the LIVI app as I was still struggling to get to see my GP, and that got me a referral within two days for an ultrasound.
In the space of a week from the ultrasound I got a referral to the urologist and then the urologist referred me for another ultrasound. Within five days of seeing him I was on the operating table.
That was 2 October last year. In fact, the day of the operation my uncle died of cancer, so it was quite a rough time really.
Starting chemotherapy and GIP support
From that date I had about eight days off before returning to work, but that was too soon – I underestimated how difficult it would be to sit down and work all day having just got through a rather invasive operation.
At that point I was on pain killers and in a lot of pain from the tumour, with sharp pains in my kidney area and my intestinal tract.
I started chemotherapy on 10 November and aside from four days back at work, I was off from 2 October to 1 February.
Aviva gave me up to six months full pay on a rolling 12-month basis during which I was in touch with the group income protection (GIP) team. After 28 weeks the GIP policy would kick in and offers half pay for the next six months. Not having to worry about money was a huge relief and enabled me to concentrate on my recovery.
They also put me in touch with an external support provider and worked with me including regular calls throughout my time off to check in.
They gave me coping strategies, methods to help me relax, and guidance on integrating back to work, which is probably one of the most useful things. It helped me with that conversation with my team leader as far as my phased return was concerned.
When you are first thrown into something like this, there’s support coming out of your ears, and you get to the point where you just want to be left alone. You’ve got Macmillan, the oncologist, the oncology support line at the hospital, the employee assistance programme and the weekly phone calls with the nurses and team leader.
For the first stage I was a bit unsure how the external support provider would help me, I was a bit wary and thought, is this just a way to check up on me and make sure I really am sick?
But as the sessions progressed, they opened-up my eyes to the fact that I did need to take it easier and not rush the recovery, that I needed to be mindful of my energy levels and conserving those.
Charting the return to work
For the integration back to work I had to formulate a plan with my team leader which the external support provider was really good at advising me on.
They highlighted that physically you might feel you’re able to do a certain number of hours but mentally, if you’ve not been doing anything for the past three months, it can be quite a strain.
So, they were able to help me map out my journey back to work and ease into it, extending my days and hours slowly, and throughout my time off, they were encouraging me to do brain training exercises rather than just sit there and watch TV all day. I was also given the time by my employer to build back up to full time hours and not forced to over stretch myself.
Then it was about working with a physio for a month to match my energy levels with my output at work so there wasn’t a disparity and to make sure my physical health was up to the task.
At that stage, once you’ve been through three months of treatment, they start you off with a step target so you might go out for a short walk every day and over time you increase that, incorporating more strenuous exercise.
Reassessing family cover
All of this made me think about my insurance coverage, so life insurance and critical illness cover which I had completely overlooked, including for my wife and two children.
I thought I had critical illness cover through my bank, but it was just an accident and emergency policy, so we reviewed my wife’s coverage and got her a plan.
Aviva had in place a cancer essentials policy for their employees, so I was able to make a claim for that and it paid out a lump sum of £5,000.
It gave me piece of mind to review our insurance and I learned life is too short so took time to review my priorities in life.
I’ve got a father, sister and extended family in the United States I hadn’t seen in years so this summer we spent quite a bit of money on a trip to see them.
It was money we put aside to fix the house up after moving early in 2021 but we decided to make some memories instead.
It’s been seven years since I’d seen my sister and about three years since I’d seen my dad and his health is declining so it was great catching-up with them and having never met my nieces and nephews or brother-in-law. I was able to get to know them.
Legacy of treatment
There are a few lasting side effects of the cancer.
My hair fell out and now it’s grown back it’s not as full as it was and that’s been hard to accept. I had a real full head of hair and it’s thinner now.
I’ve also got some pins and needles in my hands and feet and sometimes a couple of fingers on each hand will turn white and go numb.
My stomach is a little bit more sensitive than it used to be and I suffer from tinnitus from time to time – they’re the lasting effects of the chemotherapy.
I’m also not as fit as I used to be. Part of that is getting old, but other than that I feel really good and am back to doing normal things.
I’ve had three scans since the start of the year, the last in August, with each one showing the tumour in my lymph node shrinking, although my lymph node may never shrink back to its original size – sometimes they don’t.
I’m not completely out of the woods, but I’m doing really well, my blood work has been normal for a while, my energy levels are back to normal and they are happy enough just to monitor me now.
I haven’t been given the all-clear and I probably won’t for a year or so, but everything is going in the right direction.
Testicular cancer symptoms
According to the NHS, symptoms of testicular cancer can include:
- A painless swelling or lump in one of the testicles, or any change in shape or texture of the testicles. The swelling or lump can be about the size of a pea, but could be larger.
- An increase in the firmness of a testicle.
- A difference in appearance between one testicle and the other.
- A dull ache or sharp pain in your testicles or scrotum, which may come and go.
- A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.