|
Having lost two loved ones to breast cancer Steve Hill
explains why it's as much a man's concern as a woman's.
If you're a bloke then it's easy to think that breast cancer has little or nothing to do with you. It's a girl thing, right?
Facts and figures tend to back up this cold assessment with the Lyon-based International Agency for Research on Cancer estimating that about 2000 men were diagnosed throughout Europe in 2006.
In contrast, a staggering 430,000 women on the continent were found to have some form of an illness that continues to sweep the developing world. And it is estimated that 25 million women worldwide will be diagnosed over the next 25 years. These women are not just anonymous faces in the crowd, they're our girlfriends, our wives, our sisters, our mothers, our aunts, our cousins, our grandmothers, our friends.
And that's why breast cancer should be talked about by men just as much as it is by women because we have a significant role to play in supporting those in our lives who are affected by this modern scourge.
We may not be the ones at the sharp end reciving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or even undergoing radical surgery. But in the Western world one woman in seven will at some point have a brush with breast cancer in their life time. I talk from experience. After losing my mother to the disease in 1995, my wife Jackie was diagnosed in 2001 and eventually passed away last year. My mum was 55, my beautiful beloved Jackie only 48.
The parallels are shockingly coincidental and bewilderingly cruel... diagnosis, chemotherapy, surgery, more chemotherapy, radiotherapy, a period of being cancer-free before re-diagnosis with secondary cancers, more treatment, the heart-stopping moment when doctors say nothing more can be done, and then the final journey.
Where did the disease come from and how did this strike my family? And twice? No one will ever know; there are theories and smoking guns - hormone replacement therapy, for one - but no hard facts or truths, no clear explanations.
All I know with absolute certainty is that I do not want anyone else to have to go through what happened to my family and I'm speaking out about my experience in the hope that I can make a one per cent difference and encourage more guys to get involved and play their part in fighting this shocking epidemic.
So, what can we do? For starters, we can encourage the women in our lives to be breast healthy. Play your part in encouraging your partner to self-examine once a month and have regular mammograms, in much the same way as you see the dentist for a check-up. This is not something to be embarrassed about.
If we see or feel anything different down there - and there is a chance we might notice that first - then we have to flag it up. In a caring and loving way. It may be a lump or swelling in the breast, or under the arm. Or there could be changes to the texture of the skin of the breast or nipple.
Reassure your partner that you love her and play a full role in encouraging her to pop along to see a doctor and get checked out. And show real support by driving her there and going into the appointment together.
Holding hands in the waiting room and working as a team - acting as another set of ears, making a list of questions for doctors and then making notes of the answers - are all vital roles men can play at this time.
The thought of having cancer and the prospect of possibly losing a part of the body so bound to a woman's femininity can be totally devastating. But with luck, there will be nothing wrong at all, and if treatment is indeed required then early affirmative action helps give specialist doctors and oncologists the best possible chance of a good outcome.
It is important to remember that there have been huge advances in recent years in treatment. Ten-year survival rates have improved markedly thanks to ever-increasing research efforts while scientists and charities are working hard to reach the day when the risks currently associated with breast cancer are consigned to the history books.
But there's far more to dealing with this disease than drugs and doctors and hospital wards. For a woman to know that her husband, partner or boyfriend is really there for her and that he's ready to listen, support, care and provide a shoulder to laugh or cry on when the chips are down... that's good medicine in itself.
|
