JUPITER, Fla. — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and T.A. Walker is Shining A Light at Jupiter Medical Center, connecting you with the experts who make us proud to call this place home.
Monday, I went to Jupiter Medical Center's Margaret W. Niedland Breast Center. It wasn't my first time to get a mammogram.
Several years ago, I found a lump on my chest and the experience was numbing. My primary care doctor, seemingly dismissive of my claim, felt my chest and then was taken back and simply gasped, 'oh.' He sent me to the breast center.
I remember the intake form asking me all sorts of questions I'd never thought about. When was my last 'cycle' when was my last pregnancy, etc. I remember being frustrated about the questions, 'Isn't there a male version of this form?'
The spa-like breast center and staff were very caring and understanding. And after a few awkward "clampdowns" from the mammography machine it was determined that I did not have breast cancer (though it did help me prepare me, emotionally, for when I got colon cancer a few years later).
Men don't talk about mammograms. Basically, the chest is placed on a base and a clamp comes down and squeezes the chest. It's very tight but manageable. The machine rotates 45 degrees and the same thing occurs. It's repeated on the other side. You find out very quickly if you have cancer or not.
The Centers for Disease Control says 1 in 100 breast cancer cases will be in a male.
"If you have a family history, you have a family history, you definitely want to talk to them, because genetics, we know that BRCA gene mutations do increase a man's risk of having a breast cancer, as in women," said Dr. Julian K. Berrocal of Jupiter Medical Center.
So what should guys be looking for?
"For men, male breast cancer presents usually as a mass. It's usually on the chest, right behind the nipple. If you feel that, or you detect a difference [you need to get checked out,]" said Dr. Berrocal.
