Christopher Reeve's son Will, 34, reveals rare testicular cancer diagnosis

Christopher Reeve's son Will has revealed he was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer earlier this year.

Will, 34, whose mother is the late Dana Reeve, said he was alerted to the disease after he noticed a tender lump on one of his testicles in the shower in April – and his wife Amanda, 30, urged him to get an ultrasound. 

The Good Morning America presenter told People he was left 'stunned' by the diagnosis and initially thought 'it was nothing or would go away' - adding his treatment brought back painful memories of his mother's treatment for lung cancer and his father's health struggles after he became quadriplegic.

Will was days away from his third birthday when his Superman star father was left paralyzed from the neck down after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia, in May 1995 aged 42.

He relied upon a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life. Tragically Will was orphaned just 17 months after Reeve's death from heart failure when mom Dana died from lung cancer aged 44 in 2006.

In early May, Will underwent an orchiectomy to remove the cancerous testicle and did sperm banking to ensure the couple would be able to start a family one day.

While the couple hoped the diagnosis would be a 'momentary blip' they learned 95 per cent of the cancer found was embryonal carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of the disease which typically affects young men aged 15-35.

Will underwent a six hour surgery on June 10 to remove 'some dozens' of lymph nodes in his abdomen – three of which tested positive for testicular cancer.

The Good Morning America presenter then had two rounds of chemotherapy  - 20 years after his mother's cancer battle.

Will said, 'The irony is not lost on me that 20 years after my mom died of lung cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering, there I was in the same building getting treated for cancer.

'I was experiencing life as each of my parents at the same time. Because I was a cancer patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering, I was getting a firsthand experience at what my mother went through. 

'Simultaneously, I was learning more about what it was like to be my dad in the final nine years of his life, where he had my mom and our family taking care of him. 

'I’ve had a lot happen in my life. But none of it until now had happened to me in a way.

'My dad got injured and then the next nine years a lot of our focus was taking care of him and making sure that we had as full and happy a life as possible, while also facing the realities of my dad being paralyzed and in a wheelchair, unable to move or breathe on his own. 

'And then he died, and I had to learn what grief was. And shortly after that, my mom, who had never smoked, gets sick with lung cancer and then dies, and I learned grief all over again at a different level.'

Will underwent chemotherapy straight from work at GMA and likened the side effects of the treatment, including bone pain, to an 'ailment whack-a-mole.'

His second round of chemotherapy ended on July 31.

Will is now cancer-free, as of a check-up on September 8, and will have scans and bloodwork three to four times a year to check for any recurrence of the disease.

The five-year survival rate for embryonal carcinoma is over 98 per cent for early-stage disease and ranges from 74 per cent to 80 per cent for advanced, widespread disease, per The Cleveland Clinic.

As well as Amanda, Will credits the support of his family and friends, especially siblings Matthew, 46, and Alexandra, 42, for getting him through. 

After the loss of his parents, Will was raised by the family's next door neighbors and close friends.

Will, along with Matthew and Alexandra, who Christopher shared with ex-partner Gae Exton, work with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation which aims to cure spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis.

Reeve notably portrayed the iconic superhero, Superman, in the film Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987).

He had also starred in other projects during the course of his career, such as working alongside Jane Seymour in Somewhere In Time (1980).