CLEVELAND — As an active man in his 30s, Brian Chrobak never expected to have several mammograms and a lumpectomy.
But that’s exactly what happened after he learned he has breast cancer in Feb. 2021.
“I have a pretty good sense of humor,” he said. “So, I said leave it to me to get breast cancer.”
It all started with a lump under his left nipple. It had been there for years and Chrobak said he wasn’t worried. He said doctors didn’t think much of it, either.
“They pretty much just thought it was a cyst or gynecomastia which is common is men,” Chobrak said. “Breast cancer was never even discussed or thought of.”
One night, Chrobak noticed his nipple looked inverted. It was tender and throbbing.
But it wasn’t until his nurse practitioner girlfriend, Nikki, encouraged him to get it checked out that he found out that the lump was breast cancer.
“It was right out of the gate. Not the ideal pickup line,” he said.
They’d only been dating a few weeks, and the diagnosis was a shock.
“I thank God every day that she was put in my life at this time in that given situation and chose to stay. I wouldn’t have blamed anybody, you know, I remember thinking, ‘Do I want to go down this path starting a relationship while I’m just starting this journey?'” said Chrobak. “She never skipped a beat. So, I couldn’t be more thankful. I don’t think I’ve quite found the words just yet.”
Breast cancer in men is rare. Less than 1% of people diagnosed with the disease are men. Chrobak said he has no family history of cancer.
“The hardest part is actually right out of the gate when you know you have breast cancer and the next question is, we have to figure out if it went anywhere else in your body,” said Chrobak.
His doctors at the Cleveland Clinic discovered the cancer was also in his lymph nodes. After undergoing chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, he said he’s almost feeling 100% better. Chrobak is grateful to be able to enjoy working out and golfing again.
“Anybody that goes through anything like this, I would say move as much as you can and I realize you don’t want to, but that seemed to give you the best result for energy actually,” he said.
Chrobak said he hopes sharing his story inspires others to listen to their bodies and tackle any obstacle life throws their way head on.
“Speak up. I don’t think anything in life gets better by keeping it in or being prideful,” said Chrobak.
Cleveland Clinic breast medical oncologist Dr. Erin Roesch said chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and hormonal therapy are part of a standard treatment plan for men.
“In general, the treatment for males essentially mirrors what we do for females. There are some slight differences due to the amount of breast tissue that males have versus females. Sometimes the surgical approach might be a little bit different,” said Roesch.
She said knowledge about family history as it relates to cancer is key. Roesch urges both men and women to get checked out by their health care providers right away if they notice any changes on their body such as lumps.
