Breast Cancer Survivor Warns Men They Can Get the Disease

PORTLAND, Ore. — Kelvin Woods is a man, with a message for other men.  “Be proactive, put your macho ego down.”  He’s trying to teach them that they can get breast cancer, and survive it.   Woods thought he had a mosquito bite in 2013.  But the lump in his right breast did not  go away, and when he went to a doctor he found out it was breast cancer.  “One quick look at it, one glance, and one touch, and he said hey, we need to get this out.”

Our news partner KGW reports, doctors diagnose more than 2700 men with breast cancer each year, and about 530.  Even though that’s fewer than 1% of cases, it’s still hundreds of deaths, and many times men put off going to the doctor about it, mistakenly thinking they can’t get breast cancer.   About 287,850 women will be diagnosed this year and 43,350 will die from the disease.

 Woods plans to keep sharing his story this weekend, at the Making Strides Walk of Oregon and Southwest Washington on Saturday, which raises funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society. “I definitely took advantage of the American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Walk,” he said. “I’m a part-time DJ. So, I DJ some of the events, just along the route.”

Making strides of Oregon and Southwest Washington is happening at the Portland International Raceway. Check-in starts at 9 a.m. and the walk is at 10 a.m.

For more information visit cancer.org and register for the local walk here.