Cancer has improved my life. Well, maybe not the cancer, but everything I had to do to get well. I am grateful for that. My calendar used to be full to the brim. I work in the international hotel and catering industry as a supplier for canteen kitchens and travel a lot. Before the diagnosis, I at least knew where I would be in the next six weeks, who I would meet. That has changed. I still travel a lot, I was just in Bangkok, Vienna, Singapore, but I live much more in the moment, take more time for my family – also spontaneously. Sometimes I’m afraid that maybe I’m living in the moment a little too much.
It’s been two years, it was a family home evening, we were watching a movie together, when my chest was itchy. When I scratched I felt a little hardening. Inflammation, I thought. When I was at the family doctor a few days later anyway, I showed him the lump. He wasn’t worried. Nevertheless, we agreed to get to the bottom of the matter – to be sure. This was not so easy. It took a while before he found a practice that wanted to perform an ultrasound examination on men. The first ones, he told me later, all turned down. The radiologist then sent me for a biopsy, although he didn’t believe it was anything malignant either.
A few days after the withdrawal, I was on my way to the tram when the call came. They had found cancer cells, further tests were needed, I should be patient. This period of waiting was the worst in history. Two questions in particular drove me: What’s going on now? what will become of me I only started my own business at the beginning of the year and put all my money into the company, then Corona came along. Financially, everything was on shaky ground in the first few months. And I just thought: First Corona and now also cancer? I have a family of five to feed, a house.
According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute, around 66,800 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. For women, it is the most common type of cancer. Young people are also increasingly affected. The German Cancer Society speaks of over 18,000 women dying of breast cancer every year. Men can also get breast cancer, with them there are around 770 new cases each year. The breast cancer month of October draws attention to the situation of patients.
It took three weeks before it was finally clear what the next steps would be. My case was borderline, I didn’t really need to do chemo and radiation after the surgery, but it was recommended to me. Before the chemotherapy started, I went to the hairdresser’s to have her cut my hair very short so that it wouldn’t look so bad when it fell out. In fact, I’ve only lost about every other hair and eyebrows and eyelashes, yes, but I guess those who didn’t know about my illness didn’t look at me. I didn’t have that unhealthy gray complexion either.
But I got thinner. I lost about ten kilos because I couldn’t taste anything anymore because of the chemo. I didn’t know if what I was eating was actually food or the box the food came in. So I only ate what was necessary. Still, the chemo wasn’t that bad for me. I was usually fit enough to work at least four hours a day. This was certainly also due to the fact that I had done a lot of sport before and then did it all the more in consultation with experts. Nordic walking was just the thing, after that I actually felt better and better. I could almost feel the toxins being filtered out. Two and a half months of radiation followed the chemo.
A year after the diagnosis, I was 100 percent back in the job. Even my doctors were surprised at how well I coped with the disease. The people at the Südbaden Breast Center took great care of me. These are superheroes. That made everything easier. And I joined and am still active in the Men with Breast Cancer support group shortly after the diagnosis. I got many practical answers to the thousands of questions. It was also a great help to learn that while male breast cancer is rare, I was by no means alone.
When I felt the lump back then, I didn’t think of cancer, although not only did my grandmother die of breast cancer at a very young age, but my sister was also affected. Her cancer was discovered two years before me. At that time, a test revealed that it was hereditary breast cancer. At the time, I was also considering whether I would be tested for the gene. I finally decided against it. What good does it do me to know that I have the gene? The probability of developing breast cancer as a man is very low, even with the gene. So it was good that I had an appointment with my family doctor anyway. I don’t know when I would have gone to him about the knot. I have three children, I would be really sorry if I passed the breast cancer gene on to them. We leave it up to them whether they want to be tested or not. After all, they have experienced through my illness that cancer is not the same as a death sentence.
My cancer therapy was completed in July last year. In the beginning I still had to go to my doctors every three months. I have four who take care of me: A gynecologist – not many men can say that about themselves, an oncologist, a radiologist and a cancer consultant. I now only see the gynecologist and radiologist once a year, I’m doing so well. I’m not worried about the cancer coming back. The chance is just as high as getting run over by a car and I’m not worried about that. I’m careful when I cross the street, but I don’t always think when I leave the house that today I’ll be run over. I take care of myself, do sports and pay even more attention to what I eat and drink. Instead of eating a Sauerbraten every week, I’d rather only eat a real T-bone steak from the grill every six weeks. I am confident. That’s because of two things: I’m a very typical American. I can do anything – nothing is impossible for me. And I’m a practicing Christian. My faith was even confirmed by the illness. Life goes on and things are going well. To be honest, I’m even better off now than I was before cancer.
Brian Jahnke has been a member of the “Men with Breast Cancer” network since his illness. He now wants to offer the help that was offered to him there to others. Anyone who would like to exchange ideas can contact him: b.jahnke@brustkrebs-beim-mann.de
