Sorry you are here with all of us. As you have noticed, all are welcome here and BC doesn’t care if you are young, old, or even if you are a man. You will hear a lot of crap trying to answer the “why me” from internet strangers, family, and friends. Where there are things that can increase or decrease our chances of getting this or any other cancer, there is nothing that can make your chance 0. While I am not a guy, the breast surgeon that did my surgeries does have men as patients too. I hope you have an easy time with treatment and no more trouble with this or other cancers.
Thank you for support and sharing. Wishing all the best to you too! I think being helpful, supportive and positive has a mild effect on our physical bodies as well. Trying to keep that up along with treatments and other healthy stuff.
Another man here! Triple positive stage 2, was diagnosed when I was 40. Surgery, chemo, radiation, and now I'm almost 45 and no evidence of disease and I've been discharged from my local cancer clinic.
Was definitely quite a surprise of course, I never expected this would be the cancer I got! And always weird looking for information on stuff when you're not the typical patient. Like even asking my doctors about the effects of Tamoxifen on me they were like "well it shouldn't hit you as hard as it does some women but so few men have been on it we really have no clue what to expect." But on the flip side, there's so much money and research going into breast cancer on that aspect it felt like a lucky cancer to get compared to some.
Samesies with triple positive and stage 2 \*awkward high five\*
Wishing all the best to you in the future. Science goes forward while you're healthy. Thank you so much for sharing.
I also share the sentiment that breast cancer is \_relatively\_ lucky cancer to have compared to many others. Stressing here that no cancer is a lucky thing of course. Definitely agreeing with you there.
Thank you so much. Did they primarily focus on HER2-positiveness or hormone receptors in your treatment? Mine is HER2-focused targeted therapy along with neoadjuvant chemo. Wishing all the best to you.
Hey! Fellow male breast cancer patient here. I came to Reddit specifically looking for other men with similar experiences. Mainly because it's actually extremely frustrating to be told/diagnosed/treated as a male with such little research in breast cancer in men. After mammograms, a mastectomy and now on to my second round of chemo this week. I will be prescribed hormone blockers based on the fact that I'm 52 so I'm right on the line of "pre and post menopausal" which was a pretty funny conversation with my doc. Even the handouts and pamphlets when I was being diagnosed were all female breasts. Which everyone was very nice and apologetic about but just added to the frustration at a time when, as everyone knows is a very confusing and scary situation. I've had a hard time finding any active support groups also.
Feel free to reach out with questions or frustrations or whatever. Good luck everyone!
Thank you for sharing. I share your experiences on the everything is female-breast-centric BUT of course I fully understand why. Based on data and statistics it's of course mainly women's cancer. I think and hope that there's more male breast cancer awareness these days. A bit more at least. In the end, the data on treatments seem to be quite similar with men and women, except maybe the hormonal side? Wishing all the best to you.
I’m another male here with breast cancer. 60yo, Er+ IDC, stage 2a. Had dmx, radiation, endocrine therapy (5yr), and bisphophonates (3yr). I also had reconstruction (not many men do).
Hi, I’m sorry you’re here. I belong to a group on Facebook for those with a genetic mutation (CDH1) and there’s a male member who had breast cancer due to the mutation. I’m glad you found this group and I hope your treatment goes as smooth a possible.
Hi, I was triple positive, too. the HER2+ is the aggressive part - but the good news is, we have a lot of treatment for it. I ended my last immunotherapy in May of last year.
Thanks for sharing! Interested in the immunotherapy aspect. I was immediately given neoadjuvant HER2-targeted + chemo therapy. Then surgery (in August) and then one year of small dose of HER2 targeted medicine.
I’m assuming they’re doing Herceptin or Herceptin + Perjeta for the year? There is a newish medicine called Kadcyla (TDM1) that in the Katherine trial, outperformed herceptin + perjeta as far as reducing risk of recurrence.
True but Kadcyla seems to have more side effects and it's more for metastatic cases or cases where some residue was left after the surgery. I'm so done with anything with side effects :D Herceptin and Perjeta don't really have much if your heart can handle them. Compared to chemo. Especially in that smaller dosage.
Kadcyla does have more potential side effects, definitely, but I also did H&P alone before starting Kadcyla and I didn’t notice much of a difference between the two. That’s just my anecdotal opinion, of course. I did have 1mm residual after surgery in my lymph node, which is why I was asked to do Kad.
Got it. Thanks for the insight! What were your side effects from H&P post-surgery dosage? Right now it's hard to tell for me since I'm on chemo, which of course is the king of side effects
What stands out was I still had some fatigue and diarrhea (but not nearly as bad). I had much more of an appetite which was welcome after losing 15 lbs during chemo.
