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Pirate Jameson Taillon Partners With Coffeehouse To Help Cancer Patients

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pirates pitching sensation Jameson Taillon is opening up about his battle with testicular cancer, and at the same time, he's promoting a new venture to help other young cancer patients fight back like he did.

Taillon found out he had cancer last May after he discovered a lump where he didn't expect to find one.

"I had asked some friends what they thought, if they'd ever felt something like this," Taillon revealed to Heather Abraham during an appearance on Pittsburgh Today Live. "They said 'I'm sure it's something normal' but I had this gut feeling something wasn't right."

Taillon went straight to the doctor who diagnosed testicular cancer, which is rare in someone his age -- he was just 26 at the time. Just a few days after diagnosis, Taillon had surgery. He returned to the pitcher's mound less than three weeks after the operation and told Heather his prognosis is now good.

"My tests, my blood work, my CT scans, everything's showing great signs. I'm fully healthy right now," he said.

Watch his PTL interview --

 

Even before he finished treatment, Taillon said he was thinking about ways he could help other young cancer patients.

Calling himself "super passionate" about coffee (he says teammates always ask him the best place to get coffee when the team is on the road), Taillon decided to invent his own coffee blend.

It's now being sold at Taillon's favorite coffee house, "Commonplace Coffee" with four locations in Pittsburgh and three in Indiana County. Proceeds benefit "Lending Hearts" a local charity that supports young adults and teenagers with cancer.

"It was important to do something that is a Pittsburgh organization, something I could see the benefits of what we raised," said Taillon. "This is one that spoke to me and I'm looking forward to working with going forward."

As the new coffee blend takes off, Taillon is also hoping that speaking openly about the difficult topic of testicular cancer will encourage other men to pay attention to the symptoms.

"I think guys have a tendency to not talk about it. It's an awkward part of the body to talk about and bring to the attention of doctors. But it can save lives and it can help people," Taillon said.

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