What started off an innocent prank soon devolved into a life-threatening affair for one anonymous man who shared the results of a pregnancy test...
Reddit to the Rescue
After an anonymous Reddit user posted a funny comic he created on the site, other commenters in the thread insisted that something might be seriously wrong with him. They encouraged the man to seek medical attention as soon as possible...
He Could Have Died
The user took note of all the warnings the others had made on his behalf and made an appointment to check out the issue. Sure enough, three days later, a trip to the doctor revealed that the man was in immediate danger…
Just a Joke
The days of “rage comics” may have come and gone, but this particular meme helped to save one man’s life. The man, who decided to remain anonymous, came across a pregnancy test in his medicine cabinet. He figured it had been left there by an ex-girlfriend.
Unexpected Results
Thinking it might make a funny post, the man decided to take the pregnancy test himself. Surely, as a man, he couldn't possibly ever be pregnant. However, once the test had time to develop, he realized that something wasn’t quite right…
Two Pink Lines
Needless to say, the man had expected to see one line. There was zero biological possibility of him giving birth to a child… so, when two solid pink lines appeared on the test, he was shocked beyond words.
Warning Signs
The man knew he couldn’t be pregnant, but the positive test result still had him stumped. Was the test defective? Or was there something strange happening inside of his body?
Rage Comic
Whatever the cause, the Reddit user still found the incident somewhat hilarious. In an attempt to make light of a bizarre situation, he made a silly rage comic about the positive pregnancy test, which he then uploaded to the website.
Cause for Concern
The post soon began to garner attention—but not for the reason the man had anticipated. Rather than finding humor in the pregnancy test, the very first comment alerted him to the fact that he should be seriously concerned about the results.
Google It
The first comment was from a user named "golixo," who offered the man some advice that would eventually save his life. The comment read, “If this is true, you should check yourself for testicular cancer. Seriously. Google it.”
Taking it Seriously
For three days, a steady stream of concerned comments poured in, all urging the man to visit a doctor. “You may have testicular cancer!” read another. “Get to an oncologist, tell them you took a pregnancy test and it came out positive.”
Thankfully, he took heed of the warning sign...
Feeling Skeptical
The man was ready to assume the positive pregnancy test meant nothing. The idea that a pregnancy test was able to detect cancer seemed preposterous to him, but after much pestering from his friends, he finally did something about it.
He Found a Lump
Days later, the man scheduled an appointment with his doctor, where he was tested for testicular cancer. He still felt skeptical that a positive pregnancy test had led him down this path—that is, until a tiny lump was discovered on his right testicle.
How Was It Possible?
The man was shocked. How was it possible that a pregnancy test had managed to detect his tumor? And why was everyone so sure that he had to be tested in the first place?
HCG Test
As it turns out, pregnancy tests are designed to detect a specific hormone in blood and urine called beta human chorionic gonadotropin, which is produced by a developing placenta—but the hormone is also secreted by a fair number of testicular cancers.
Grateful for the Advice
In an effort to commend Redditors on the medical knowledge that helped to discover his cancer, he made another comic and posted it to the site. In the comic, he warns individuals to check for breast and prostate cancer regularly—which could have prevented the pregnancy test debacle in the first place.
Cancer-Free
The Reddit user expressed that thanks to the Internet, his tumor had been caught early. Unfortunately, though, he might have to get his right testicle surgically removed. A win-some, lose-some situation, certainly.
A Close Call
Reddit also proved to be a valuable resource for 21-year-old Tyler “Chase” Tyree. Tyree, a computer science major at the Colorado School of Mines, came across a Reddit post from a user that would also help to save his life…
Just a Coincidence
The user went by “uniballer” and head posted a photo of a testicle that had been removed after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. Tyree noticed that the symptoms experienced by “uniballer” matched ones that he had been experiencing for months.
The Symptoms Matched
Symptoms of testicular cancer include swelling or a mass in the testicles; according to the Mayo Clinic, it is the most common type of cancer to be diagnosed in American males between the ages of 15 and 34. The day after he came across the post, Tyree went to the doctor for a checkup...
Removing the Mass
The 21-year-old was sent in for further testing. After he received an ultrasound, doctors discovered that there was a malignant tumor in Tyree’s left testicle. Just four days after reading the Reddit post, Tyree underwent surgery to have the testicle removed.
Helpful Knowledge
Dr. Mark Pomerantz, a genitourinary oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, explained that several testicular cancers produce beta human chorionic gonadotropin. “There are very few things in the body that produce beta hCG, and testicular cancer is one of them,” he added.
Not a Death Sentence
“The testicle usually has to come out,” Dr. Pomerantz continued. “But we’re lucky with this disease, in that the vast majority of cases—even if they’re caught further along—are still very curable.”
Don't Panic
Luckily for the Reddit user, testicular cancer is one of the only solid tumors than can be reliably cured, even if it’s already metastasized. However, a positive pregnancy test isn’t always an indicator of testicular cancer…
Self-Exams
Usually, the first sign of the disease is a painless lump which is detected via self-exam. “It’s typically spotted by the guy himself,” said Dr. Christopher Wood, professor and deputy chairman of urology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Is It a Feasible Alternative?
Wood said urologists recommend that people with testicles do self-exams in the shower at least once a month. Even once the cancer is discovered, a pregnancy test is actually an accurate way to determine how the tumor responded to treatment...
Stay Vigilant
After a diagnosis has been made, evaluating the levels of beta-HCG effectively indicates how the tumor will respond to treatment. If the patient’s beta-HCG levels were elevated prior to the operation, afterward, they should return to normal. However, that’s not always the case.
Is It Approved by the ACS?
If a man takes a pregnancy test after the tumor is excised and his beta-HCG levels are still high enough to cause a false positive, it means that residual cancer cells might remain in his body, which must be treated with chemotherapy. Despite this, the American Cancer Society has their own qualms with the method…
Not Always Accurate
The ACS wants people to understand that one Redditor’s experience does not speak to the accuracy of a pregnancy test when used to detect the disease. In fact, it reliably applies in only a handful of testicular cancer cases.
Multiple Possibilities
Ted Gansler, director of medical content for the ACS, wrote that “only a small minority of men” with testicular cancer will produce enough beta-HCG to be detected by a home pregnancy test. He added that a number of underlying conditions can cause false positive results—not just cancer.
Be Aware of Your Body
Gansler states that there isn’t enough current evidence to determine whether men who take a urine test for HCG are diagnosed with testicular cancer early enough to reduce the rate of testicular cancer deaths. However, he encourages men to check for lumps, and visit the doctor if one is located.