WILLOUGHBY, Ohio–Dale Crowley is a man’s man. He has tattoos and writes horror stories.
Yet, when he was sick in 2008, he initially ignored the warning signs.
“I started to get a little bit of leakage out of one of my nipples, which was really odd, and I just chalked it up to being a heavier guy,” he said. “I traveled for work, and they pressurized the [airplane] cabin and the whole front of my shirt got wet.”
The husband and father-of-two immediately sought his doctor for help, but didn’t expect the diagnosis.
He had Stage One breast cancer.
“It’s funny, when the carnival of shame started, you know,” Crowley said. “I had to get a mastectomy. You know, when you’re 5’10” with tattoos and earrings and a bald, shaved head and having to go into the mammography area and explain I’m here for me. The whole situation is very uncomfortable.”
Research shows that while breast cancer in men is rare, they are still at risk. About 1 in 100 cases actually involve men and 10 out of a million men will develop breat cancer at some point in their life, according to the National Cancer Institute.
“The men who are at the most increased risk are those who have a family history and those who have a condition called gynecomastia, where they have breast development usually from another medical cause,” said Dr. Jill Dietz, a breast surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dietz said because men don’t get an annual screening, they usually find out when it’s further along. She said men from 60 to 70 typically get the disease. Dale was only 38.
“It was hard, telling my wife and the other women in my life I had cancer,” Crowley said. “It’s funny because I kind of had to be strong because everybody else was kind of freaking out about it. ”
Throughout the whole experience, however, Dale’s learned to make light of the situation.
“I have a very good sense of humor about it,” he laughed. “I make jokes about how I’m going to drink for free in bars for the rest of my life. You know, ‘I’ll bet you I have no nipples.”
Though Dale is cancer-free today, he admits the disease is always a concern.
“I want to see my daughter get married,” he said. “I want to be there when my kids have their heart broken to comfort them and those sort of things that suddenly, I don’t know that I’m going to be there for that. I’m grateful to be here because I caught it early enough. And that’s the key. It’s just this idea of early detection.”
For more information on breast cancer and men, go to
Http://www.Cancer.Gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/malebreast/patient/page1