Robert Pfleghardt just wanted to have a good time with his friends. He was 62 and on a trip to Las Vegas in 2021 when one of them twisted his nipple as a joke. It was one of those rough pranks among friends that you forget about the next day. But a week later, the area was still sore, and when he rubbed it, he felt a lump the size of an eraser.
At first, he didn’t think much of it. He said he thought men didn’t get breast cancer. Even so, he got it checked, and the mammogram confirmed the unthinkable: it was breast cancer, and it had already spread to a lymph node. In the room, they called him “Mrs Pfleghardt” and announced that a man was coming through, because there were women with their tops off.
Doctors first recommended a double mastectomy, but he opted for a lumpectomy in January 2022, followed by a month of radiation therapy and tamoxifen. Today, he shares his story with a phrase he repeats to anyone who will listen: “Boys trips save lives”. And with a reminder: any lump in the chest, including in men, deserves to be checked.
