Several years ago, my husband felt a small lump in his breast. When he brought this to my attention, I immediately asked him to call and make an appointment with his physician. As men so commonly are known to react, my husband shrugged it off as just a minor issue of soreness due to exercising too intensely.
A few weeks ago, he felt the lump again, however this time, the lump had grown larger and was quite painful to the touch. He took my previous advice and called his physician. The appointment was scheduled the very next day. By late evening, my husband had a test performed and the results were in; Male breast cancer.
Now one month later, he has undergone two surgical procedures or male breast cancer; One of which was to have the entire left breast tissue removed. The prognosis at this time is he has an aggressive form of breast cancer and will have to undergo chemotherapy.
Breast cancer has been traditionally considered a female oriented disease. However, in recent years episodes of male breast cancer have been on the rise. Men are more readily susceptible to male breast cancer if they have been predisposed to radiation therapy at an early age, have a family history, are obese, have been heavy drinkers or have been on estrogen.
According to www.mayoclinic.com, some symptoms males should be aware of are a discharge or drainage from the nipple, a lump discovered in the breast, pain when touching the breast area or puckering of the skin around the nipple or in the breast area.
Men are advised to have yearly exams if there is a family history of breast cancer. A mammogram is available for early detection of male breast cancer to remove the cancer from his body. Wives, mothers and sisters can be instrumental in assuring a male loved one gets the test needed to assure early detection of male breast cancer.
I am struggling with the knowledge that if I had been more aggressive with my husband, perhaps we could have avoided the future pain and discomfort he will have to experience now. However, I am standing firm on the word of God and holding onto His promises. I know He will see us through this.
My plea to anyone and everyone is to perform those necessary exams on a regular basis. See your physician yearly for an annual exam. Take care in an effort to attempt prevention of illnesses we can and those that come on us due to no fault of our own, try to keep at a minimal.
Exercise and diet are instrumental in preservation of our bodies. It is inevitable that we will not live forever, however, we can prolong life just by making some wise decisions. Take care, be healthy and live.