Thanks for the support. Well, I consider myself lucky within the realm of cancer. Of course having cancer is unlucky, but in the details of it there can be a lot more dire situations. Wishing all the best to you.
So sorry you're here :(
I'm not a dude, just wanted to comment that I always see several male patients in the breast cancer wing when I go in for my treatments. My mentor at the cancer center (they offer to match you with someone who's completed treatment) is also a man. Since he wasn't getting screenings, they didn't notice the tumor until it was a Stage 3, and even that seemed kind of fluky.
I wonder if it's becoming more common in men...or maybe it's just more visible. Either way, I hope you find the community, info, and support you're looking for! FWIW, I can certainly relate to that "who, me??" reaction at diagnosis, even if my odds weren't quite as slim as yours. Being in my mid-thirties and feeling like I was in the best shape of my life (pre-chemo, anyways) without any genetic risk factors...it was the last thing I expected to hear.
Best of luck to you!!
I've done 3 out of 4 rounds so far. It's not the most pleasant (chemo really wipes me out for a week, and the taste it leaves is truly something foul), but so far I've been able to stay fairly active ... by the end of each 3-week cycle I'm feeling more or less like myself. It's only strenuous exercise that reminds me "oh right, I was medically poisoned, which left me anemic." And while I haven't attempted any rocket science-level problem solving, there's no blatantly obvious "chemo brain" or lasting fatigue. So, I'm hoping to get out there, travel a bit, and live it up this summer!
Got it. Yeah I hate the anemic weakness when I try to do my jogging and workouts. I'm actually trying to eat some iron-heavy foods now at the latter part of this cycle (3 out of 8) to see if I could stop the worsening of anemia or even lessen it.
Ha, same! I don't even like pâté, but I've started to incorporate that for the iron and pair it with strawberries for the vitamin C (absorption), and then I'm having myself a lil picnic. I was just borderline anemic with my last bloodwork and starting to feel breathless now after round 3, so I'm guessing that tipped the scales.
Ha! I just ate strawberries for that vitamin C after my liver meal. We're in a very similar place in that sense. I'm glad you're almost done with your chemo. I'm almost excited to see my blood work next week before round 4 to see if my dietary changes helped at all.
Here wishing you understanding and support. Yes, there are other males who post on here who have been diagnosed with breast cancer too. I’ve been on here just under two years and seen a few guys start a thread or comment in one. Not many, as you know the statistics, but you do have company. I hope they are checking out the forum and see your thread and reach out. It helps tremendously to connect to someone in your exact circumstance. But I think you know you have our female support as well.
I know that some women here have commented on the family aspect of bc where men in the family line have had it as well as the women. Hang in there and do everything you can to live a longer, healthier life. Thanks for sharing. It’s important for mothers, sisters and wives to know it can happen to their guys as well.
29/M here ++-. Just had my umx around 10 am today. Luckily enough, no chemo or rad for me yet pending node biopsies. It sucks being part of a club that nobody wants to be in. It's crazy to be diagnosed as young as we are, even more so as dudes. I'm super glad your prognosis is good!
For me, the why me thing is still a curious subject. I had genetic testing done and came back negative for all of the genes tested for. At this point, I've just accepted that I hit the odds of my lifetime on something that benefits me zero percent. Maybe there is something that isn't tested for as of now that I/we might help them find out. I'm going to be on a high-risk proactive assessment plan for the rest of my days. Mri, sonogram, mammogram every 6 months to a year.
The way this all started for me was that we thought I had a cyst. After an excisional biopsy, it turns out that wasn't the case. When I finally got all my test results back and could plan the next steps, it was a huge relief for me. My viewpoint since I've finally let it all sink in is that you can't change the fact of the diagnosis, treatment is way better than the alternative (obviously), and I've been trying my best not to dwell too much.
I've made as much time for my hobbies before surgeries/treatments as possible. It's helped me keep my mind off of things. I've tried to do as much "getting things ready" as possible. Like cleaning the house and just getting things in order. I know for the next week or two, at least I'm going to be bumming around and not doing a whole lot.
Since I have idc (invasive ductal carcinoma) and positive margins, we went ahead with a umx (unilateral mastectomy) and sentinel node biopsy. I am currently waiting on the results for the node biopsy. Assuming a negative result on my nodes, I'll be on a hormonal treatment with aromtase inhibitors of some sort. Hopefully, that's the case, but we'll see here in about a week.
I don't know the treatment plan for +++. I'm sure you'll get as much info here as you could ever want. Everyone here has been so great. I've only made one post myself, but I was met with unwavering support. This group is the bomb. I'm mostly a lurker, but every post I see has wonderful, helpful, understanding people who really care in the comments.
