I felt a lump in my breast, but I felt good. It was 2016, it didn’t hurt, and I had, for my age, enough energy. Why should I worry? Almost 2 years later, in July 2018, I woke up on a Saturday morning, and my chest was completely swollen and as red as a tomato.
Monday morning, I was able to visit my doctor. She diagnosed an inflammation on my chest, which could be either something benign or something malignant.
My family and I reacted with disbelief. I had never heard that men can also get breast cancer. A treatment process was mapped out, with first chemo, then surgery, and finally radiation. Afterwards, I had to take anti-hormone therapy for another 5 years.
When I started the chemo treatment, I was nervous. How would my body react to the heavy chemo? But miraculously, my body responded reasonably well to it in such a way that I could maintain my routine of attending art school twice a week. On the other hand, cancer treatment and especially anti-hormone treatment have a major impact on yourself and on your partner, due to the very unpleasant side effects.
By staying busy as a painter, I was able to maintain contact with my colleagues at the academy. That has helped me enormously in this difficult period; my wife and children have also been a huge support.
Yet there is also a positive note: I now look at life differently and enjoy the small daily things more.
I got to know fellow sufferers through the Breast Cancer Awareness Association. They have been through about the same thing, and they have become my friends. I sell the works of art that I make now to support the work of the non-profit organization Breast Cancer MAN. And to help spread the message that men can also get breast cancer.
Jan Mariën Waarloos ° 1951