Men can get (and beat) breast cancer

I found this story
Men to can get breast cancer. Peter Criss, the guy painted like a cat, from the KISS band, had breast cancer. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month his treatment was successful and he is now cancer free. Criss first noticed a lump in his left breast, and unlike most men who won’t go to the doctors, Criss got it checked out. The article said, “Doctors removed a cancerous tumor.” Criss is now 63 years old and remains cancer free. There are several statistics on male breast cancer, such as: men are 100 times less common in getting breast cancer than women are; and breast cancer is more likely to be in a male between the ages of 60-70 years old. Most men hate going to the doctor and even refuse going, but as Criss said, “prompt medical attention improves your odds of beating breast cancer.”

My first reaction was….What? Male breast cancer? No way.

My grandmother had breast cancer twice, and now is cancer free, and I know there is millions of other woman out there that have had or do currently have breast cancer. But this is a shock to me; I never knew men could get breast cancer. I looked on another site to find some symptoms of male breast cancer and I found that the main symptom is, “finding a firm, non-painful mass located just below the nipple. The average size of breast cancer in men when first discovered is about 2.5 cm in diameter.” Males may also get changes in their skin around their nipple(s) and/or discharge. Another site stated, "An estimated 1,910 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in the U.S. in 2009, accounting for about 1 percent of all breast cancers." It also said that there is an estimated 440 men who will die in the U.S. in the year 2009. I know how stubborn men can be with going to the doctor if they think something is wrong. My father is the most stubborn man I know, and I remember him sitting in a recliner rocking chair banging his head against the back of the chair because his appendix was about to explode and he was in a lot of pain.He refused to go to the hospital so my mom had to call an ambulance to get him to the hospital. My dad was a fire fighter, he had heart surgery and was supposed to be in bed for a couple weeks, and refused, he was home less than a week and he was out in fires again. My husband to is stubborn about going to the doctor, he wouldn’t go until I set up an appointment and made him go, just to find out he has spinal stenosis and a protruding disc.

I know men will try to be tough and not go to the doctor, but you never know, the one trip you take to the doctor could save your life.