Derbyshire breast cancer patient tells men to 'swallow pride pill'

Mike Burrows said since his treatment, he and his wife had gone on more holidays

A breast cancer patient has praised NHS staff after his feedback helped make changes to the local health service.

Mike Burrows, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, found a lump in his armpit and was persuaded to consult doctors by his wife.

The 69-year-old said his care was "fantastic", but gave advice on making the service more accessible to men.

He also said men should "swallow their pride pill" to get any lumps - wherever they are - checked out.

After a biopsy confirmed the lump was stage two cancer, he went to the Royal Derby Hospital's breast unit.

He said: "I remember going into the hospital and it said 'breast clinic', and I thought 'I'm going into a room full of females'.

"And I did, and I was the only man in the room.

"But the staff were absolutely fantastic. They recognised that I was out of my depth, they recognised the whole situation.

"They were so considerate, I can't praise them enough."

Mr Burrows praised hospital staff for recognising how out of place he felt

Mr Burrows said some aspects still made him uncomfortable, including one of the waiting rooms being for those in gowns and therefore unsuitable for him to share with women.

"But they have made a lot of changes there now, which I was able to help with," he said.

"For instance, there was a sign in the waiting room which said 'please respect our ladies' privacy'.

"And we said at the time 'shouldn't that really say patients?'

"This is more than just a matter of feeling out of place.

"If I had been a lesser character I could have thought 'I'm not coming back here, it's for ladies'."

'Might not be nothing'

He said he also advised on reworking some of the available literature, so it was not exclusively aimed at females.

Although current figures show less than 1% of breast cancers nationally are in men, Mr Burrows points out this is only the diagnosed cases.

"How many are undiagnosed and not spotted until they have spread somewhere else?

"We men have to swallow our 'pride pill' and pick up the phone.

"It might be nothing - but it might not be nothing - and it needs to be checked out," he said.

After surgery and radiotherapy, Mr Burrows is now cancer free.

Jackie Conway, lead breast care nurse at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Derby Hospital, said: "We're really grateful for Mike's feedback as it helps us to continually develop our services and we've actually changed some of the posters in the unit to make them gender neutral to ensure all patients feel more comfortable.

"We're also changing the literature available to patients to make this more inclusive for everyone.

"I'm proud of the team for the care they offer to every patient, and the same can be said for the wrap-around care provided to Mike."