Kris Gay, Firefighter, Ocean View Volunteer Fire Company, New Jersey 

Testicular cancer, diagnosed at 39, Stage 1 | Firefighter Uses DetecTogether’s 3 Steps to Catch Cancer Early 

Kris Gay, Fighterfighter at Ocean View Volunteer Fire Company, New Jersey, knows the importance of early detection—and not just because she’s a first responder. In a powerful twist of fate, Kris’s own life changed when she followed the very cancer detection program she had introduced to her firehouse: DetecTogether’s 3 Steps Detect. 

“I never expected that a seemingly routine visit for a physical and some blood work would reveal something that could potentially alter the course of my life, but in hindsight, it was that early intervention that saved me.“

At 39, Kris was feeling off. For several months, she experienced persistent fatigue but chalked it up to side effects from a new medication, which she was taking as part of her medical transition as a transgender woman. After adjusting the dosage and undergoing bloodwork that came back normal, she figured it was nothing serious. Still, something didn’t feel quite right. 

Thanks to her training with DetecTogether, Kris was paying close attention to her baseline health—the first step in 3 Steps Detect—Know Your Great Health. She noticed her times on the treadmill and rowing machines were slipping despite working out at the gym frequently. So when she felt a lump on her testicle during a shower, she acted immediately. “As soon as I detected a lump, I contacted my doctor, remembering our DetecTogether training,” she says. That quick action made all the difference. Kris was diagnosed with Stage 1 testicular cancer, a highly treatable form when caught early. Had she ignored the fatigue and dismissed the lump, the outcome could have been very different. 

What makes her story even more powerful? Kris was the champion behind her department’s adoption of DetecTogether’s 3 Steps Detect program. “Ironically,” she reflects, “I’m the one at my fire station who implemented our 3 Steps Detection program. If I had ignored the symptoms, normal medical monitoring would not have caught this so early.” 

Today, Kris is not just a firefighter—she’s living proof of the power of early detection and the life-saving impact of recognizing early warning signs and acting on them. 

Symptoms

• Fatigue
• Lump on testicle