Breast Cancer men get it to

Breast Cancer men get it to - Mark Doel, 42

MARK DOEL, an IT manager from Morden, Surrey, was fit and sporty when he was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, aged 37.

“The first thing I noticed was tiny blood spots on my sheets and shirts on the odd occasion – which went on for about a year. I wasn’t in pain but to put my mind at ease I went to see my GP who sent me home with plasters. He said it was likely to be rubbing from my shirt when I played badminton. A few months later, in June 2007, I was at a waterpark when a friend noticed I was bleeding quite a bit from my right nipple.

I knew I needed to get a specialist opinion. He told me he didn’t think it could be cancer and was much more likely to be a condition like eczema, but they did an ultrasound scan which didn’t show anything sinister. I also had a tissue biopsy taken, but went home thinking it couldn’t be too worrying.

When I returned for the biopsy results I saw my surgeon’s face and knew something was wrong. I was in shock, which is understandable when a man gets the double-whammy of being told he not only has cancer, but breast cancer. I called my wife, Despo, who rushed over to help me handle the news.

We were told it was a DCIS – or ductal carcinoma in situ – which was very treatable. It hadn’t spread, but I needed an op straight away.

With two young children – aged three and six – and Despo to think about, I was in pieces, thinking this might be the end. The idea of not seeing my children grow up was heart-wrenching.

I had another biopsy, which confirmed my cancer, and a week later I had a mastectomy on my right breast. It healed well and I was left with a flat right chest and a six-inch scar – but I still wasn’t out of the woods. The tissue was sent off for tests to check it hadn’t spread so I was still in a state.

When I got the call saying I was in the clear I was whooping with joy. But it wasn’t until three years later that I felt comfortable enough to tell friends and colleagues about my breast cancer. It might make people think I was strange and I didn’t want to deal with their reactions.

I feel blessed to be alive – and urge any man who notices anything strange about his breasts to get checked straight away.”

Comments

Kate Jackson Breast Cancer a flash back

THE MOST MOMENTOUS CHANGE IN Kate Jackson's life began early one morning in January 1987, during her fourth season on the hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. After a phone call informed her that the show's taping was canceled because costar Bruce Boxleitner had the flu, Jackson went back to sleep. When she woke several hours later, "It was out of the blue, but perfectly clear," she recalls. "I sat up in bed and literally said, 'You have to have a mammogram.' " She did, and two days later a biopsy confirmed her vague fears: A minute growth found in her left breast was determined to be malignant. "I was forced to face, squared up, my own mortality," says Jackson. "I had to decide whether I wanted to live or to die. And if you choose life, as I did, it's never the same." For three TV seasons 16 years ago, she was famous as Sabrina Duncan, a girl-next-door gone glamorous and the character critics dubbed the brainiest o

"Hard nipples" - areola or nipple skin

Someone once wrote"... when i get really cold, or get goosebumbs all over my body, the whole things really scrunch up, like, my entire areola scrunches itself up into a wrinkled little mound. it looks really weird and ugly, and i haven't ever seen other people's breasts do it. what is wrong with my areola/nipples??" The answer: Well nothing is wrong. This is what my areola does too. It's a normal reaction to the coldness or to irritation / stimulation. The little muscles in the areola do a similar goosebump thing as your other skin can do. People often call this phenomenon "hard nipples". Also note that skin on areola has less feeling or sensation to it than other areas of your body. If the areola was very sensitive, then breastfeeding would probably be quite uncomfortable because the baby pulls and tugs it! The nipples are sensitive but the sensitivity changes with hormonal changes, such as occur at mestrual cycle or pregnancy. Also this v

The four stages of breast development

In Stage 1 shows the flat breasts of childhood. By Stage 2, breast buds are formed as milk ducts and fat tissue develop. In Stage 3, the breast become round and full, and the areola darkens. Stage 4 shows fully mature breasts. (Illustration by GGS Information Services.) period begins. Usually these signs are accompanied by the appearance of pubic hair and hair under the arms. Once ovulation and menstruation begin, the maturing of the breasts begins with the formation of secretory glands at the end of the milk ducts. The breasts and duct system continue to grow and mature with the development of many glands and lobules. The rate at which breasts grow varies significantly and is different for each young woman. Breast development occurs in five stages: Stage One: In preadolescence, the breasts are flat and only the tip of the nipple is raised. Stage Two: Buds appear, breast and nipple are raised, fat tissue begins to form and the areola (dark area of skin that surrounds

I am still a woman - Confessions of a twice cancer survivor - my journey by Nina Ann McCurley

Search This Blog