'I'm glad I swallowed my pride and had the common sense to do something - otherwise I might not be here now'
A grandfather-of-two has told how he underwent a mastectomy after being given a shock breast cancer diagnosis. Mike Burrows is now 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 discovered what felt like a pea-sized lump in his chest while showering. Mike, now 69, didn't 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.
After explaining everything 'very apologetically' to the receptionist, he was booked in for an appointment with his GP the following day, and he was then referred to hospital for further examinations and a biopsy. "Prior to me going in for the biopsy, I had no idea what was going to happen," Mike, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, said. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. "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.
According to Cancer Research UK, less than 1% of breast cancers in the UK are found in men, and Mike said he and his wife Jackie, a 62-year-old paramedic, were 'shellshocked' by the news. "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
