'Just go to your doctor' - Man tells RTE Liveline of losing penis after rare cancer battle

Peter Robbie, a 67-year-old from Delgany Village, Wicklow, said "life was good" before he received a life-changing diagnosis which left him without a penis.

Speaking with Joe Duffy on RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline, Peter discussed his battle with rare urethral cancer. He told Joe that he led a healthy lifestyle and kept up with regular medical check-ups for a slightly enlarged prostate and high blood pressure.

However, he divulged that his unthinkable health journey began with subtle symptoms — slight blood in his urine and a tingling sensation in his perineal area. These signs led him to visit his GP, Dr Connor Downs, who referred him to urologist Hubert Gallagher and eventually to specialist Ivor Cullen.

"Like most men in Ireland after the age of 50, I was always warned to go to your doctor and to do an MOT every six months to a year, which I did," Peter said.

"I noticed a very slight discharge when I went for a pee, but, really it wasn't a problem, and I could so easy have missed it".

Peter spoke of the anxiety he felt undergoing various medical procedures, including a painful attempt to insert a camera into his urethra. "The idea of it was horrifying, but he said it's a very routine procedure," Peter added. These procedures were then followed by a life-saving surgery on May 20 this year, which resulted in the removal of his penis and the construction of a suprapubic catheter.

On receiving the news, Peter and his wife, Nora, were not expecting a serious amputation. "We were confidently expecting something like a polyp or something we could get rid of with some kind of treatment," Peter added.

Peter was stunned upon hearing: "We'll remove the penis; we've no option. We'll rejig the bladder so you can have a tube coming out of your tummy, a suprapubic catheter, with a tap on it."

"I thought, 'well, I'm pragmatic. If that's what you've got to do, that's what you've got to do.'"

Peter discussed the loss of his sexual function, focusing instead on the value of life and companionship. He joked: "I'm being pragmatic. I'm 67, the days of me swinging out of a wardrobe in a Batman suit are long past."

After his surgery, and now foucsed on the bright side of life, Peter's message to the Liveline listeners was clear. He urged men, especially those over 50, to take any unusual symptoms seriously and seek medical advice immediately.

"The main thing is to make sure that the men of Ireland, especially men of a certain age, and the women who push them, go to their doctor. Men don't like talking about their waterworks or their rear end, but those are the areas that will cause problems.

"So, for crying out loud, just go to your doctor."