What was meant to be a classic nipple twist from his friend ended in a gruesome discovery for a man during a Vegas vacation.
asserted
meant → mean → vacation
Robert Pfleghardt, 62, found a lump in his chest after a friend pinched his nipple during a boys' trip in Sin City.
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friend → find → City
Pfleghardt, who is originally from Virginia, said the playful moment led to a breast cancer diagnosis, SWNS reported.
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SWNS → say → diagnosis
The 62-year-old said he first noticed something was wrong after a friend pinched his nipple during a boys' trip in 2021: 'They are good friends of mine and we were being silly boys having drinks.
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we → say → drinks
He'd probably say I started it, but my friend reached over to me and gave me a 't**ty twister' - where he pinched my nipple.
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he → say → nipple
It really hurt.'
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It → hurt → ?
Pfleghardt explained he could sense discomfort even beyond the trip.
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he → explain → trip
A week after his return, he then found a small lump in his chest: 'It was the size of an eraser and it was right next to my nipple.'
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it → find → nipple
He added that he thought it was 'kind of weird' but did not give it much more thought because he thought men don't get breast cancer.
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men → add → cancer
Robert Pfleghardt, 62, felt an uncomfortable lump in his chest after a friend twisted his nipple during a boys trip to Las Vegas
He did not suspect anything too serious but went for a check up after he kept feeling the discomfort for over a week after the vacation
A nurse practitioner then told Pfleghardt that he should do further testing and shortly after, he learned that he had breast cancer
While the percentage of men who get breast cancer is much lower than the amount of women diagnosed with it, men carry a 19 percent higher mortality rate than women, the National Breast Cancer Foundation found.
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Foundation → feel → women
This is primarily because awareness among men is lower and thus they are less likely to consider a lump in their breast as a potential indicator of cancer, leading to delayed treatment.
As the accountant and entrepreneur kept thinking about the lump, he got it checked by a nurse practitioner, who advised him to do further testing.
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who → consider → testing
'She says it's something we need to aggressively research,' Pfleghardt remembered and said that 'things moved really, really quickly' afterwards.
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things → say → ?
He went for a mammogram, a low-dose X-Ray imaging test used to detect early signs of breast cancer: 'It was really weird getting a mammogram - you kind of laugh.
'
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you → go → mammogram
They called out for Mrs. Pfleghardt instead of Mr. Pfleghardt.
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They → call → Pfleghardt
The check ended with an employee telling him that the lump appeared to be breast cancer and that there was concern it may have already advanced to his lymph nodes.
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it → end → nodes
I just went into zombie mode.'
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I → go → mode
Men carry a 19 percent higher breast cancer mortality rate than women, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation
The 62-year-old man said he got lucky because doctors said his cancer was still just one mass and had not yet spread out 'like a spider web'
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cancer → carry → web
More tests proved that the cancer did grow up to one lymph node, after which doctors reportedly recommended double mastectomy and the removal of 19 lymph nodes.
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doctors → prove → nodes
Pfleghardt said he was so scared of the surgery, he had a lumpectomy instead, which removes less tissue.
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which → say → tissue
He underwent surgery in late January 2022.
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He → undergo → January
'I was extremely nervous and scared to be cut open,' he told SWNS.
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he → scar → SWNS
'But within a day or two I was out and about doing stuff.'
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I → do → stuff
He added that his doctors 'felt that the lumpectomy had really clear lines - it was just one mass - not like a spider web, which was a good sign.
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which → add → web
After the surgery, Pfleghardt had 29 days of radiation treatment – an experience he described as 'interesting' and recalled: 'It literally looked like it cooked me.
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it → have → me
My chest where the radiation went, it went from a normal color to a crispy brown.'
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it → go → brown
The accountant and entrepreneur now wants more people to be aware of male breast cancer
Five years later, Pfleghardt had another body scan on October 1, ahead of which he felt positive.
Looking back, he said he wants more people to be aware because 'a lot more men get breast cancer than we realize.
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we → want → cancer
'Me and my friends still laugh about how we found out I had cancer,' he told SWNS.
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he → laugh → SWNS
'My friend that pinched me saved my life.
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that → pinch → life
I wouldn't have found the lump otherwise and it would have spread,' Pfleghardt said.
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Pfleghardt → find → lump
'Boys trips save lives.'
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trips → save → lives
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