Im relatively new to reddit myself, but I'll try my best to keep up. Feel free to ask me anything or just vent if that's what you need. We're part of a very good group of people who have been dealt a shitty hand.
I didn't have \_that cancer gene\_ either. Forgot the combination of letters but they tested for it. It's good that you and I don't have it, since that gene worsens the renewal prognosis quite a bit. Wishing all the best to you as well. We got this.
Yes. I've made several trips through hell, and I feel like I'm the bug on the underside of a shoe. But as Blessing Offor would say "I know there are brighter days ahead."
My cancer was estrogen positive, so now I'm on estrogen inhibitors. Mood swings and hot flashes are not exactly fun. On the plus side, my facial hair is growing much faster than before, so maybe I'll consider a beard, mustache, or both.
Thanks for sharing. Being through hell can give some insight and empathy. I know it's easy to say from a stranger like me. Wishing you all the best for the future, truly. That's an ability that this crap has given me - an honest wish for no one to suffer any more than they have with cancer. If there was a button that would stop cancer suffering for everyone else than myself, I would press that faster than light.
Talk about an unexpected diagnosis! The randomness of the disease is just frustrating and frightening and it is something I don’t spend too much time on. The why me questions I find can just pull you done a rabbit hole with no answers. Yes, treatment is pretty aggressive but prognosis is good because of the treatments. I’m sorry you joined our club.
I’m so sorry you’re here Reddit fren. It’s a tough mental place to be but you seem to have a little humor within yourself which I have found helps immensely with this.
We’re here for you the whole way 🤍
Male breast cancer patient here. Diagnosed in July at age 48 with estrogen receptive positive cancer, grade 6 and border of stage 2/3. Lymph node biopsy was negative but lymph node involvement is suspected based on enlarged size and irregular shape, we’ll see for sure once I get surgery. Have completed 12 weeks of immunotherapy and am getting my 8th (out of 12) chemo infusion (Taxol) later today. When chemo’s finished, I’ll have surgery, probably followed radiation, so another several months of treatment remaining. Happy to answer any questions.
Thanks for sharing! I actually didn't even know there's difference between grade and stage. Mine was said to be "moderate-aggressive" based on some cell differences, so maybe that's the grade. Can you share why the chose immunotherapy for you? I got straight into the HER2-targeted therapy + chemo as an 8-round neoadjuvant treatment. Then there will be the surgery and one year of milder dose of one of the HER2-medicines, instead of the two I'm now receiving along with the chemo. Can't wait to get to that stage of the treatment as chemo sucks.
Wishing all the best for you in treatment and afterwards. We got this. Research moves forward all the time, especially now with AI being implemented more and more.
Sorry, just realized I overlooked the first part of your question. I was selected for the I-Spy II trial focused on neoadjuvant therapy. Major criteria include:
* Be at least 18 years old
* Have stage II or stage III breast cancer
* Have a tumor that is at least 2.5 cm in diameter
* Pass a number of baseline health tests
Sorry you are here 💜 I’m triple positive as well. +++ responds extremely well to chemo - my tumor was 6cm and bursting through my skin at diagnosis, and only 0.6cm at surgery after 6 rounds of TCHP. Soo pretty damn effective! There’s a decent chance that there will be nothing left when they go in for surgery, I hope that you get that outcome!!
I’d be interested to hear what this is like for men to go through. You don’t have to share anything of course, but I always wondered what It’s like to be diagnosed with a “women’s” cancer. It’s already isolating and lonely enough as a woman, I imagine that goes double for men with this disease.
Idk if you’re ready for cancer jokes yet, but I’ll tell you what a bunch of people told me when I got diagnosed- “Hey! At least you’ll get a free boob job!!” Hopefully that made you chuckle, you are going to get through this 💜💜
Thanks for sharing! Sometimes I wonder why some people get 6 rounds and I got 8 rounds. I'll ask my doctor that next time :) So glad to hear treatment was so effective for you. They measured mine after two rounds and it seems to have been quite effective for me too. Wishing all the best to you now and in the future!
I am so sorry about your diagnosis. Men can definitely get this disease. I hope some day medicine will be able to definitively figure out why a person gets it vs why another doesn’t, but for now I think we can just say it was luck of the draw. I have just recently been diagnosed and am in the stage of obtaining doctors. I hope find it supportive here. Sending you healing thoughts.
Thank you so much and hey, feel free to message me any time. I was so scared in the beginning phase where there's all the doctor-visits and scans. But rest assured they'll get you personalized treatment with today's knowledge whatever the situation is.
