Man’s encounter with a disease peculiar to woman

PINK October (breast cancer awareness month) this year has a whole new meaning for me, a 70-year-old man who had to undergo a mastectomy to remove a lump in the breast recently.

I discovered the lump about four months ago while I was having a shower. I am fully aware of the various campaigns educating women to go for medical examinations periodically to check for breast cancer. But as far as I know, men are not being advised to look out for lumps in their breasts.

Having read about breast cancer in men before, I immediately Googled for more information on the signs and symptoms of the disease.

I was horrified to find that the lump in my breast was located in the place stated on a medical website.

I went to see a doctor at a hospital who then referred me to the Breast Cancer Research Centre (BCRC) at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). I had a mammogram and ultrasound, and a biopsy was conducted. I must say the mammogram was very uncomfortable considering the size of male breasts!

Two weeks after the biopsy, I met the consultant breast surgeon to review the pathologist’s findings. There was no confirmation of cancer but malignancy could not be ruled out, so surgery was scheduled for early October to remove the lump and the surrounding tissue.

The weeks before the surgery were nerve-racking as I also have heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Despite assurances from the specialists that it would be a moderately risky surgery, I was full of fear and trepidation.

Who should I talk to ease my anxiety? I was not going to tell any of my friends, and I certainly would not like some idiot asking me what hormones I have been taking. I was also embarrassed that I had a medical problem peculiar to women!

Prayers, positive thinking, logic and common sense helped to reduce my anxiety.

As I was being prepared for surgery on a Friday morning, a member of the surgical team told me the surgeons had decided to remove a lot more of the breast tissue, but the nipple would be left intact. If tests showed there was cancer, another operation would have to be done to remove the whole breast and the nipple as well.

If I could, I would have jumped off the trolley and fled the operating theatre as fast as my old legs could go when I heard that.

But I decided that the surgeons knew best and I should just leave it to them.

The bandages have since been removed, but a look at my flat right breast and the scar there told me my days of going bare chested at the beach and swimming pool were definitely over.

So guys, especially senior citizens, in conjunction with Pink October, do find the time to look for lumps in your macho breasts. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about one out of every 100 breast cancers diagnosed in the United States is found in a man.

I sincerely bow in gratitude and respect to the consultant breast surgeons, clinical specialists, anaesthetists, medical officers, housemen and nurses at UMMC for their expertise, skills, professionalism and dedication towards patient care.

A follow-up visit to the doctor on Oct 16 revealed, to my immense relief, that the tissue specimen from the subcutaneous mastectomy was not malignant (not cancerous).

CALL ME UNCLE

Petaling Jaya