Cancer survivor who had four inches of penis removed recalls excruciating 'first sign' he ignored
A survivor of penile cancer who had half of his penis amputated has opened up about the first sign he ignored, urging fellow men to not make the same mistake he did.
It was in 2019 when Steven Hamill began experiencing severe swelling in his penis.
Steven noticed how the head of his penis was 'four times the size of what it usually was', and was incredibly swollen. After initially thinking it could have been an STD, he 'did what every guy does' when they've got a problem downstairs, and completely ignored it, hoping it would go away by itself.
Recalling the moment he first realised something was seriously wrong during an appearance on LADbible's Minutes With series, Steven says he was making a morning cup of tea when he felt his foot getting wet.
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"So I looked down thinking the kettle was leaking or something, and it wasn't; there was just a puddle of blood all over my kitchen," he recalls.
"And I just seen it dripping out of my penis."
He then remembers show halfway through the night, he'd wake up with a bit of discomfort 'down there' and would get discharge and a pain that felt like someone was 'pinching the end of his penis' constantly.
'This cancer was just literally eating away at my flesh'
Despite this, Steven tried to ignore it and hoped it would pass and heal on its own. But sadly, this wasn't the case at all.
He eventually went to the GP, where he was confidently told it was a case of balanitis, a bacterial infection of the penis, and was sent away with a steroid cream.
This is despite Steven querying the chances of penile cancer with his doctor, to which he was apparently told: "No, I've never heard of anyone getting it at your age to the severity it will be to be like that. It's 90 percent just an infection, so put this cream on, and we'll see how it goes."
Well, two weeks on from using the cream, the pain intensified and after another visit to the GP, Steven was once again sent away with more steroid cream.
When he fainted in his brother's car and awoke to find himself sat in a pool of his own blood, he went to A&E, which lead to the devastating diagnosis of 'aggressive' penile cancer.
"Basically what it was, what the bleeding was, was the cancer eating my penis," Steven says. "So the discharge I was talking about was death smell, just complete death smell because it was death. It was the cancer eating away at the muscle. The blood was releasing the dead muscle out of my body.
'I just had this massive Grand Canyon in my penis'
"This cancer was just literally eating away at my flesh, live. I was being eaten alive by this growth, and that's why the pain was so consistent. That's why everything was so aggressive.
"So it really annoys me how a GP can see I'm in this pain and go, 'Infection, this mate'."
Steven went on to be referred to a cancer specialist hospital, where he was booked in to undergo a circumcision - a procedure that removes the foreskin from the penis. But during the waiting period for the procedure, Steven experienced one of his worst bleeds, resulting in it being brought forward.
When the surgeon tried to take his foreskin off, half of it just 'dropped off', with Steven explaining: "So I just had this massive Grand Canyon in my penis."
This is when a partial penectomy was decided - a procedure to amputate half of Steven's penis.
Recalling the moment he saw his amputated penis for the first time, Steven recalls: "It was very like I've just got out of the bath. It was so wrinkly. That was the most weirdest experience because it was wrinkled.
"It was, like, inverted a little bit. The size was completely different."
He'd lost a total of four inches from his manhood, though he says because he was already 'well endowed', he still has a fair bit to work with.
'Don't ignore it'
Though he is now cancer-free and is a father, Steven has had to adjust to living with just half of his penis - which has undoubtedly had an effect on all aspects of life, including dating.
Describing how initially he was in a 'dark place', Steven has gone on to 'learn himself' again and trust his body.
"I'll be honest, in relationships and stuff, it was probably only recently I kind of turned the corner," he says. "People have presumed that I'm just looking for sex, so that's not really dating.
"I could go too late, then it turns into more a plot twist. Like they're just about to pull my pants down. I'm like, 'Oh, hold up. I probably need to tell you something about that'. And then it just kills the mood, and it doesn't happen.
"So it's literally a minefield. I'll be honest, I've told people, and I've been ghosted. People have just not replied. I've told people, and they've gone too eager."
Steven is now passionate on sharing his story, raising awareness on penile cancer, and urging men to get themselves checked out if they feel something is wrong.
"So there's a stat I found out, which was any 10 people, eight people didn't know penile cancer existed," he says. "Every man knows their penis very well. Like if a man told me they don't know every, like, vein in their penis, I'd be heavily surprised.
"So if anything is a bit wrong, they're gonna know and don't ignore it. That's the biggest thing I can say."
Symptoms of penile cancer
The NHS outlines the most common symptoms of penile cancer as:
- A growth, lump or sore that does not heal within 4 weeks
- A rash
- Bleeding from your penis or under your foreskin
- A smelly discharge
- Difficulty pulling back your foreskin
- A change in the colour of the skin of your penis or foreskin
Other symptoms include:
- A lump in your groin
- Feeling tired
- Tummy pain
- Losing weight without trying
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Emily Puckering