Major differences between male and female breast cancers found

In your pocket Fiddleman, for not bad se's. And no genetic mutation.

Traveltext. I did have a minor bout with nausea, but the meds did the trick. Paid bills, wrote some emails and got 20 minutes on the elliptical. Drank a lot of water yesterday and was up 8 times last night. Wife's threatened to desert me for the other bedroom tonight. Can't say I blame her. HA! Today I'm mostly just tired, but after a little nap have more energy. Hoping to practice some today and get a swim in after it cools. Too damn hot and sunny to risk the lymphedema arm.

Good luck with the biopsy. I can't imagine your anxiety over it and I'm sending you healing thoughts and best wishes and please do keep us posted.

I did call the geneticist and boy am I glad. She's going on vaca for 3 weeks and is trying to get caught up. The results are in and I see her next week. Squeaky wheel, eh?

Hey traveltext in your pocket for the biopsy. Yes Fiddleman, chemo time will fly (I know it does not seem like it) but it will.

I should ask my doctor if he has ever seen male breast cancer before, he sure got things going, only 2 weeks from "hey doc, whats this? it kinda hurts" to surgery. any studies around? I would gladly donate what ever they need to advance their study, unfortunately, my surgery was last april so most tissue samples are gone now. come whack off a hunk, it seems everyone else has.

a bit of discrimination there?

maybe researching an old fart like me isn't as interesting as researching the gals? I make no bones about not being very pretty.

Agree totally. I am a 66-year-old male just out of Aug. 4 left MX operation. This has been such a shock to me and everyone around me. Many of my nephews and siblings are having trouble processing it, but I am pressing all to be aware and proactive. I am very lucky to have caught this when I did. Initially I thought it was a lipoma because I recently had one of those show up, then disappear on my thigh. It so happened that I had a routine physical scheduled the next week with my doc, who promptly ordered an MRI.

My experience has been mixed thus far. I had little time to shop for an onc because all the testing took four weeks to lock in the dx and I wanted that thing out of my body. The onc I selected is very slow to inform me of path and test results. I have had to call incessantly, and his staff refuses to learn how to post reports to the patient portal. Either that or he is purposefully withholding. He keeps saying, "they contain a lot of science you don't need to see." Very frustrating. And I let him know it.

I reacted badly to the anesthesia, and thank goodness that precluded me from going home the night of surgery. I promptly hemorrhaged and had to go back into surgery for repair of anicked vein and clean things out.

I'm now more than a week out and finally got the final path report in hand after our first follow-up meeting. I still have the drain and some staples left in the wound. I go back in a week and he wants me to see a medical onc after I heal up and the drain is gone.

Question: Did any of you with Stage 1 or less discuss having Oncotype DX or similar genomic recurrence predictive testing done with the initial path report? Seems like it should have been done in my case but the onc is telling me that is what the medical onc will do.

Thanks, Traveltext -

Man, have you been through the ringer. Congrats on your great attitude and fighting soul.

I look forward to engaging with the guys on this board. It's great way for us rare birds to exchange pertinent info on this rotten disease

I check in here because my DD has mets, she was negative for BRCA but I worry - have my son and girls. No one could tell me exactly if they should be checked or not. Most say not necessary. But Dallas Duck you have MD Anderson, they are suppose to be tops, would that not be a good place for you? The doc giving you these old fashioned answers sure sounds off to me. You have the right and even obligation to see what's what. A doc that talks like that is first putting his ego b4 your health, and is not allowing you to be proactive. You do what you gotta do. Good luck.

Just to follow up, my BS says the MO I see 9/1 will order the genomic testing on my tumor. Apparently, the BS has gotten crossways with other MO's over the years because they wanted particular testing practices followed. Makes sense, I guess.

From what I have read, I cannot really understand the criteria that will be used to determine whether chemo will be suggested. It appears the modern practice is to employ tamoxifen in all cases where tumor is ER+/PR+ and HER2-, even when nodes were all clear. But chemo for those with that profile is all over the place. Some have had chemo and RADS, others just chemo, then tamoxifen. Others just tamoxifen. I really don't want to do any chemo.

Finally got the drain and last staples out Wednesday (mid-Week 3 post MX.) I am still experiencing needle-like tingles across the surgical site. BS said those will gradually dissipate as nerves regrow. I am curious if others experienced this sensation.

It feels tight across my upper arm and through the surgical site when I raise my arm. Any advice on exercise techniques, frequency would be appreciated.

I doubt I will be swinging a golf club any time soon.

Hi DD. Sorry you're having such confusion around treatment options. Like Traveltext, I had no choice. If my nodes had been clear and there were no mets, I most likely would have had just rads (depending on the size tumor margins) and Tamoxifen (double negative). I was hoping to avoid the rads but, because one lymph gland had ruptured, my doc decided it was prudent. Re soreness, tingling and stiffness, these are all normal. I still have numbness around the scar. Because I had LE as well, I received (and still am) PT, both for managing the LE and to strengthen the arm and upper body. The stiffness will last until you can start breaking up any scar tissue. Dumb me, I actually tried playing my fiddle about 3 days post-op. I don't think that helped the healing process particularly, but at least knew I could still play! I agree with TT that you should go easy on exercise. Your surgeon should be able to write a scrip for PT. Any good therapist will do a full assessment of your current condition and devise a program appropriate to your situation. I would not suggest that you try anything before such an assessment They and/or your doc will give you the green light when you're ready to do 18 holes again. Good luck and I hope this helps. BTW, there is a book by Wayne Dornan called How I Survived Breast Cancer: An Inspirational Journey Of Hope And Fact. It's available on Amazon and goes through all the possible treatment options and breaks them down by staging and other factors. It's a little technical in some parts, but it really helped me understand what the hell was (and will be) happening to me.

Hey, DD. That's what we're here for and we're more than happy to help. Glad you find the discussions useful. Now, knowing you are the literary type, I have another book suggestion. It's a little technical, pricey and hard to get but I think it's worth the investment. Sounds like you need s much ammo as possible. It's Male Breast Cancer: Taking Control by John Boyages, MD, PhD. It's published in Sydney Australia by BC publishing. Traveltext told me about it. Some of the treatments may be slightly different, given its AU/UK focus, but it gives a LOT of insight. I Think I got it on Amazon, or perhaps eBay. Keep us posted on your progress, and feel free to send me a private message should you wish.