Real Men Get Breast Cancer (and Pinked Up), Too

Those of us unlucky enough to get breast cancer know that there's sometimes a family link to this disease. There's the BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutation. And, if one has breast cancer, one's first-degree relatives -- parents, children, and siblings -- are at greater risk.

For me, that means my mom, my dad, and my brother.

Real men get breast cancer, too, and I've told my family to be extra vigilent about noticing any changes to their breasts.

The American Cancer Society predicts that in 2011 approximately 2,140 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and 450 of these individuals will die from the disease. This is a miniscule number of breast cancer diagnoses compared to that of women, but for those men and their families who are affected, this is serious business indeed.

When I was going through treatments, I had spoken to a few men diagnosed with breast cancer, and this is what I gleaned from their perspectives:

1. They felt like pariahs and very alone. One of my "support" groups kicked out a male with breast cancer because these women felt like it was a woman's disease and men had no place in the conversation. This fact really depressed me.
2. These men were embarrassed to admit they had breast cancer. Exceedingly sad.
3. They often waited too long to see a doctor because they thought that men just don't get breast cancer. Tragic.
4. They were hesitant to share their stories with society. And they had such powerful stories to tell. I am honored and privileged that they trusted me enough to share them with me.
5. They adopted the pink ribbon as their symbol, too.

Regarding the last point, I've often wondered why these men felt the need to adopt pink. Perhaps it was because they felt ostracized and needed some sort of identity with breast cancer. Sadly, pinkification seems the only way to keep some men (and women) affected by breast cancer united with the "cause," whatever that may be.

And that got me thinking: why do we need any symbol to represent any disease? And then I realized that we are a society that depends on symbols: yellow ribbons, red ribbons, and a barrage of pink: pink ribbons, garbage trucks, tour buses, etc.

Pinkwashing never ends.

For all the breast cancer "awareness" campaigns, it's so sad that society typically does not acknowledge awareness of men with breast cancer.

The below link leads to a video about a man diagnosed with breast cancer. Notice the pink ribbon he's wearing.

http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2011/jan/06/men-and-breast-cancer-ar-1310813/

Have you known any men afflicted with breast cancer?

Why do you think some men adopt the pink ribbon as their symbol?


To obtain these postings regularly, please subscribe to this blog by clicking the orange subscribe button. I am a professional writer and have published numerous academic and magazine articles, as well as an essay on my breast cancer experience in the anthology Voices of Breast Cancer by LaChance Publishing. I can be contacted at bethlgainer@gmail.com and gainercallingtheshots@gmail.com.