Greg's advice GUYS, IT'S BREAST to be aware!

FROM A BRUISE TO CANCER, HE’S ON A MISSION TO INFORM MEN

- Lynley Ward

He’s often the only man sitting in a breast screening clinic, but for cancer survivor Greg Sargeaunt any awkward feelings as he waits for his annual mammogram are a small price to pay to stay alive.

The go-getting Aucklander is one of around 25 Kiwi men diagnosed with breast cancer each year, a deadly disease usually linked to women.

With a scar stretching across the right side of his chest from a mastectomy to remove a tumour three years ago, Greg (66) is one of the first men in the country to have regular mammograms to check for any signs of cancer in his remaining breast. It’s a service that hasn’t been standard practice to offer men who have fought breast cancer. But now, it’s now being offered at Auckland Hospital.

“I had one a few months ago, and I’ll go back in a year and they’ll check me annually for another four years,” explains Greg. “Then I go to a two-yearly check and then, hopefully, it will be in remission by then.

“So, now, I’m getting a regular check-up that will look at the left side and make sure nothing’s going wrong there.”

After an operation to remove the four-centimetre tumour, as well as 13 lymph nodes from his right shoulder, 16 doses of chemotherapy and three painful sessions of radiotherapy, Greg was initially miffed to discover there would be no physical check-up for men.