I lost part of my penis after workout chafing turned out to be cancer: personal trainer

Things did not workout how he expected.

A personal trainer had to get a third of his penis removed after “irritation” from his workout pants chafing turned out to be penile cancer.

“I experienced every emotion known to man when I got the diagnosis,” Joe Merrall, 39, of New Zealand told Kennedy News of receiving the shocking news. “I thought it was skin irritation from my penis rubbing on my pants, not an STI.”

The wince-worthy saga began in August after the Auckland native noticed a peculiar lump on the tip of his tallywhacker.

“It was a small pea-sized lump on the left side of the head, which was sensitive,” said Merrall, who initially thought it was “skin irritation” from “my penis rubbing on my pants.”

He subsequently reported to his family physician, who mistook the phallic growth for an STI or yeast infection, and prescribed him anti-fungal cream. They then told the exercise enthusiast to return if it wasn’t going away, in which case they’d refer him to a specialist.

Unfortunately, the Kiwi’s situation only continued to snowball until his entire member was “engulfed … the lump covered the urethra and grew down onto the shaft of my penis,” described the aghast trainer. “It was really painful even if I moved and I couldn’t pee properly.”

After consulting a specialist in October, Merrall postponed seeing a doctor until December 23, when doctors broke the tragic news. He had a penis tumor, which occurs when “malignant cells in your penis grow out of control,” and is often caused by a sexually transmitted version of the human papillomavirus, the Cleveland Clinic reported.

To make matters worse, doctors suggested that the unfortunate fellow might have to undergo a “total penectomy” — full penis amputation — to excise the cancer.

The New Zealander was devastated. “When I got the diagnosis I just went numb, I couldn’t really hear what the doctor was saying,” he said. “It was like in the movies where everything goes quiet.”

He added, “I told my younger brother as I was staying with him at the time and we started making jokes. I was kind of laughing but then I went to lie down on my bed and cried.”

Merrall then embarked on a several week “self-pity cycle” that saw the fitness buff drink himself into a “stupor.” He said he even quit going the gym because he didn’t “see the point” anymore.

Finally, Merrall sucked it up and went to the North Shore Hospital for the operation last month, whereupon doctors removed the tumor along with a 5 mm margin from his malignant member. “The surgery was 90 minutes, in total they took more than a third of my penis,” described the patient, adding that it “significantly changed the way it looks.”

“It looks weird the way they’ve sewn it up,” he said. “My [urine] flow is all over the show. I’m still adjusting but they may well tidy it up at some stage.”

The condition has prevented Merrall from returning to work as a trainer, prompting him to set up a fundraiser to keep him financially afloat while he recovers.

And while thankfully the stumpy soul is able to have “sex again,” he says his member is still quite “tender.”

The scars are more than just physical. “I thought no-one was going to touch me with a 10 foot pole after [the diagnosis] as they’d think I was a freak,” described Merrall. “I told a few exes and female mates when opening up to them about feeling ‘less of a man.'”

Interestingly, many of his women friends said he was brave to talk about such an uncomfortable subject — a reaction he found unexpected and “fantastic.”

Merrall is currently slated to undergo a CAT scan to see if the cancer has spread. In the interim, he’s hoping his story can inspire fellow men to regularly get themselves checked for unusual symptoms.

“I decided to share my diagnosis because I thought ‘if I can share it and help one or two people then I’ve done some good,'” he said. “I would say to people to check yourself, know your normal and anything not normal go to the doctor about it and get yourself checked. Better safe than sorry.”