Paul Lucas, a 40-year-old man from the United Kingdom, has spoken publicly about losing his penis to cancer and the life he has built since, The Sun reported.
Lucas said that in June 2022 he noticed an unusual growth under his foreskin. He soon developed discharge with a smell he compared to rotten fish, along with severe pain. Two months later his wife took him to see a doctor, and he was diagnosed with penile cancer.
Penile cancer is an uncommon form of cancer that develops in the tissue of the penis. It is diagnosed far less often than most other cancers and tends to be found more frequently in older men, though it can occur at any age.
In October 2022 Lucas underwent surgery. He said he had been confident doctors would remove only part of his penis, but when he woke from the anesthetic he discovered his genitals were gone entirely. He described his new reality as terrifying at first.
Lucas admitted he found it disgusting to look at himself, and said he felt guilty toward his wife. She cared for him during his recovery, changing his bandages and catheter, while he felt he had destroyed her sex life.
Struggling with everyday life
Lucas said the absence of a penis means he now has to urinate sitting down, which has turned public men's toilets into a genuine problem for him. He said many of them are dirty, lack toilet paper, have too few stalls, and have locks that do not work.
In advanced cases, treatment for penile cancer can require a partial or total penectomy, the surgical removal of the organ, a step doctors sometimes take when the disease has spread and other treatments have not stopped it.
Reconstruction in stages
Lucas learned that his lost penis could be reconstructed and decided to go through with the procedure. In the first stage, surgeons created a new phallus and urethra for him. A second stage will reconstruct the head, and a third will involve fitting a device to help him maintain an erection.
Phalloplasty, the surgical construction of a penis, is also used after traumatic injury and in gender-affirming surgery, and typically involves building a new urethra using tissue taken from elsewhere on the body.
Lucas is currently waiting for the second stage of his reconstruction. He compared the appearance of his current penis to the nose of an anteater.
He said he has already had sex with his wife using it. Sensation has not yet returned, and he expects it will take years for his erotic sensitivity to fully recover, but he described the experience as incredible and deeply emotional.
A similar case in Uganda
The report follows an earlier case in Uganda, where a man whose wife cut off his penis two years earlier became a father after undergoing plastic surgery. He said the operation restored not only his sexual function but also his libido.
