Pat shares his story of being diagnosed with breast cancer at 50
Each year in Ireland, around 40 men are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Dublin based, Pat O’ Reilly was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, aged 50 at the time. He attended his GP when he noticed his nipple had become inverted, and was referred to a breast surgeon. Pat recalls hearing the devastating news that he had breast cancer.
“I attended the appointment alone and was taken aback to hear that I had breast cancer, I didn't know that a man could get it. My doctor had also never before encountered a male with breast cancer, but I will be eternally grateful to him for that referral. It most likely saved my life.
I was reassured once I was told that it could be treated and that I could expect to live for many years to come. When I got home, I told my family that I had good news and bad news. The bad news was that I had breast cancer, but the good news was that it was not terminal and could be treated.” He says.
Pat underwent a mastectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy. After successful treatment, Pat was cancer-free for 15 years. However, in 2018, after suffering a stroke, he learned that his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs and bones.
“I was teaching an Irish dancing class in South Dublin when I started speaking gibberish, some might say 'what's new about that!' But it turns out I was having a stroke. Some months later, I started coughing blood and I went to my GP for advice, he referred me for tests, and scans. They showed that I had cancer in my lungs, which was found to be metastatic breast cancer.”
This secondary cancer diagnosis came as a major shock to Pat, making him reconsider aspects of his life and lifestyle. So in addition to the oncology treatment he’s receiving, he’s also made changes to his diet and lifestyle. He doesn’t know if those changes worked with the treatment to improve his outcome, but he’s definitely feeling better about his health overall.
Pat is a keen advocate for men’s health and wants to raise awareness this October about breast cancer in men, to dispel the common misconception that it’s a disease only affecting women.
He also has some words of advice for anyone going through a cancer diagnosis and says
“Don't let it get you down. The quality of cancer treatment has dramatically improved, so please don't focus on prognosis statistics. 18 years ago, I was given a 40% chance of surviving for 5 years, yet I'm still going strong after 18 years. Please don’t search google! If you want reliable information, go directly to trusted websites like cancer.ie or hse.ie. Most importantly try to focus on what you CAN do, rather than on what you can't! I spent my life working in Computers & IT. But now that I'm retired, I get to spend my days working at what I dreamed of doing since I was a teenager, Carpentry and Woodwork. I try not to let cancer dictate what I can and cannot not do. I'm currently building a patio deck at the back of our house, which involves hauling and joining heavy beams.”
Learn more about breast health and about how you can support breast cancer patients this October.
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