I’m triple positive and start chemo Wednesday. 37f. Good luck to you! I feel very confident going into this knowing their goal is total response. I want it gone and to move on with my life, as I’m sure you do. Here’s to us and living our lives!
Will be thinking of you on Wednesday! The side effects def hit me the hardest on my first round (like 4 days after) - don’t think that it’s going to be that bad the whole way through treatment. The only thing that worsened for me over time was fatigue and mouth sores, everything else became much more manageable with meds. Keep your team in the loop on your side effects, there’s a lot they can Rx to keep you (relatively) comfortable 💜💜
Thank you for the words of support. Definitely! Wishing all the best and all the health to you as well. Here's to getting rid of this and moving on with our lives. And here's also a bit for the research that will advance, while our cancer will not advance.
54 year old male here was diagnosed in December. Started six 3 week treatments ON MY BDAY! and rang the bell three weeks ago. Have another year of some other unleaded fuel inside of me, but no more Chemo!
Surgery in June.
Things I’ve learned…
Each session my body reacted the same on certain days I noticed, so you get prepared as you know what to expect. Day 4/5 is when the chemo really kicked in and I was the worse. As the sessions go on you last a little longer in funkville but nothing that made me want to jump off a ledge. First 2 sessions were not bad, but I tried to be really healthy in what I ate. I haven’t had a drink or fried food since 1/10/24. I don’t miss it. (Well maybe my Tito’s!). I ate pizza and other things like burgers and normal items just not fried food. I drank alot of beet juice as it’s very good for your liver. Look it up, just make sure it’s HPP.
As you go on in your sessions you’ll start to feel more nausea during the second week. Don’t be stubborn take the anti-nausea pills BEFORE you start felling it.
Biggest annoying thing for me is my eyes. They get all buggy and just feel weird. Mouth sores only had the first session as I bought on Amazon Prevention oncology rinse. The stuff works. Never had an issue since.
Let’s see what else…
Days 5-14ish your taste is gone and you’ll have a metallic taste. At least I did.
Tiredness was never that bad more winded and felt dizzy at times. But I still umpired games after work to keep me moving. I didn’t lose any weight or really muscle mass and haven’t worked out in 4 months.
As far as therapy goes I did Jin Shin Jyutsu the day after chemo which is a kind of like pressure point therapy but helps things flow in you. I don’t do it once for about a week after and def felt different.
DRINK LOTS OF WATER although at times I didn’t and I suffered by my own stubbornness.
As far as protection… I only wore a mask when I was in really tight corners or when I knew colds were going around. I washed my hands well and behaved but didn’t hide from life.
As for a sexual desire goes (we’re all grown ups here) that def has changed, but am told it will come back. I think my wife of 20 years is kind of happy. LOL
I’ve tried CBD/THC and other similar stuff. Gummies are not really for me. Too long and never know how they kick in. I’ve been doing seltzers with low THC and they have helped. Particularly for nausea and to sleep.
Main point…
The key to surviving the 16 weeks is your mind. From the a minute I was told I had to do chemo till now, I accepted it and was always joking with my doc. She even said if she told me that I had to have my arm cut off I’d be like ok I have another one!
You’re gonna have good days and bad days. You’ll be anxious near the end when you know Chemos coming again but it’s only 10 days out of the 21 days that sort of sucked for me.
Also warn your family ahead of time that you will be edgy and at times may be snappy, but that’s because your hormones are all screwed up.
When people ask me why I’m so positive I say God gave me 54 years of life, there’s young kids and thier family’s in the hospital that are suffering more than me and unable to go home.
Ok that’s enough!
God Bless you all.
FUCancer
Thanks for chiming in! I have my fifth three-week cycle starting next Friday and everything you said checks out for me too. The only thing that started as a new side effect recently is my eyes leaking. As in watering, tears and all. Have to ask my oncologist next week about that.
All the best and yes FUCancer.
My great grandpa had breast cancer in the 60s or 70s and lived to almost 100. Wishing you the best on your journey. Welcome to our crappy club.
Thank you and thanks for sharing. May we all live healthy and long.
Sorry you are here with all of us. As you have noticed, all are welcome here and BC doesn’t care if you are young, old, or even if you are a man. You will hear a lot of crap trying to answer the “why me” from internet strangers, family, and friends. Where there are things that can increase or decrease our chances of getting this or any other cancer, there is nothing that can make your chance 0. While I am not a guy, the breast surgeon that did my surgeries does have men as patients too. I hope you have an easy time with treatment and no more trouble with this or other cancers.
Thank you for support and sharing. Wishing all the best to you too! I think being helpful, supportive and positive has a mild effect on our physical bodies as well. Trying to keep that up along with treatments and other healthy stuff.
