Tunbridge Wells father’s male breast cancer awareness campaign

Mark Winter, a local self-employed surveyor, has bravely been sharing his story of surviving male breast cancer in an effort to get more men to check their chests and visit the doctor.

 

Mark, 56, had a mastectomy in the spring of 2020 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and as part of Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week during October 2021, Mark shared his story with the world.

 

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Mark and find out a little bit more about his inspiring journey so far and how he hoped his story might help other men in similar situations.

 

Mark explained: “In early May 2020, I was washing myself in the shower and felt some pain under my left nipple. Initially, I thought I’d just scratched myself, but actually when I examined the area a little more closely, I discovered a lump which didn’t feel like a nipple at all. Although it felt unusual, I did what a lot of men might in a similar situation and ignored it! Up until that point, I’d been used to checking down below, so to speak, but I’d never checked my chest.

“A few weeks later, I was in the shower again and noticed that the lump was still there. It felt different – maybe a bit harder – and I realised that it wasn’t going away. It was on my mind, as earlier in the year I took a friend to the hospital after she discovered a lump on her breast which turned out to be benign.

“When I saw my doctor, she had a quick poke and the normally very chatty tone of her voice changed almost straight away. Her immediate reaction was that it didn’t feel right and that I should get it checked out further.”

 

Mark had an ultrasound at Eastbourne Hospital and then went back to the breast clinic in Hastings for his results where he received the devastating news it was Grade 2 Breast Cancer; which was later upgraded to Grade 3.

“The next ten minutes were a total blur. I can’t really remember what was said and I just couldn’t take everything in. I’d only been vaguely aware that men could get breast cancer and still thought of it as very much being a female disease.”

 

Mark had a mastectomy including lymph node removal and they found cancerous cells in some of the lymph nodes. He also had chemotherapy starting on 1st October 2020, twice weekly for eight sessions, then radiotherapy starting on 11th February 2021 for 15 working days. Mark added: “Because I was a bloke in a department full of ladies, to start with I got very strange looks, as I was on my own and I did stand out. But on my second and third visits to the breast department, weirdly I almost felt special!

“I didn’t tell many people at all about my diagnosis – I found it a little bit embarrassing that I had breast cancer and I didn’t want lots of people fussing around me. I didn’t really know how to handle the news initially and when I did tell people, they were very shocked. I’ve now got my head round things a lot more and I’m really happy to talk about what’s happened to me, to help raise awareness.

“It was only around three months after my treatment finished (15 months after my diagnosis) that I joined other men from breast cancer charity Walk the Walk’s Men Get Breast Cancer Too campaign at a gathering in London.

“My message to men in general is to not only check “below”, but to check “above” too and don’t be frightened if you find something. Just get it checked out, especially if you’re not sure. Men have died from breast cancer, because they’ve ignored the problem and not done anything about it.”

 

Mark’s story is incredibly emotional and inspiring, if you know anyone affected by male Breast Cancer there is a lot of support and information available at the Walk the Walk website.

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