- Adrian Tinsley, 32, suffered same symptoms as partner Bethann Meakin, 21
- These included nausea, back pain and food cravings
- But a week before baby Scarlett was born, he was rushed to hospital
- Tests to investigate excruciating back pain revealed testicular cancer
- Treatment for three tumours has left him unable to care for his daughter
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Adrian Tinsley suffered from symptoms such as nausea and back pain when his partner was pregnant – but they were actually signs of cancer
A father who suffered the same symptoms as his pregnant partner was horrified to learn they were actually signs of testicular cancer.
Whenever Bethann Meakin complained of nausea or food cravings, Adrian Tinsley would do the same.
The phenomenon, known as ‘Couvade syndrome’, is characterised by symptoms such as morning sickness, cramps, back pain and swollen stomachs in men whose partners are pregnant.
Ms Meaken, 21, laughed off his ailments until a week before the birth when Mr Tinsley woke in the middle of the night with excruciating back pain.
After being rushed to hospital at 2am, he mentioned to doctors he had a lump in his testicle.
Eight hours later, tests revealed his symptoms were testicular cancer – which they believe he’d had for five years.
Mr Tinsley, a delivery driver, said: ‘I was absolutely petrified. I didn’t know whether they would be able to cure me and Scarlett was due in a week.
‘All I could think was that I might never get to see her grow up.
‘I knew I’d had the lump for five years, but I never expected it to be cancer.
‘I did have it checked out in March 2009, but was told it was just fluid and nothing to worry about.’
Testicular cancer is most common in men aged 15-44 and affects 2,000 each year in the UK.
It is one of the most treatable cancers – 97 per cent of patients survive for more than five years after diagnosis.
The
most common symptom is a lump or swelling in one testicle, but 20 per
cent of patients also experience pain in their testicles or lower
abdomen. A feeling of ‘heaviness’ in the scrotum is another symptom.
Following Mr Tinsley’s diagnosis, what should have been a week of excitement ahead of Scarlett’s birth became a nightmare.
Doctors found three tumours – one on his testicle, one in his groin and one on his back – which had caused the agonising pain.
Mr Tinsley was transferred to another hospital in Birmingham to begin chemotherapy just three days later.
Mr Tinsley with partner Beth Meakin and 10-month-old daughter Scarlett. Since his diagnosis a week before her birth, he has had treatment for three tumours
WHAT IS COUVADE SYNDROME?
Expectant fathers can suffer from pregnancy symptoms, a study published in 2007 found.
Morning sickness, cramps, back pain and swollen stomachs were all reported by men whose partners were pregnant.
The phenomenon is known as ‘Couvade syndrome’. Couvade comes from the French word ‘couver’ which means ‘to hatch’, but is not a recognised medical condition.Â
It is not clear why some men have similar symptoms to their
partners, but it could be related to anxiety over the pregnancy, experts claim.
In the study of men aged 19-55, expectant fathers reported a
range of symptoms, including cramps, back pain, mood swings, food
cravings, morning sickness, fatigue, depression, fainting, insomnia and
toothache.
In more extreme cases, men developed swollen stomachs that looked like a ‘baby bump’, said the researchers, from London’s St
George’s Hospital.
Most symptoms disappeared after the birth.
Ms Meakin,
who had to drive from their home in Stoke-on-Trent to collect him the
day before the baby was due, said: ‘I just thought he had Couvade
syndrome.
‘Whenever my back hurt – his did. Whenever I felt sick – he did.
‘He even had intense cravings. For two weeks all he wanted to eat was cheeseburgers.
‘When he woke up with back ache it was the night after I had gone to hospital with contractions – so I just thought he was mirroring me again. ‘
The diagnosis ‘completely turned our world upside down’, she added.
‘We went from being excited to have our first baby to the realisation I might end up a single mum.’
The stress of Mr Tinsley’s illness caused Bethann’s blood pressure to soar and she had to be induced nine days after her due date, giving birth to daughter Scarlett.
Mr Tinsley was forced to give up work, needing five bouts of chemotherapy and a lumpectomy in February this year.
Ms Meakin added: ‘It’s been extremely hard work looking after them both.
‘Adrian is so wiped out that he hasn’t been able to change a nappy yet in the 10 months Scarlett has been alive.
‘Even if he could do it, he can’t as the chance of infection could be fatal for him.
‘Fortunately, Scarlett is only 10 months old and doesn’t know what’s wrong with her daddy.’
The couple became engaged in July 2012 and had planned to wait until Scarlett could walk to marry.
‘But we’ve now had to postpone any wedding plans until Adrian gets the all clear,’ Ms Meakin said.
For more information visit:Â www.orchid-cancer.org.uk
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