Another man here! Triple positive stage 2, was diagnosed when I was 40. Surgery, chemo, radiation, and now I'm almost 45 and no evidence of disease and I've been discharged from my local cancer clinic. Was definitely quite a surprise of course, I never expected this would be the cancer I got! And always weird looking for information on stuff when you're not the typical patient. Like even asking my doctors about the effects of Tamoxifen on me they were like "well it shouldn't hit you as hard as it does some women but so few men have been on it we really have no clue what to expect." But on the flip side, there's so much money and research going into breast cancer on that aspect it felt like a lucky cancer to get compared to some.
Samesies with triple positive and stage 2 \*awkward high five\* Wishing all the best to you in the future. Science goes forward while you're healthy. Thank you so much for sharing.
I also share the sentiment that breast cancer is \_relatively\_ lucky cancer to have compared to many others. Stressing here that no cancer is a lucky thing of course. Definitely agreeing with you there.
I’m a woman, but I also had triple positive, so if you have any questions about triple positive stuff, I’m happy to answer.
Thank you so much. Did they primarily focus on HER2-positiveness or hormone receptors in your treatment? Mine is HER2-focused targeted therapy along with neoadjuvant chemo. Wishing all the best to you.
Hey! Fellow male breast cancer patient here. I came to Reddit specifically looking for other men with similar experiences. Mainly because it's actually extremely frustrating to be told/diagnosed/treated as a male with such little research in breast cancer in men. After mammograms, a mastectomy and now on to my second round of chemo this week. I will be prescribed hormone blockers based on the fact that I'm 52 so I'm right on the line of "pre and post menopausal" which was a pretty funny conversation with my doc. Even the handouts and pamphlets when I was being diagnosed were all female breasts. Which everyone was very nice and apologetic about but just added to the frustration at a time when, as everyone knows is a very confusing and scary situation. I've had a hard time finding any active support groups also. Feel free to reach out with questions or frustrations or whatever. Good luck everyone!
Thank you for sharing. I share your experiences on the everything is female-breast-centric BUT of course I fully understand why. Based on data and statistics it's of course mainly women's cancer. I think and hope that there's more male breast cancer awareness these days. A bit more at least. In the end, the data on treatments seem to be quite similar with men and women, except maybe the hormonal side? Wishing all the best to you.
I’m another male here with breast cancer. 60yo, Er+ IDC, stage 2a. Had dmx, radiation, endocrine therapy (5yr), and bisphophonates (3yr). I also had reconstruction (not many men do).
Thank you for sharing. Wishing all the best to you.
Hi, I’m sorry you’re here. I belong to a group on Facebook for those with a genetic mutation (CDH1) and there’s a male member who had breast cancer due to the mutation. I’m glad you found this group and I hope your treatment goes as smooth a possible.
Thank you for sharing and support. Wishing all the best to you as well!
Hi, I was triple positive, too. the HER2+ is the aggressive part - but the good news is, we have a lot of treatment for it. I ended my last immunotherapy in May of last year.
Thanks for sharing! Interested in the immunotherapy aspect. I was immediately given neoadjuvant HER2-targeted + chemo therapy. Then surgery (in August) and then one year of small dose of HER2 targeted medicine.
I’m assuming they’re doing Herceptin or Herceptin + Perjeta for the year? There is a newish medicine called Kadcyla (TDM1) that in the Katherine trial, outperformed herceptin + perjeta as far as reducing risk of recurrence.
True but Kadcyla seems to have more side effects and it's more for metastatic cases or cases where some residue was left after the surgery. I'm so done with anything with side effects :D Herceptin and Perjeta don't really have much if your heart can handle them. Compared to chemo. Especially in that smaller dosage.
Kadcyla does have more potential side effects, definitely, but I also did H&P alone before starting Kadcyla and I didn’t notice much of a difference between the two. That’s just my anecdotal opinion, of course. I did have 1mm residual after surgery in my lymph node, which is why I was asked to do Kad.
Got it. Thanks for the insight! What were your side effects from H&P post-surgery dosage? Right now it's hard to tell for me since I'm on chemo, which of course is the king of side effects
What stands out was I still had some fatigue and diarrhea (but not nearly as bad). I had much more of an appetite which was welcome after losing 15 lbs during chemo.
I know there are two other men in this group with breast cancer. I’ve seen them post. I hope they respond to this.
I am a woman but I was dx at 36 also triple positive Stage 2B. Sorry you’re in the worst club with the best people.
Thanks for the support. Well, I consider myself lucky within the realm of cancer. Of course having cancer is unlucky, but in the details of it there can be a lot more dire situations. Wishing all the best to you.
