Oct 7, 2023 at 9:37 AM Update: an hour ago
Today is International Breast Cancer Day. In the Netherlands, about 130 men receive this diagnosis every year. This compares to approximately 15,000 Dutch women who are diagnosed. NU.nl spoke to three men with breast cancer.
55-year-old Richard van der Heijden felt a lump in his chest. The doctor labeled it as a fatty lump. But after a few months it was still there and that didn’t sit well with him. “I wanted to go to the hospital.”
In the hospital it was clear after an ultrasound that something was not right. “It was then 99 percent certain to be a malignant tumor,” he says. This also appeared from other tests. Van der Heijden had breast cancer. “The following weeks you are tired. You have to process everything.”
“Then you go through the whole medical mill.” He had surgery in June 2019. The lump and the area around it were removed. A breast reconstruction was also performed during this operation. But everything is aimed at women. “I have the smallest female breast prosthesis,” he says.
Van der Heijden also had to be treated with chemotherapy. “The chemo made me feel nauseous. Your fingers and toes tingle, you lose nails. And of course your hair falls out.”
He was then operated on again. Then no cancer was found and he was declared ‘clean’.
The cancer has changed Van der Heijden’s view of life. “During that period you see which of your friends paid attention to it and who did nothing with it.”
Richard van der Heijden: “The GP thought it was a fat lump.” Photo: Richard van der Heijden
Questions that you cannot ask anyone
In 2017, Ronald Spruit was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I had not taken into account that it could be breast cancer,” says the 47-year-old. “It’s explained that it doesn’t happen that often. It’s such a small chance, I thought, why should I worry about it?” When he heard the diagnosis he was shocked: “My world collapsed.”
The prospects were quite good. The lump wasn’t that big. Sprout’s left breast was amputated. He did not require further treatment.
Four years after the operation, he noticed a lump in his armpit. “Somewhere in the back of your head you hear that that is not a good sign.” The GP immediately referred him to the hospital. The lump turned out to be cancer again, it had spread to his lymph nodes, bones and lungs. “That’s the second time your world has collapsed.”
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Sprout won’t get better. “In the beginning, the oncologist said that I can live with this for another five to ten years. So I’ll stick to that.” He has organized his life differently. “I don’t make long-term plans.”
“Mentally I also had a lot of trouble with it. I had to give everything a place.” There is also help for the treatment of incurable diseases. “I joined a kind of support group. That helped me a lot. The thoughts are always present, but I have learned to deal with them, I think.”
Spruit is looking for fellow sufferers. He notices that much is still unknown. Sometimes he has questions that he can’t ask anyone, because they don’t know either. Breast cancer is simply not that common in men. “I want to make sure that I go see those men. That I can share those experiences.”
Ronald Spruit is looking for fellow sufferers. Photo: Ronald Spruit
The lumps turned out to be a new opportunity
Things turned out very differently for Norman van Beek. The 55-year-old felt pain in his chest in July 2017. “Then I felt a big lump next to my nipple.” Norman immediately called the doctor. “He was actually shocked too,” he says. “That will set off a lot of alarm bells.”
With the first test they could not determine whether the bump was a malignant tumor. That is why Van Beek had surgery.
When he woke up in the afternoon after the operation, he was not allowed to go home right away. The oncologist wanted to talk to him. “The doctor said, ‘I’ve never seen this before, but it looks bad.’ And then you have to go home…”
“So much is going through your mind. Everything in your life comes along. I really went into a mode of I still have to arrange this, I still have to arrange that. Once home, there were some real tears, together with my wife.”
And then you have to wait for the results. Is the tumor malignant or not? “Your life is really on pause. You’re on hold. That’s by far the toughest thing I’ve experienced mentally.”
After three weeks the tumor turned out not to be malignant. “My oncologist was also completely surprised.” That was a huge relief.
Van Beek then had a shop that made 3D scans and 3D printing. There he made himself a counter mold – something that pressed on his chest wound, so that moisture could not build up. When the oncologist saw that, he asked if Van Beek could also make that for other people. “I picked up that gauntlet.”
Van Beek has been developing breast prostheses for three years and now has his own company: EVE breast prostheses, which makes custom-made breast prostheses for men and women. Van Beek has found his calling through the lumps. “This is my mission.”
Norman van Beek: “Mentally this is extremely difficult.” Photo: Stephanie Driessen Photography
2023-10-07 07:37:37
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