Personal experience, Season 3
A decade ago, Tony was diagnosed with breast cancer. As he approaches the end of his treatment, he speaks about how the last 10 years have affected him.
"I never really took in the full implications of being tested for BRCA"
After finding a lump in his chest, Tony initially thought he just had a cyst. It was only when his wife encouraged him to go to the doctor that he found out he had breast cancer.
As his sister had also received a diagnosis some years before, Tony was tested for the BRCA gene mutation, and it turned out he was a carrier. He speaks of feeling guilty about this, as he has children and grandchildren that he fears may have inherited the gene.
Since then, Tony has also been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He speaks about the differences between that and breast cancer, the kinds of support that were - or weren't – available. And how he eventually found a small community of men who could understand what he’d been through.
I'd spoken to some ladies who had had breast cancer, including my sister. But I hadn't spoken to a man. And while I think the treatment pattern is roughly the same for men and women, there are differences in the way it affects you psychologically.
- Tony
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