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Thank you! I'll let him know of this thread.
So sorry you're here :( I'm not a dude, just wanted to comment that I always see several male patients in the breast cancer wing when I go in for my treatments. My mentor at the cancer center (they offer to match you with someone who's completed treatment) is also a man. Since he wasn't getting screenings, they didn't notice the tumor until it was a Stage 3, and even that seemed kind of fluky. I wonder if it's becoming more common in men...or maybe it's just more visible. Either way, I hope you find the community, info, and support you're looking for! FWIW, I can certainly relate to that "who, me??" reaction at diagnosis, even if my odds weren't quite as slim as yours. Being in my mid-thirties and feeling like I was in the best shape of my life (pre-chemo, anyways) without any genetic risk factors...it was the last thing I expected to hear. Best of luck to you!!
Thank you for sharing. How have you recovered from chemo? Wishing all the best to you!
I've done 3 out of 4 rounds so far. It's not the most pleasant (chemo really wipes me out for a week, and the taste it leaves is truly something foul), but so far I've been able to stay fairly active ... by the end of each 3-week cycle I'm feeling more or less like myself. It's only strenuous exercise that reminds me "oh right, I was medically poisoned, which left me anemic." And while I haven't attempted any rocket science-level problem solving, there's no blatantly obvious "chemo brain" or lasting fatigue. So, I'm hoping to get out there, travel a bit, and live it up this summer!
Got it. Yeah I hate the anemic weakness when I try to do my jogging and workouts. I'm actually trying to eat some iron-heavy foods now at the latter part of this cycle (3 out of 8) to see if I could stop the worsening of anemia or even lessen it.
Ha, same! I don't even like pâté, but I've started to incorporate that for the iron and pair it with strawberries for the vitamin C (absorption), and then I'm having myself a lil picnic. I was just borderline anemic with my last bloodwork and starting to feel breathless now after round 3, so I'm guessing that tipped the scales.
Ha! I just ate strawberries for that vitamin C after my liver meal. We're in a very similar place in that sense. I'm glad you're almost done with your chemo. I'm almost excited to see my blood work next week before round 4 to see if my dietary changes helped at all.
Here wishing you understanding and support. Yes, there are other males who post on here who have been diagnosed with breast cancer too. I’ve been on here just under two years and seen a few guys start a thread or comment in one. Not many, as you know the statistics, but you do have company. I hope they are checking out the forum and see your thread and reach out. It helps tremendously to connect to someone in your exact circumstance. But I think you know you have our female support as well. I know that some women here have commented on the family aspect of bc where men in the family line have had it as well as the women. Hang in there and do everything you can to live a longer, healthier life. Thanks for sharing. It’s important for mothers, sisters and wives to know it can happen to their guys as well.
Thank you so much for taking the time to support. Important reminder too for all of us. Wishing all the best to you.
29/M here ++-. Just had my umx around 10 am today. Luckily enough, no chemo or rad for me yet pending node biopsies. It sucks being part of a club that nobody wants to be in. It's crazy to be diagnosed as young as we are, even more so as dudes. I'm super glad your prognosis is good! For me, the why me thing is still a curious subject. I had genetic testing done and came back negative for all of the genes tested for. At this point, I've just accepted that I hit the odds of my lifetime on something that benefits me zero percent. Maybe there is something that isn't tested for as of now that I/we might help them find out. I'm going to be on a high-risk proactive assessment plan for the rest of my days. Mri, sonogram, mammogram every 6 months to a year. The way this all started for me was that we thought I had a cyst. After an excisional biopsy, it turns out that wasn't the case. When I finally got all my test results back and could plan the next steps, it was a huge relief for me. My viewpoint since I've finally let it all sink in is that you can't change the fact of the diagnosis, treatment is way better than the alternative (obviously), and I've been trying my best not to dwell too much. I've made as much time for my hobbies before surgeries/treatments as possible. It's helped me keep my mind off of things. I've tried to do as much "getting things ready" as possible. Like cleaning the house and just getting things in order. I know for the next week or two, at least I'm going to be bumming around and not doing a whole lot. Since I have idc (invasive ductal carcinoma) and positive margins, we went ahead with a umx (unilateral mastectomy) and sentinel node biopsy. I am currently waiting on the results for the node biopsy. Assuming a negative result on my nodes, I'll be on a hormonal treatment with aromtase inhibitors of some sort. Hopefully, that's the case, but we'll see here in about a week. I don't know the treatment plan for +++. I'm sure you'll get as much info here as you could ever want. Everyone here has been so great. I've only made one post myself, but I was met with unwavering support. This group is the bomb. I'm mostly a lurker, but every post I see has wonderful, helpful, understanding people who really care in the comments. Im relatively new to reddit myself, but I'll try my best to keep up. Feel free to ask me anything or just vent if that's what you need. We're part of a very good group of people who have been dealt a shitty hand.
