Jim and Linda

Jim and Linda
Jim - 7-year survivor, Linda - 8-year survivor
Y-ME Match Counselors

"No one knows anyone who has male breast cancer."

Linda and Jim Clauson have shared a lot during their more than 25 years of marriage, but they never expected to share a breast cancer diagnosis. Linda, a retired teacher, was "totally shocked" when in 2003 her routine mammogram revealed a suspicious lesion. She had found it early, and after two lumpectomies with unclear margins, she chose a mastectomy and tamoxifen. She had no known risks factors for breast cancer. No one in her family had ever had the disease.

As shocking as breast cancer is for any woman, it is even more unlikely for a man. Of the more than 230,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in this country every year, less than 1% occur in males. Despite his wife's experience, Jim wasn't worried when he found a lump on his breast in April 2004. He was so unconcerned that he "wasn't going to do anything about it," but Linda was persistent, even going so far as to make the appointment with his doctor.

The doctor wasn't worried either. "It's nothing, Jim," he told him, "but I am going to take it off anyway." He removed the lump in his office. A week later when Jim returned to have the stitches taken out, the situation had changed. The doctor told him that he had breast cancer, DCIS. He too had a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and hormonal therapy.

"I'm lucky because my cancer was detected in a very early stage, but that wouldn't have happened without Linda's bugging me so much about going to the doctor. I know male breast cancer is unusual, but the death rate is higher for men because they never think about the possibility of having this disease and don’t go to the doctor.”

Before their diagnoses, Jim and Linda had never heard of Y-ME. Then, while reading an article about male breast cancer, they saw the Hotline number and called it. Today, Linda is a Y-ME peer and match counselor and Jim is a match counselor with a unique dual role. He is match for both men with breast cancer and for husbands or partners or women who have been diagnosed with the disease.

"We had done the Avon walk, but we wanted to do something more personal," says Linda. "The best part is when I hang up the phone and know that I have really helped someone through a difficult time in their day."

"No one knows anyone who has male breast cancer," adds Jim. "The men I talk to with this disease on the Hotline have nowhere to turn. They are really grateful to find someone who understands how they are feeling. One of my goals is to educate people that men do get breast cancer."

For men whose wives or partners have breast cancer, Jim sees the biggest challenge as being their feelings of loss of control in their lives.

"Men are used to being in charge, to being the ones who fix things and protect their families. Then their wives get breast cancer, and they don't know what to do. They can't fix it. They don't even know what to say or how to support their wives and families. The Hotline gives them a place to call and a person to talk to who really knows what they are going through – and how they can cope."