Faith in Humanity: Couple both with breast cancer raise awareness
Oct 13, 2015, 7:03 PM | Updated: 7:08 pm
FILE - In this Tuesday, July 31, 2012, file photo, a radiologist compares an image from earlier, 2-D technology mammogram to the new 3-D Digital Breast Tomosynthesis mammography in Wichita Falls, Texas. The technology can detect much smaller cancers earlier. Chances of dying from DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), a very early form of breast cancer are small but the disease is riskier for young women and blacks - disparities seen previously in more advanced cancer, according to a large study published Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015 in JAMA Oncology. (Torin Halsey/Times Record News via AP)
(Torin Halsey/Times Record News via AP)
It’s a common misconception that only women are diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, although breast cancer in males is less common, many men are still affected.
One Connecticut couple knows firsthand. Meg and Gerald Campion have both been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last 10 years.
Gerald first discovered he had the disease in 2006 after finding a bump on his chest. Meg then found out she had ductal carcinoma in situ, a pre-cancer, in 2009.
Gerald’s cancer unfortunately returned in 2011 and spread to his bones. It’s not curable, but Gerald has his spirits up.
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women and about 2,350 new male cases are predicted for 2015. Of those, about 440 men diagnosed with invasive breast cancer will die, reports the Huffington Post.
“Eighty percent of men don’t realize they can contract breast cancer,” Meg told ABC News. “If it prevents one family from losing a dad or a husband, that’s why we do it.”
Now, the Campions speak publicly about their struggle and work to be an active voice for the illness, working with medicial organizations and charity groups.
Gerald said his second diagnosis is the best thing that has ever happened to him as he became a more compassionate person and is now doing things for others.