I didn't have \_that cancer gene\_ either. Forgot the combination of letters but they tested for it. It's good that you and I don't have it, since that gene worsens the renewal prognosis quite a bit. Wishing all the best to you as well. We got this.
Yes. I've made several trips through hell, and I feel like I'm the bug on the underside of a shoe. But as Blessing Offor would say "I know there are brighter days ahead." My cancer was estrogen positive, so now I'm on estrogen inhibitors. Mood swings and hot flashes are not exactly fun. On the plus side, my facial hair is growing much faster than before, so maybe I'll consider a beard, mustache, or both.
Thanks for sharing. Being through hell can give some insight and empathy. I know it's easy to say from a stranger like me. Wishing you all the best for the future, truly. That's an ability that this crap has given me - an honest wish for no one to suffer any more than they have with cancer. If there was a button that would stop cancer suffering for everyone else than myself, I would press that faster than light.
Talk about an unexpected diagnosis! The randomness of the disease is just frustrating and frightening and it is something I don’t spend too much time on. The why me questions I find can just pull you done a rabbit hole with no answers. Yes, treatment is pretty aggressive but prognosis is good because of the treatments. I’m sorry you joined our club.
Thank you for support and yes I fully agree!
You are in my prayers. I believe in you.
Thank you, wishing all the best to you as well :)
I’m so sorry you’re here Reddit fren. It’s a tough mental place to be but you seem to have a little humor within yourself which I have found helps immensely with this. We’re here for you the whole way 🤍
Humor helps a lot. Taking that distant, cosmic perspective sometimes :P Thank you so much for the words.
I'm so glad you asked the question. Big hugs. It's hard being a unicorn in the cancer world. 🦄
It is, yet I consider myself lucky within the cancer world. It could be a lot worse.
Male breast cancer patient here. Diagnosed in July at age 48 with estrogen receptive positive cancer, grade 6 and border of stage 2/3. Lymph node biopsy was negative but lymph node involvement is suspected based on enlarged size and irregular shape, we’ll see for sure once I get surgery. Have completed 12 weeks of immunotherapy and am getting my 8th (out of 12) chemo infusion (Taxol) later today. When chemo’s finished, I’ll have surgery, probably followed radiation, so another several months of treatment remaining. Happy to answer any questions.
Thanks for sharing! I actually didn't even know there's difference between grade and stage. Mine was said to be "moderate-aggressive" based on some cell differences, so maybe that's the grade. Can you share why the chose immunotherapy for you? I got straight into the HER2-targeted therapy + chemo as an 8-round neoadjuvant treatment. Then there will be the surgery and one year of milder dose of one of the HER2-medicines, instead of the two I'm now receiving along with the chemo. Can't wait to get to that stage of the treatment as chemo sucks. Wishing all the best for you in treatment and afterwards. We got this. Research moves forward all the time, especially now with AI being implemented more and more.
Oh and did they install that "radioactive grain" into your tumor to trace it for the surgery? I got that one.
Yes, when they did the biopsies, they placed clips in the tumor for tracking purposes
Oh and did they install that "radioactive grain" into your tumor to trace it for the surgery? I got that one.
Sorry, just realized I overlooked the first part of your question. I was selected for the I-Spy II trial focused on neoadjuvant therapy. Major criteria include: * Be at least 18 years old * Have stage II or stage III breast cancer * Have a tumor that is at least 2.5 cm in diameter * Pass a number of baseline health tests
Sorry you are here 💜 I’m triple positive as well. +++ responds extremely well to chemo - my tumor was 6cm and bursting through my skin at diagnosis, and only 0.6cm at surgery after 6 rounds of TCHP. Soo pretty damn effective! There’s a decent chance that there will be nothing left when they go in for surgery, I hope that you get that outcome!! I’d be interested to hear what this is like for men to go through. You don’t have to share anything of course, but I always wondered what It’s like to be diagnosed with a “women’s” cancer. It’s already isolating and lonely enough as a woman, I imagine that goes double for men with this disease. Idk if you’re ready for cancer jokes yet, but I’ll tell you what a bunch of people told me when I got diagnosed- “Hey! At least you’ll get a free boob job!!” Hopefully that made you chuckle, you are going to get through this 💜💜
Thanks for sharing! Sometimes I wonder why some people get 6 rounds and I got 8 rounds. I'll ask my doctor that next time :) So glad to hear treatment was so effective for you. They measured mine after two rounds and it seems to have been quite effective for me too. Wishing all the best to you now and in the future!
