Paul Lucas, who was diagnosed with penile cancer at 37, has spoken about having his penis reconstructed using skin and tissue from his arm. Doctors amputated his penis to stop the spread of the disease, an operation that saved his life but which he feared might cost him his sex life and even his marriage.
In March, Paul underwent a nine-hour operation that reconstructed his penis using skin and tissue from his arm. He appeared on This Morning on Monday, 28 September, alongside his wife Nicky and his surgeon Wai Gin Lee, speaking to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about how his life has changed.
Early symptoms and diagnosis
Paul first knew something was wrong in summer 2022, explaining: “I was peeing at almost right-angles, and I just left it, left it, as you do and tried to bury my head in the sand. It was getting worse, and then a growth started appearing, and that got bigger and bigger and bigger.
“I bought medication from the internet just to avoid going to the doctor, you know what men are like, we get embarrassed and try to ignore things.” It was his wife Nicky who encouraged him to finally see a professional, after concerns.
She revealed: “He tried to back out of the appointment several times, but once we’d gone to the GP and they looked at the photos and said they think it might be cancer, once he was in that process, he was ok.”
Talking about being diagnosed with cancer, Paul recalled: “It was almost a relief of knowing what it was. It had a name and I could go right, it’s penile cancer, yes I’ve got it, yes it’s awful, yes it’s rare, but at least I know what it is and I can get my head around it, and I’m in the system, being referred to specialists. Luckily, it was diagnosed very quickly.”
Surgery and reconstruction
After his diagnosis, Paul, who said he was “lucky in an unlucky way”, was treated through surgeries. His first operation removed his penis, but he didn’t know it had happened until 24 hours later.
He said: “You know your body, you know something is not quite right, and then my other two operations were lymph node operations which they removed to check if the cancer had spread. Having those operations meant I didn’t need further chemotherapy.”
Months after his original surgeries, Paul had what he called a “sci-fi” surgery, to reconstruct part of his arm into a penis. He’s gone through the first stage already, which sees several nerves from his arms lifted and joined to his penile nerves, which will regenerate over time.
He has yet to have two more surgeries, which will be cosmetic and functional, with the latter result being similar to using devices that are made for men with erectile dysfunction and other conditions.
Urging viewers to get checked
As the interview came to an end, with the presenters thanking Paul for sharing his story, he urged viewers to get checked should concerns be raised.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
