Forum Discussion

Craigmel's avatar
Craigmel
Member
15 years ago

Male Breast Cancer

Well, it all started when after my mother’s funeral nearly 4 years ago my father said to my brother and i, that he has a lump on his breast and it was weeping, but had not done anything about it due to mum being so ill. So we told him, he better get it checked out as it's probably an abscess or something like that.

Well about a week later Dad was having emergency surgery to remove the tumour and have a total mastectomy, he was 1 in 100 men to have male breast cancer!

You could have knocked us all over with a feather! Blokes don't get breast cancer? How wrong am i.

Yesterday, my Dad, brother & I had our appointment for Dad's gene test results and it was confirmed he had the BRCA1, we were then advised by the councillor that my brother & i can have the test now to see if this has carried over to us. We were pretty familiar with genes now as it was our second appointment and well aware of the outcomes.

We had quiet an extensive family history with breast cancer & ovarian cancer fatalities. Dad also has extensive skin cancer that can also be contributed to the BRCA1.

At the time various thing run through your mind and how this could be happening to us were all blokes? Then it occurred to me that "what about my teenage daughters? what about my brothers daughters not to mention his son.

It just shows the lack of education a lot of us have regarding male breast cancer! Even registering to this profile, the question relationship to person diagnosed? there was no Son?

I am now entering a world, where it is unknown and many do not wish to express their concerns or feelings as "blokes" don’t do that?

The bar has raised and Dad was now 1 of the 3 in 100 to have "male breast cancer".

It is now with anticipation myself & my brother await our results in approximately 6 weeks, appointments have been confirmed, immediate family have been advised of the possible scenarios.

As i write this I am looking at my 2 beautiful daughters and think about how this outcome may impact there future & there lives.

I will keep you all posted.

Craig

6 Replies

  • Debbie_J's avatar
    Debbie_J
    Member
    15 years ago

    Welcome , this is a great site for support and any questions you have. I call all these ladies my angels, without them I do not know how I would have coped.  Debbie

  • Di_BCNA's avatar
    Di_BCNA
    Member
    15 years ago

    Hi Craig and welcome to the site, it's good to have you here.  You're off to a good start, but if you need a hand or any assistance using the site just ask. :)

    Di

    (if you haven't already found it, the Help page has some useful links).

  • Craigmel's avatar
    Craigmel
    Member
    15 years ago

    Hi Moira,

    Thank you for your welcome to the site. It means a lot to me that I have this support as i feel with my experience with my father & now myself and my brother, there is "not" a lot of emphasis on this subject. I work in an environment with some 100 people, all different generations & demographics and there was not 1 who new men can get breast cancer? It's any wonder men do not want to talk about this as well if there is a history in there own family of breast & ovarian cancer. Unfortunately a lot of this historical information can get lost, that can have ramifications for other family members un  known to them. I believe this is a serious oversight and needs to be highlighted at the same frequency as breast cancer in women.

    Thank you for your advice & guidance as its much appreciated and my thoughts and prayers are with you for your own well being.

    Regards

    Craig

  • Craigmel's avatar
    Craigmel
    Member
    15 years ago

    Amanda,

    Thankyou for your kind words and positive outlook. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family on your courage's  journey. You are young and strong and a great representitive for the cause.

    Regards

    Craig

  • moira1's avatar
    moira1
    Member
    15 years ago

    Hi Craig, and welcome to the club nobody wants to be part of. But thank you for comming on and telling your family story.  although this site is fairly new, we are now starting to get more male members.  Have you applied for the My Journey Kit which is free from bcna, and can be ordered on here  it has lots of great information not only for breast cancer sufferers but for family, friends and close ones, and it has been compiled using information from people who have been on the journey, so is in a language we can understand.  I hope you and your family results come back clear, but please keep in touch.  and give you dad a big hug from us, As you say it seems to be more difficult fro men to admit to BC, which is a shame as statistics show and and your case has become a reality it does happen. So thanks again for joining us. and let us know how you are all doing. Regards Moira