One Man’s Story: Tucker Melancon
Photo credit: Tim Coffey
Note: this is the fifth column in our new series, One Woman’s Story: A Breast Cancer Survivor’s Story and Personal Message. As you'll see, this story is not about a woman.
One Man's Story: Tucker Melancon
Tucker Melancon is a Federal Judge from Louisiana and a patient of Dr. KM Steve Lo of the Bennett Cancer Center, the chair of the Alliance's Medical Advisory Board. Tucker is a reminder that, although we often think of it as a woman's disease, men get breast cancer too. According to American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) estimates for 2009, some 1,910 men were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the United States last year, with about 440 men expected to die from the disease. American Cancer Society figures report that breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women, and that the lifetime risk of a man getting breast cancer is about one in 1,000, as compared to one in eight for women.
"I was 56 years old when I discovered I had an inverted nipple," says Tucker Melancon, when recounting how his struggle with breast cancer began. "I didn't think much of it at the time;" he continues, "of course, I didn't know male breast cancer was even possible."
When he finally made it to the doctor on a July Thursday in 2002, he was sent for a mammogram and a sonogram, followed by a biopsy on Friday. When 12 out of 16 lymph nodes tested positive, a radical mastectomy was scheduled for Monday. "There was no time to get ready, I just had to go full speed ahead," Tucker recalls.
He spent the next nine months dealing with nine chemotherapy sessions and 33 radiation treatments. That was followed by four and a half years of Tamoxifen, with scans every four months. In between treatments, Tucker continued working and even found time to get married.
But the journey wasn't over. A PET/CT scan in 2006 showed that the cancer had spread further in his lymphatic system. "One doctor told me to go home and prepare my will. Another suggested hormone treatments and a third prescribed more chemotherapy," says Tucker, adding that the conflicting advice was indicative of how imprecise the treatment options were at the time.
At his wife's urging, Tucker moved full time to Connecticut, where, with her help and research skills, he began a raw, vegan diet and went to see Dr. Steve Lo for what he thought would be palliative care. Under Dr. Lo's supervision, Tucker decided to forego further chemotherapy and opt instead for hormone therapy (he is on Arimidex and Lupron) and a controlled raw diet. Three years later, his last scan showed the affected lymph nodes to be smaller than they have ever been. "Dr. Lo and I are now treating this as a chronic disease; just trying to stay ahead of it," Tucker says.
Although it was an unusual diagnosis for a man, Tucker decided early on to be up front and vocal about his condition. He didn't want others to remain unaware that the disease could affect men, so, as he puts it, "I wanted to be the poster boy for male breast cancer." To that end, he became a board member of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship and he is currently being featured in the Faces of Light® - Stories From Breast Cancer Survivors, produced by Foundation of Light, Inc., now on display at the Tully Health Center in Stamford, CT.
He also recognizes that his outspoken approach is not for everyone. As he puts it, "There is no right or wrong way to handle cancer - the reaction to this disease is a very personal one. But I wanted men - and the women in their lives - to know everything about this so they would not ignore symptoms they might otherwise dismiss."
Lucky may not be the best word to describe his experience, but Tucker remains positive, and feeling well. He's hoping that everyone in the country will soon know about male breast cancer and make diagnosis and prompt treatment a priority.
