A man has issued an urgent warning to the public after he diagnosed himself on Google and ended up with a ‘mini-me’ penis.
Robin Hernon is warning people who might be in a similar situation after he first noticed a white spot on his penis in August 2023 while on vacation in Cyprus.
After Googling his symptoms, the man believed it was nothing to worry about but months later, the spot grew into a cauliflower-shaped growth and Hernon decided to get it checked out by professionals.
While at first, medics considered that it could be a genital wart that needed to be frozen off, it turned out to be much more serious - penile cancer.
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Upon discovery, Hernon underwent a partial penectomy, and now refers to his smaller manhood a ‘mini-me’.
He explained: “When the specialist said it was penile cancer, I just said to him ‘do what you have to do to remove the cancer, I want the rest of my life. I want to get back to my grandkids so take off what you've got to take’.
“It was a partial removal so I [now] have a ‘mini-me’. The internal organ is still functional so I can still urinate from a similar location.”
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The British man recalled how it became uncomfortable to sit down but was in denial about his condition, saying: “Internally I was crying, but I couldn’t show anything. I kept it hidden from my wife because at the time, when I felt something wasn’t right, she was getting bad news from family and I didn’t want to add to it.”
Luckily, following his surgery, Hernon has received the good news that his cancer is gone and will now need check-ups every four months to make sure it doesn’t return.
He said he ‘accepted it was the worst’ when receiving his diagnosis, but is now taking the opportunity to set out to help other men in the same position, claiming that not getting things checked out by a medical professional is ‘a man thing’.
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Hernon went on to urge people to go to the doctor if they notice something wrong, adding: “If anything’s not right, get it checked. It’s better to see a doctor [and for them] say it’s ok [than not].
“I can’t stress enough if something isn’t right you’ve got to get it checked.”
Hernon stressed to ‘hammer’ on the door of doctors if they say they are busy.
Google’s official stance is that online searches are only for informational purposes and should not replace professional medical advice.