Bret Miller, 32, of Kansas City, Kan., was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer after years of being told by doctors that the lump he felt was 'fatty ti...
Editor's note: This story was originally published Oct. 29, 2018 as part of a first-person series on those affected by breast cancer. With the news of Matthew Knowles's diagnosis, we thought it would be valuable to share once more.
I had no insurance at all during college at the University of Kansas, and during senior year I had started to get a discharge from my nipple if I were to squeeze it. I didn’t say anything to anybody, and I thought maybe this is the way of it “dissipating,” so no big deal. Finally, I got insurance and went for a physical, and the doctor was almost out the door when I stopped him, because he said, “Everything is great,” and they don’t do men’s breast exams.
I knew male breast cancer existed, but it was one of those things I kind of forgot about. The first man I had heard of having it was Richard Roundtree, the original “Shaft.” My mastectomy was definitely an interesting day: I had Fox 4 and Channel 9 local news here in the surgery room videotaping. One of the local news reporters, who is a breast cancer survivor, got wind of my story. The surgeon told me that based on my age, if I’m willing to share my story, I could help many other people — many other men. So that’s when we started broadcasting it out.
Absolutely, there is a stigma. A Million Little Things on ABC actually wrote in a character with male breast cancer, a main character. [Things like that are] getting men to be more vulnerable, more comfortable in speaking to their friends about emotions, mental health, and breast cancer. Men are not usually comfortable in speaking about our health or emotions. If we think it’s emasculating, we won’t say anything. We don’t go to the doctor unless we’re on our deathbed or our arm is dangling off.
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