Kirk's Full Story with Breast Cancer     

OHC: Kirk, we have to hear your story. You're the only guy this kat's met with breast cancer. Start from the beginning.

Kirk: Well, I'll tell you my story but stop me if I get too long winded -- I get it from my mamma! Anyhow, I hope that I can provide some sort of useful information for our members.

For me, it was one of those brief moments in time that seemed to shake things up a bit. Perhaps you could say that someone was looking out for me for a change.

Let me digress. When I was at the age of all those hormones and stuff, I discovered that boys get tender breasts too. That freaked me out being around 12 or 13. I found out from the school nurse that his was normal and life went on, but it stayed with me because it freaked me out so much.

Somewhere around 1991 or 92, I started to get some small pain sensations in my right breast just behind the nipple area, and noticed I could feel something in the area where it hurt. My mind went back to that period as a child and I thought “good grief…puberty again at 30???."

I laughed it off and waited for my other breast to hurt as when I was young. Several weeks went by and the other one never changed yet my right one was getting more noticeable and painful. At the time I was on stage a lot with the band figured that either I was holding my guitar wrong or that maybe something bit me.

OHC: When did your curiosity turn to concern about the "bump" on your breast?

Kirk: After several months, the slightest thing brought me pain so I went to the doctor. They did the usual stuff: took some blood, checked the tire pressure, and then I waited for the doctor to return. I'll never forget that.

I told him about my puberty episode and what had been happening in the last few months. I got some “hmmm” and “uh huh" noises and some "does it hurt when I do this?” pokes and prods. Funny how they know just where to push and tap to send you through the roof!

“Let me check something and I’ll be right back” were his words and off he went. A few minutes later he came back with two nurses. He told me I had THREE lumps -- one in my boobie and two in my throat.

“Mr. Warren, we have you scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning and you’ll need to sign some papers and this nurse has some questions for you as well.” 

The nurse's first question to me was “When was your last mammogram?” I just about chocked on my lumps when she asked that question. “Excuse me??” was my response I believe, followed by, “WHAT mammogram? ‘Scuse me miss…umm…man here…mammogram???”

OHC: Is this a common recommendation for men?

Kirk: The nurse said that men are supposed to get mammagrams too. No one ever told me about this, or maybe it was covered on one of those days I napped in class or something. They took a bunch of x-rays -- yes, the smashed my already sore boobie in that thing and clicked away.

In what seemed like days, they all came back and said “it’s got to come out”. Not even a needle biopsy or anything because they said they didn’t want anything to cause it to spread anywhere else. They told me to relax and take a deep breath but seemed impossible.

The next morning, bright and early, everything was a blur. I do remember hearing the nurse say “Ok Mr. Warren, I want you to count backwor…zzzzzzz.” The next thing I know someone is calling my name but I couldn't tell who. I was pleading not to wake me up. That sleep was awesome! I kept wanting that nurse to leave so I could go back to sleep but no. She keeps telling me in a sing-y kinda voice, “We have to make sure you’re and alert before we can let you go.” So I passed the tests and they sent me home.

Everything seemed fine until the meds started wearing off. I couldn't believe how much pain I had! I took lots of meds and went to bed. The next morning, I wake to find that I now have a bubble the size of a golf ball under my bandages. I freaked out all the way to the hospital where they cleaned me up and told me not to worry. Apparently the glue didn’t hold and they had to re-glue it. I thought, "Glue?!" The nurse told me that they don’t use stitches “there” any more so that it doesn’t scar too badly. I thought to myself, "You just cut a hole in my nipple, took some God-knows-what out, and then glued me up? Xanax moment!"

OHC: So after you recovered from surgery, then what happened? Were you out of the woods?

Ever noticed how when you’re waiting on test results that they seem to take forever?! Several weeks went by and then “the call” came. They wouldn't tell me over the phone. They said I had to come into the office. There ought to be a law against that!

I made the seemingly endless drive to my doctor's office, which is really only about five or ten miles. In a nut shell, it wasn’t a fatty mass. It was pre-cancerous and he assured me because of the early stage, there was no doubt they got it all. Oh boy! He sent me home with meds to take for many months and here I sit today.

Some might want to say it was no big deal but it scared the crap out of me! The whole thing showed me it was time for changes in life and better use of my time. I was lucky. I normally wouldn’t have gone to a doctor, but something told me I should. My hesitation could have made things turn out much worse. I'm just glad I'm still alive and kicking, even if I do have to get mammograms!