British Expat Faces Testicular Cancer Battle After Moving to Australia

Packing your life into a suitcase and migrating over to Australia is a feeling that millions of people in the country know firsthand. But very few would ever expect to face such a devastating decision shortly after arriving.

But for one British expat, his hopes and dreams for a new life Down Under happened to coincide with a devastating discovery that put everything into question.

Mark Leedham touched down in Sydney with his best mate and was busy establishing his life on the other side of the world when he noticed a lump on one of his testicles last September.

"After a while it started to really hurt... I went for the ultrasound and it got very serious very quickly," he told Yahoo News Australia.

What was initially presumed a varicose vein -- when a vein becomes enlarged and twisted -- was later confirmed as cancer. It turned Mark's life upside down.

The travel agent now faced a seemingly impossible decision: fly home and leave his hopes for the future behind or march on with treatment while 16,000 kilometres away from his family. He decided to stay.

"The main thing for me is that I want to feel as little like a patient as possible and try to deal with it on my own terms and not let it affect my day-to-day living," he said, explaining he's "very blessed to have a good circle of friends" while his sister flew over to be with him for a week during his first treatment.

After discovering treatment would be available to him in Australia, a grateful Mark decided to power on and undergo surgery here. Doctors told him he would need to get his testicle removed and, in another stroke of unfortunate timing, the soonest surgery date fell on his 31st birthday.

"Beggars can't be choosers I guess!" he joked. "It will always be a story to tell.

"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster with everything though... having had the surgery I thought I was in the clear but now I have to go through the process [of chemo], it's all had its ups and downs."

He now refers to himself as the "one ball warrior" and is trying his best to remain positive while undergoing chemotherapy in a bid to remove the cancer for good.

He hopes his unique situation will help others feel less alone if they find themselves in a similar position, determined to "leave this chapter of life behind" following treatment.

Early detection is vital as testicular cancer has a 95 per cent survival rate, according to Movember.com.au. And while it's not a common cancer in Australia, it's the second most common in men aged between 20 and 39.

When it comes to other migrants facing similar health battles, he believes it's best to be where you can put up the best fight, whether that be home or abroad.

"Do what's best for you, you know yourself better than anyone else. It's not just a battle physically but also mentally so put yourself in the best position to be able to win that," he said.