Skip to main content
  • Advertise
    Want to Advertise with Us?
    Conquer welcomes advertising and sponsorship collaborations with reputable companies offering high-quality products and services to people affected by cancer.
  • Affiliated Brands
    Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators
    The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) is the largest national specialty organization dedicated to improving patient care and quality of life by defining, enhancing, and promoting the role of oncology nurse and patient navigators. Our organization of over 8,900 members was founded in May 2009 to provide a network for all professionals involved and interested in patient navigation and survivorship care services to better manage the complexities of the cancer care treatment continuum for their patients. We view our organization as one consisting of “professional patient advocates” and, to that end, we support and serve our members.
    Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship
    The Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (JONS) promotes reliance on evidence-based practices in navigating patients with cancer and their caregivers through diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. JONS also seeks to strengthen the role of nurse and patient navigators in cancer care by serving as a platform for these professionals to disseminate original research findings, exchange best practices, and find support for their growing community.
    The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA
    The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON) provides coverage of the wide spectrum of oncology-related events, trends, news, therapeutics, diagnostics, organizations, and legislation that directly affect hematology/oncology nurses and advanced practitioners involved in healthcare delivery and product utilization. The scope and coverage include a unique presentation of news and events that are shaping the care of patients with cancer.
  • Healthcare Providers
  • Contribute

My Journey with Male Breast Cancer

December 2015 Vol 1 No 6

In November 2001, Ambrose Kirkland was diagnosed with breast cancer. This may not raise eyebrows if the patient is a woman. But being a man, his breast cancer raised more than a few eyebrows. He was shocked and had an emotional experience that few men can ever imagine.

Ambrose knew he had problems with his breast size, but he always thought it was because he was heavy. Overweight men usually have much fatty tissue. He was on a mission to suppress them: he would wear small T-shirts or wrap a bandage around his breasts. The thing that worked best for him was sewing the sides of a large T-shirt to compress the breast area.

Before the biopsy, he did not say anything about it to anyone. He found a lump in April 2001 but didn’t pay much attention to it until late August, when he noticed blood spots on his tight white T-shirts. The spots got larger and larger; he spent September and October going to doctors and undergoing an endless battery of tests.

He even had a mammogram, which showed calcium deposits in the breast tissue, so on October 30, 2001, Ambrose had a biopsy. He had to wait all week for the results.

He and his mom were on separate phones when the doctor called. When Dr. Sieloff said the word “malignant,” Ambrose locked eyes with his mom. In addition to her pain, he also saw his entire life in her eyes, from birth up to that moment. He saw a mother’s love for her child. He will always remember this look as long as he lives.

He had a bilateral double mastectomy in December. In June/July 2002, he had 10.5 weeks of radiation at the Northeast Cancer Center of Florida. He was told he couldn’t have chemotherapy, because it contained estrogen, which would make him even sicker. But radiation wasn’t any better. He spent days on the sofa in pain or nauseated. He lost the taste for food. He smelled flesh burning, which turned out to be his.

Ambrose’s cancer is now in remission. Sadly, on October 19, 2013, his biggest supporter, his mom, Lora Kirkland, passed, but he continues to fight, with her spirit beside him.

In 2014, Ambrose had several scares with recurrence. His lymph nodes were removed and also a small benign mass. He had a genetic test to see if he carried the BRCA gene, which he doesn’t, but the test showed he carries 2 new genetic mutations, MRE11A and NBN. He has yet to find any information for men about these mutations.

Ambrose continues to fight for all patients with breast cancer, especially men. He wrote a book, Mama, I Found a Lump, which relates his journey with male breast cancer. He also speaks at different events, sharing the phrase “men too.” He feels that if he can save at least 1 life, he has done his job!

Recommended For You