NEWSTALK PRESENTER SEÁN Defoe has revealed he was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year.

The political correspondent appeared on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk this morning to discuss the diagnosis and the treatment he has undergone since.

Defoe said many of his colleagues have not seen him since 6 October last, which is when he was informed that he had testicular cancer.

He said he noticed some pain in his testicles soon after his 30^th birthday in June, which disappeared but reappeared in August and didn’t go away.

Defoe said “like a lot of men in Ireland” he was in denial that he could have testicular cancer.

However, an incident on a walk with his dog made him seek medical assistance.

“He (the dog) suddenly pulled very sharply to the left and clipped me with the lead,” said Defoe, “and the pain was extraordinary and that was the point I said I can’t ignore this any longer and I’ll go to the doctor.”

Defoe was initially told it could be epididymitis, which is an inflammation at the back of the testicles which is often caused by an infection and is usually treated with antibiotics.

While antibiotics initially took the pain away, a later scan revealed that he had testicular cancer.

Describing the moment of the diagnosis, Defoe said: “You know that moment in the movies where something happens the main character and their head goes spinning and the camera is tilting and you think this is just a movie-effect?

'Your life is never quite the same again'

Sean Defoe on coping with a cancer diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/hNoxJqnyfG

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) May 29, 2024

“That’s exactly how it felt. I went completely dizzy, had to sit down as I was not taking anything in and really it was this flip that, ‘right, from this point your life is never the same again’.”

Defoe was informed that the next step was surgery to remove the testicle.

He said the surgery only lasted around 15 minutes but a CT scan revealed that the cancer was a “fast-moving one” that had moved into his abdomen.

As a result, Defore had to undergo nine-weeks of chemotherapy, something he said he was “afraid” of.

The chemotherapy was successful in stopping the spread of the cancer and Defoe said a scan showed that the cancer was “all gone” from his abdomen.

Defoe is undergoing another scan tomorrow, and should it be good news, he will have six-month check-ups and later this will move to yearly checks.

He also remarked that having to inform his family of the cancer diagnosis was the “worst bit”.

“The guilt you feel as a patient putting that on them as well, it’s not nice and you feel for them almost more than you feel for yourself.”