Herb Wagner

"Tough and Proud Enough to Wear Pink"

My name is Herb Wagner and at the age of 65, I am a breast cancer survivor. Although very rare, approximately 1% of all breast cancers are diagnosed in men. It is estimated that 2500 men in the US and approximately 200 men in Canada are diagnosed ever year with male breast cancer. Unfortunately, the prognosis for men is not as good as that for women because, more often than not, it is diagnosed at a later, more advanced stage.

In March 2005, while visiting my family doctor in Florida concerning a cyst on my neck, I removed my shirt. Dr. Blackburn asked about my right inverted nipple, which my family physician in Ohio dismissed as "nothing to worry about" six months previously. He scheduled me for a mammogram the following day. Three days following the biopsy, I was told that I had stage II - III, invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and Dr. Blackburn advised me that I should undergo surgery the following week. I underwent a sentinel lymph node evaluation and a modified radical mastectomy with the removal of five lymph nodes, eleven days after the original mammogram. I was very fortunate in that the excised lymph nodes were clear of any cancer cells and the tumor was found to be estrogren/progesterone positive. This meant that my treatment would involve hormone therapy (Arimidex) without the need for chemo or radiation therapy. I am now 49 months cancer free.

In 2006, Wrangler and other western wear manufacturers joined forces with the rodeo industry to develop the "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" campaign to raise awareness and funds to support the fight against breast cancer. To date, they have contributed over one million dollars to breast cancer research. Consequently, my mission has become to increase male breast cancer awareness. Since late 2006 I have been wearing the Wrangler "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" western shirt while speaking publically, in both the United States and Canada, wherever and whenever I can about male breast cancer.

I have completed three TV documentaries and four newspaper interviews in the US and Canada, a radio interview to help raise funds for a new digital mammography unit for a Canadian hospital, spoke and walked the survivor lap at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks in St. Petersburg and Dade City, FL, and walked the survivor lap in several American and Canadian cancer societies' Relay for Life. I joined and paddled with the Woodstock Ontario Breast Cancer dragon boat team and the Canadians Abreast the Canadian National Breast Cancer dragon boat team, spoke at several fundraising events for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and the Susan Komen three day walk in Tampa, FL. I have posted my story on the Internet and my daughter are currently funding and helping me to develop a website where other MBC patients can learn more about the disease and share their stories.