Grandad diagnosed with breast cancer after discovering lump in chest urges men to ‘swallow pride pill’ and seek help

A grandfather-of-two diagnosed with breast cancer after discovering a lump in his chest is urging men to swallow their “pride pill” and ask for help when it comes to their health as he “might not be sitting here now” if he had not taken action.

Just weeks after retiring last year, Mike Burrows, who lives in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, discovered what felt like a pea-sized lump “to the side of (his) right breast” while showering.

Mike, now 69, said he “did not do anything about it” at first, as he thought it might be temporary swelling – but one week later, he realised the lump was still there and decided to call his GP.

“Prior to me going in for the biopsy, I had no idea what was going to happen,” Mike told PA Real Life.

“It suddenly dawned on me when I got to the door and it said: ‘Breast Clinic’ – and as I walked through the door, I was the only man there, and I thought: ‘I’m out of my depth here.’”

Following the biopsy – where a small sample of tissue is taken for examination – Mike was informed on October 25 2022 that he had breast cancer.

“I was just staring at the floor in the consultation room,” Mike explained.

“I just didn’t know what to say, nothing would come out of my mouth.

“You’ve reached the age of 68, and you think that you’ve got through life fairly unscathed, and then all of a sudden, you get something like this. It took my breath away.”

He then underwent a mastectomy – the surgical removal of breast tissue – on November 28, which confirmed he had Stage 2 breast cancer, followed by five sessions of radiotherapy in March, which left him feeling fatigued.

However, he hopes his story will encourage more men to come forward and seek help if they notice “something’s not right”.

“The treatment I received from the NHS was absolutely fantastic,” Mike said.

“They were guiding me through it; I was completely out of water, a male with breast cancer… but now, I just want to make sure that guys out there try and swallow this pride pill.

“It’s the old thing that keeps getting put out, that men do not act on something that’s wrong, they do not pick up the phone and call the doctor.

According to the NHS, breast cancer is often thought of as something that only affects women, but men can be diagnosed with the disease in rare cases.

It grows in the small amount of breast tissue men have behind their nipples, and usually happens in men over the age of 60.

Mike’s diagnosis followed the discovery of a lump in his chest while he was in the shower, despite DNA test results revealing he did not have “one single cancer gene in (his) body”.

He underwent a mastectomy to remove the lump and surrounding lymph nodes on November 28, and during the pre-operation consultation, he had to “go into a separate room before being taken to a surgical ward”.

“At this point, I was being bombarded with loads of literature, which was good… but there was only one brochure that said ‘breast cancer in men’,” he said.

“All the diagrams and information didn’t bear in mind that this can happen to a man.”

Mike has been left with a scar which runs across his chest and under his right arm, but he said the procedure was successful as the results came back “all clear”.

He then underwent five sessions of radiotherapy in March this year and was prescribed tamoxifen tablets – a hormone therapy drug to treat breast cancer.

He will have to take the tablets for the next five years.

“Was it luck? Or was it just common sense? I don’t know,” Mike said.

“But I’m looking back now and I’m thinking, I’m glad I had the common sense to do something about it because, had I not, I might not be sitting here now.”

Mike’s wife Jackie will be taking part in Breast Cancer Now’s Pink Ribbon Walk on July 8, where she will be walking 20 miles with a group of friends to help fund life-changing research and support.

“If more men acted on it, then maybe we can stop cancer in men later on,” he said.

“Men just need to be aware that, if something’s not right or they’ve noticed a change, don’t just think: ‘Oh, it’ll go away next week,’ because it may not.

“If I’d have done that, mine wouldn’t have gone away.”

To find out more about Breast Cancer Now’s Pink Ribbon Walk, visit: www.breastcancernow.org/ribbonwalk