Breast cancer was “the last thing” on retired police officer Harry Gray’s mind when his nylon running shirt began to rub against his chest.
The 74-year-old first suspected something was wrong while on vacation with his wife Val in Florida in March 2019, but dismissed his chest pain as a damaged nerve.
However, the pain in his left breast became “unbearable” months later for the keen runner who lives in Alness, near Inverness, Scotland.
Despite not being able to see anything wrong, he called his GP, where he was rushed to a specialist cancer unit.
Weeks later, she was shocked to learn that she had developed stage two breast cancer, a condition that almost always affects women.
Harry Gray, 74, pictured with his dog Willow, first suspected something was wrong while on holiday with his wife Val in Florida in March 2019, but the pain in his chest was ignored as if it were a nerve damaged.
The pain in his left breast became “unbearable” months later for the keen runner who lives in Alness, near Inverness, Scotland.
According to studies, only one percent of all cases occur in men.
Speaking about the first time he noticed chest pain, Mr Gray said: “We were playing in the pool and my wife pinched my left nipple.
‘It hurt and after I got home I felt some discomfort for a couple of months. But I thought maybe I had damaged a nerve and didn’t do anything about it.
But as the months passed, the active retiree, who ran about three times a week, noticed that his shirt was starting to rub against his chest.
He dismissed the common problem until the pain reached a “ten out of ten” while out for a run in the first week of September 2019, he told MailOnline.
‘I run a lot and I was wearing one of these nylon running shirts. One day in particular, I was rubbing my nipple and suddenly I felt excruciating pain.
“I couldn’t see anything strange, but I thought I’d better get it checked out.”
Despite not being able to see anything wrong, he decided to call his GP, where he was rushed to a specialized cancer unit; Weeks later she was told she had stage two breast cancer.
She underwent a mastectomy on October 23 and doctors removed 19 lymph nodes. He then underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy starting in November.
His GP rushed him to make an appointment at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, where he and his wife were living at the time, and after an ultrasound and biopsy, he was told he had stage two breast cancer.
She underwent a mastectomy on October 23 and doctors removed 19 lymph nodes. The following month he began the first of four rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Stage two breast cancer is an early stage of the disease in which the cancer is found in the breast, nearby lymph nodes, or both.
Mr Gray’s biopsy showed the cancer was in a lump under his left breast and in a lymph node.
“I was surprised when I found out, but if I’m honest I immediately started thinking about what needed to be done to improve,” Mr Gray said.
He recalls that the side effects of the chemotherapy were “severe,” he lost all his hair and became quite “lethargic.”
At one point during his chemotherapy treatment, he developed a dangerously high fever, which landed him in the hospital, where he was treated for suspected sepsis.
He said: “After a week of tests, antibiotics and everything, I was fine, so they sent me home.”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with almost 56,000 cases diagnosed each year.
Gray is now raising awareness of the condition as part of Asda’s campaign. Pink Tickle Campaignwhich raises money for Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel!
Although breast cancer in men is rare, around 400 men are diagnosed each year in the UK, according to Breast Cancer Now.
Cancer grows in the small amount of breast tissue that men have behind their nipples.
It usually occurs in men over 60 years of age, but can occasionally affect younger men.
Mr Gray said: ‘I was always very physically active. I would go to the gym and take care of myself. I always thought I was strong, but now I realize that if I had been a little more aware when I first felt that discomfort, maybe I would have gotten away with just having a lump removed and not been subjected to this complete mastectomy.’
“It still affects me because everything is still numb and the doctor told me I probably won’t get any feeling back because it’s such a drastic surgery.”
‘It’s made me more aware now, so when I feel like something isn’t right I don’t wait another month or two to see if it resolves itself; I call the doctor.
Although breast cancer in men is rare, around 370 men are still diagnosed each year in the UK, according to Breast Cancer Now.
Gray believes men should make checkups a regular part of their routine and should take action if they notice anything out of the ordinary.
She admitted that she never considered that breast cancer could affect her.
‘I never thought about that. I was lucky it was only stage two, but if I had left it longer it could have been a lot harder to deal with and I might not be sitting here now.’
Although breast cancer and the symptoms to look out for are widely discussed today, Gray believes the message is rarely directed at men.
“When we watch morning TV shows with doctors on them, they talk about breast cancer, but they always talk about women’s breast cancer,” she said.
“I’m sure most men who contract the disease had no idea they would be susceptible.”
When Mr. Gray was given his treatment options, his surgeon told him what the breast cancer survival rates were with and without chemotherapy.
But there was a warning that the statistics were for women because there is not enough data on men.
He believes men should make checking on themselves a regular part of their routine and should take action if they notice anything out of the ordinary.
‘As for checking your breasts, I would tell a man that he should do it regularly, in the same way that he checks his testicles for testicular cancer.
“I still check my other breast and it only takes me a few minutes to check that there is nothing unusual there.”