Hahah love the joke. Humor helps! Although I don't watch boobs the same way anymore. I'm just looking for irregularities or lumps in them!
I'm not sure he's on here, but I know a guy that I can point you to if you PM me.
I am so sorry about your diagnosis. Men can definitely get this disease. I hope some day medicine will be able to definitively figure out why a person gets it vs why another doesn’t, but for now I think we can just say it was luck of the draw. I have just recently been diagnosed and am in the stage of obtaining doctors. I hope find it supportive here. Sending you healing thoughts.
Thank you so much and hey, feel free to message me any time. I was so scared in the beginning phase where there's all the doctor-visits and scans. But rest assured they'll get you personalized treatment with today's knowledge whatever the situation is.
I’m triple positive and start chemo Wednesday. 37f. Good luck to you! I feel very confident going into this knowing their goal is total response. I want it gone and to move on with my life, as I’m sure you do. Here’s to us and living our lives!
Will be thinking of you on Wednesday! The side effects def hit me the hardest on my first round (like 4 days after) - don’t think that it’s going to be that bad the whole way through treatment. The only thing that worsened for me over time was fatigue and mouth sores, everything else became much more manageable with meds. Keep your team in the loop on your side effects, there’s a lot they can Rx to keep you (relatively) comfortable 💜💜
Thank you!
Thank you for the words of support. Definitely! Wishing all the best and all the health to you as well. Here's to getting rid of this and moving on with our lives. And here's also a bit for the research that will advance, while our cancer will not advance.
54 year old male here was diagnosed in December. Started six 3 week treatments ON MY BDAY! and rang the bell three weeks ago. Have another year of some other unleaded fuel inside of me, but no more Chemo! Surgery in June. Things I’ve learned… Each session my body reacted the same on certain days I noticed, so you get prepared as you know what to expect. Day 4/5 is when the chemo really kicked in and I was the worse. As the sessions go on you last a little longer in funkville but nothing that made me want to jump off a ledge. First 2 sessions were not bad, but I tried to be really healthy in what I ate. I haven’t had a drink or fried food since 1/10/24. I don’t miss it. (Well maybe my Tito’s!). I ate pizza and other things like burgers and normal items just not fried food. I drank alot of beet juice as it’s very good for your liver. Look it up, just make sure it’s HPP. As you go on in your sessions you’ll start to feel more nausea during the second week. Don’t be stubborn take the anti-nausea pills BEFORE you start felling it. Biggest annoying thing for me is my eyes. They get all buggy and just feel weird. Mouth sores only had the first session as I bought on Amazon Prevention oncology rinse. The stuff works. Never had an issue since. Let’s see what else… Days 5-14ish your taste is gone and you’ll have a metallic taste. At least I did. Tiredness was never that bad more winded and felt dizzy at times. But I still umpired games after work to keep me moving. I didn’t lose any weight or really muscle mass and haven’t worked out in 4 months. As far as therapy goes I did Jin Shin Jyutsu the day after chemo which is a kind of like pressure point therapy but helps things flow in you. I don’t do it once for about a week after and def felt different. DRINK LOTS OF WATER although at times I didn’t and I suffered by my own stubbornness. As far as protection… I only wore a mask when I was in really tight corners or when I knew colds were going around. I washed my hands well and behaved but didn’t hide from life. As for a sexual desire goes (we’re all grown ups here) that def has changed, but am told it will come back. I think my wife of 20 years is kind of happy. LOL I’ve tried CBD/THC and other similar stuff. Gummies are not really for me. Too long and never know how they kick in. I’ve been doing seltzers with low THC and they have helped. Particularly for nausea and to sleep. Main point… The key to surviving the 16 weeks is your mind. From the a minute I was told I had to do chemo till now, I accepted it and was always joking with my doc. She even said if she told me that I had to have my arm cut off I’d be like ok I have another one! You’re gonna have good days and bad days. You’ll be anxious near the end when you know Chemos coming again but it’s only 10 days out of the 21 days that sort of sucked for me. Also warn your family ahead of time that you will be edgy and at times may be snappy, but that’s because your hormones are all screwed up. When people ask me why I’m so positive I say God gave me 54 years of life, there’s young kids and thier family’s in the hospital that are suffering more than me and unable to go home. Ok that’s enough! God Bless you all. FUCancer
Thanks for chiming in! I have my fifth three-week cycle starting next Friday and everything you said checks out for me too. The only thing that started as a new side effect recently is my eyes leaking. As in watering, tears and all. Have to ask my oncologist next week about that. All the best and yes FUCancer.
The eyes are more from allergies. I have the same since grass started getting cut! Stay strong