This is my story

David was diagnosed with breast cancer

Imagine noticing an inverted nipple.

Imagine stalling seeing the Doctor for a month before you ask about it.

Imagine being told you have breast cancer.

Imagine you are told you need a mastectomy.

Imagine being told it’s in your lymph nodes and you need all of them removing so it can’t spread around your body.

Imagine being told by your employer you have used up your sick pay entitlement… and you should be on Statutory Sick Pay.

Imagine you are told two family members also have cancer at the same time as you.

Imagine your chemotherapy is delayed by a month because of repeated infections.

Imagine being told by your employer you have been overpaid and will have to pay it all back at some point.

Imagine when chemotherapy does start, all your hair falls out on Christmas day, just as you’re going to see your grand children.

Imagine being refused personal independence payment and scoring zero points in that health assessment.

Imagine feeling lonely and isolated.

Imagine the friends you thought you had not visiting or calling…

Imagine feeling constantly sick, or tired, or in pain, or scared or depressed.

Imagine having to choose wealth over health and venturing back to work, in between cancer treatments in order to financially stay afloat.

Imagine being terrified that you will get a cold or an infection during chemotherapy.

Imagine then, three weeks after returning to work, a worldwide virus potentially killing the elderly and the unhealthy and the vulnerable arrives.

Imagine not having the strength to rush around supermarkets jostling for toilet rolls and baked beans.

Imagine the relief when you are told you can work from home.

Imagine the distress when you are told you must isolate for 12 weeks or more, remember you have in all but name, been isolating for the last five months.

Imagine attending hospital for your weekly chemotherapy and being told your last three sessions have been cancelled because of Covid-19.

Imagine being told your radiotherapy will be delayed and your bisphosphonate treatment cancelled until the virus has gone.

Imagine thinking you will not be completing the original treatment and wondering ‘does this leave me at risk?’

Imagine having to fully rely and trust the Doctors making those decisions.

Imagine all this

IMAGINE again YOU have just been told YOU have breast cancer and you are a Man.

Breast cancer in men

Breast cancer sucks big time, but as a man in the predominately pink world that is breast cancer it’s a lonely place because those like you are rare.

And rarer still are those who openly talk about it.

So, I decided to talk openly about this disease, in order to leave a light on, or the door open for any other man to stop by and talk.

When we talk to each other we realise we are not alone in this battle. And it really is alright to talk…

Just talk.

David

We are so grateful that David has agreed to be the face of The Moobment, a campaign to raise awareness of male breast cancer, encourage men to check themselves, provide a safe space for men to support each other and ultimately raise awareness of the importance of continued research to improve therapies for all breast cancer patients.