PEWAUKEE, Wisc. — Jim Kruswicki is grateful to be back on the golf course after a health scare caught him off guard.
Kruswicki explained that he was watching TMJ4 earlier this year and saw something that compelled him to perform a self-exam.
“All of a sudden, I feel a lump. Well, Vickie had breast cancer herself, so I said, ‘Feel this,’” Kruswicki recalled.
Watch: Pewaukee man shares breast cancer journey to raise awareness among men
“That felt like the one I had years back,” Jim’s wife, Vickie Demler, told TMJ4.
“Maybe it was a guardian angel that told me to check myself,” Kruswicki wondered.
Kruswicki reached out to his primary care doctor and was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Men don’t believe it can happen, but it does. Don’t wait; don’t say it’s going to go away because things don’t go away,” Kruswicki said.
“The problem with men, even though they comprise about one percent of all diagnosed breast cancer cases, is they present late because there’s no self-awareness of the subject,” Dr. Hanadi BuAli, director of the Breast Health Program at Ascension Wisconsin, explained.
Dr. BuAli shared an image showing the mass they found that turned out to be a more aggressive cancer.
Doctors also learned that Kruswicki has a genetic mutation that carries a higher risk for the disease.
“How did I feel about it? Scared at first. What are you going to do? You have to take care of it. You can’t wait,” Kruswicki stated.
The day after his diagnosis, Kruswicki had a mastectomy and then underwent chemotherapy.
He is now cancer-free.
“For me, it was a blessing,” Kruswicki said.
“God brought him through it, and he’s good,” Demler added.
Dr. BuAli encourages men to be self-aware, share their family history with their doctor, and get genetic testing if appropriate.
“His care was expedited because he presented early, which is a very important thing to think about when you’re talking about breast cancer survival,” Dr. BuAli stated. “It is important also for men who carry the gene to be screened early, to be self-aware, to be ‘breast aware,’ starting at the age of 35, and to do self-breast checks.”
She went on to say that the genetic mutation may be connected to a higher risk for other diseases, such as pancreatic cancer.
“Way back in my life, that was my biggest fear—to have cancer,” Kruswicki shared.
Moving ahead, Kruswicki will undergo frequent surveillance and exams.
However, he and his wife look forward to more golf, mornings on the lake, and traveling.
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