Less than 1 percent of all breast cancer cases occur in men. Darricke Bennett became one of those rare cases this past spring, but the Wisconsin man was not a complete stranger to the disease - his wife Undraye had just recovered from breast cancer less than two years prior to his diagnosis.
"We were both lie, what is going on? Is there something going on in this house? It was a shock," Undraye Bennett told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The chances of a husband and wife both getting breast cancer within 10 years are 20,000 to one, Dr. David Walshaw, from Newcastle University's school of mathematics and statistics in England, told the Daily Mail in 2011.
Doctors diagnosed Undraye in February 2012 after she discovered a lump in her left breast, she told the Journal Sentinel. They detected cancer in one lymph node and had the lump surgically removed. She then had chemotherapy injections over the next five months, and radiation for three months after that until she completed the treatment in October 2012.
The couple then had a year of healthy living until Darricke discovered some discomfort in his chest while weightlifting in March of this year. He hoped it would go away.
"I started rubbing my chest and felt a lump. It was very small, but it was solid. I didn't think much of it at the time," Darricke said.
The pain and the lump persisted for a couple weeks, and he finally went to see his doctor. He received a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy, but kept the procedures secret from his wife, as not to worry her. He then heard from the clinic that he had breast cancer.
"We got through mine and we'll get through yours," Undraye told her husband.
Seeing the fine treatment his wife had received, Darricke requested the same oncologist and surgeon that cared for his wife. He also spoke with the same nurse who had taken care of Undraye at Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee. Nurse Deb Theine had only seen a few couples who both contracted breast cancer.
Doctors decided on a mastectomy for Darricke, but he requested a double mastectomy. He wanted a "matching set." The successful surgery removed both his nipples and he has a 4-inch horizontal scar on both side of his chest.
"I'll be honest with you," he said. "It took awhile for me to look in the mirror when I took a shower. I never had any surgeries before in my life.
Darricke chose not to seek chemotherapy treatment after seeking secondary advice from the Mayo Clinic. He will instead take a drug called tamoxifen over the next five years. Tamoxifen blocks the estrogen that stimulated his breast cancer.
The couple agreed the experiences brought them close together and Darricke recommended seeking a check-up "if you notice something unusual in your body."
