I’m Eric—and I beat breast cancer.
Yeah, I know. It surprised me too. At first, I was embarrassed. I thought, “Come on, I’m a guy. I’ve got a master’s from Yale. I’m smart. Breast cancer is something women get—sadly—but not guys like me.”
Turns out, I wasn’t quite as smart as I thought.
I noticed a lump on the left side of my chest. And then I did nothing. For more than ten months, I ignored it, brushed it off as “probably just a cyst”—even though I didn’t really know what a cyst was. Denial was easy. Facing it was harder.
When I finally brought it up to my doctor, he didn’t miss a beat. He said, “Men get breast cancer too. Same plumbing—just different fluids running through the pipes.”
Next thing I knew, I was scheduled for a mammogram. I asked, “Can we at least call it a man-o-gram?” Similar to most guys, humor’s always been my go-to defense mechanism. The mammography tech took one look and knew it wasn’t good. Soon after, I went under the knife. I lost a nipple and gained a seven-inch scar. Just like that, I was a card-carrying member of the mastectomy club.
But because I waited so long to act, the cancer had spread to a couple of lymph nodes. That meant chemo—months of it. Not exactly the weight loss program you want to sign up for. I lost my hair, my energy, and most of my meals. I also lost my job. Cancer is a wrecking ball—it doesn’t just hit your body.
When the chemo was finally done, I got a new prescription: five years of Tamoxifen. A month into it, I was watching the Bruins in the playoffs when I suddenly got really hot—like, “open-all-the-windows” hot. Forty-five minutes later, I was freezing, huddled in a blanket. That’s right—hot flashes. For five years. Who knew?
Stepping Out to Celebrate Life Gala
Pink Vail Fundraiser Event
Let's Make a Deal
Breast Cancer Awareness Episode (with Wayne Brady)
Let’s Make a Deal
Breast Cancer Awareness Episode
Look, I didn’t choose to have breast cancer. But I did choose to ignore the warning signs. That was the dumb part. What would’ve really been embarrassing? Dying from something that could have been treated—if I’d only faced it earlier.
So let me level with you: if you find a lump in your chest, don’t blow it off. Don’t wait. Don’t let embarrassment get in the way of saving your own life. I was lucky. I’m still here because I got over myself and made the call. 1 in 726 men will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Be smarter than I was. Don’t be a chump. Check for the lump.
And if you want to help make sure fewer people—men and women, including yourself and your loved ones—never have to go through this, support Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. They’re an amazing group working to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals linked to breast cancer.
