Former Marine wins fight with VA over cancer
By Donna Koehn
Published: Saturday, April 13, 2013
SARASOTA - An exuberant Tom Gervasi, 76, put his arms in the air, his fingers forming a “V for Victory.”
The former Marine learned Saturday — to his utter surprise — that his long, often bitter fight with his own government is done.
A letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed it: The cancer invading his bones was caused by his exposure to contaminated water as a young Marine at Camp Lejeune.
Tom is dying of breast cancer, so rare in men that only one in 1,000 will develop it in his lifetime.
The tale of his struggle, chockablock with emotional highs and lows, began when Elaine, his wife of 57 years, first spotted an unusual dimpling in Tom's left breast as he stood shirtless back in 2003.
read more here
Showing posts with label male breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label male breast cancer. Show all posts
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
NBC Rock Center focus on contaminated water at Camp Lejeune
I watched this last night and was not shocked because of how many times I posted on this but I was happy to see it being the topic of national news coverage.
Men say their breast cancer was caused by contaminated water at Camp Lejeuneread more here
Fri Feb 22, 2013
By Ami Schmitz and Kristina Krohn
Rock Center
Mike Partain got the shock of his life five years ago when he was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39. That he got breast cancer at all is surprising. It's so rare that for every 100 women who get it, just one man will.
“Five years ago I was just an ordinary father of four, husband of 18 years. And one night, my then-wife gave me a hug and she felt a bump on my chest,” he said in an interview with Dr. Nancy Snyderman airing tonight at 10pm/9CT on NBC News’ Rock Center with Brian Williams.
When his doctor delivered the devastating news in a phone call, Partain’s first thought was, “What contest in hell did I win to deserve this?”
After his diagnosis, Partain was desperate to answer the question, “why”? He said, “I don't drink. I don't smoke. I've never done drugs. There is no history of breast cancer in my family.”
But everything changed after he saw a news report, where a former Marine drill instructor named Jerry Ensminger told Congress how his 9-year-old daughter Janey died of leukemia, and that he believed her death was caused by drinking water at Camp Lejeune contaminated with chemicals.
Monday, December 10, 2012
VA denies cancer-stricken Camp Lejeune Marine compensation
VA denies cancer-stricken Marine compensation
By Donna Koehn
December 9, 2012
SARASOTA - He was expecting the worst, but that did not help when he got it.
The letter came in the mail a week ago, informing Tom Gervasi, 76, he will get no compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the male breast cancer that is killing him.
He needs proof the rare cancer was caused by contaminated groundwater he drank while stationed as a Marine at Camp Lejeune in 1956, the letter said.
Problem is, the federal agency charged with completing the tests to prove the link between the water and a high number of cancers among those who lived at the camp has not finished analyzing the area where he lived.
His wife, Elaine, calls it a catch-22.
Tom Gervasi calls it just plain nutty.
"They want me to die," he said last week. "But I'm not gonna die."
By Donna Koehn
December 9, 2012
SARASOTA - He was expecting the worst, but that did not help when he got it.
The letter came in the mail a week ago, informing Tom Gervasi, 76, he will get no compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the male breast cancer that is killing him.
He needs proof the rare cancer was caused by contaminated groundwater he drank while stationed as a Marine at Camp Lejeune in 1956, the letter said.
Problem is, the federal agency charged with completing the tests to prove the link between the water and a high number of cancers among those who lived at the camp has not finished analyzing the area where he lived.
His wife, Elaine, calls it a catch-22.
Tom Gervasi calls it just plain nutty.
"They want me to die," he said last week. "But I'm not gonna die."
The problem for Gervasi and others is the law specifies a time frame of 1957 to 1987. Gervasi left in 1956.read more here
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Marine veteran, former boxer, battling male breast cancer
Marine veteran, former boxer, battling breast cancer
By CHERYL LECESSE
The Salem News
Published: October 31, 2012
PEABODY, Mass. — Peter Devereaux didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.
So when his doctor called to give him the news, Devereaux thought he had called him by mistake.
“I said, ‘Doc, it’s Peter Devereaux,’” he said, thinking his doctor would apologize and hang up.
He didn’t, and within days Devereaux was back at the hospital, getting a bone scan and chest X-ray to see how far the cancer had spread within his body.
A Peabody native and North Andover resident, Devereaux, 50, was diagnosed with stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2008. For the past 4½ years, he has been battling the disease, which doctors discovered had spread to his hips, ribs and spine in 2009.
He is one of 82 men who have been diagnosed with male breast cancer believed to have been caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
“It’s the largest cluster ever recorded,” Devereaux said.
read more here
By CHERYL LECESSE
The Salem News
Published: October 31, 2012
PEABODY, Mass. — Peter Devereaux didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.
So when his doctor called to give him the news, Devereaux thought he had called him by mistake.
“I said, ‘Doc, it’s Peter Devereaux,’” he said, thinking his doctor would apologize and hang up.
He didn’t, and within days Devereaux was back at the hospital, getting a bone scan and chest X-ray to see how far the cancer had spread within his body.
A Peabody native and North Andover resident, Devereaux, 50, was diagnosed with stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2008. For the past 4½ years, he has been battling the disease, which doctors discovered had spread to his hips, ribs and spine in 2009.
He is one of 82 men who have been diagnosed with male breast cancer believed to have been caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
“It’s the largest cluster ever recorded,” Devereaux said.
read more here
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Published on August 9, 2011
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
Many men with breast cancer are being denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer treatment because of their gender.
The American Cancer society's pages on breast cancer in men lay out the facts. About 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, which makes it rare: about 100 times more women get the disease. It is known that men, like women, are more likely to develop cancer if they have certain mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Family history and age contribute to a man's likelihood of developing the disease as well. Heavy drinking and exposure to radiation are believed to be risk factors, as is obesity. A recent breast cancer cluster among men who had been exposed to contaminated drinking water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune had patients wondering if there was also a link between chemical exposure and the disease.
read more here
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Published on August 9, 2011
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
Many men with breast cancer are being denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer treatment because of their gender.
The American Cancer society's pages on breast cancer in men lay out the facts. About 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, which makes it rare: about 100 times more women get the disease. It is known that men, like women, are more likely to develop cancer if they have certain mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Family history and age contribute to a man's likelihood of developing the disease as well. Heavy drinking and exposure to radiation are believed to be risk factors, as is obesity. A recent breast cancer cluster among men who had been exposed to contaminated drinking water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune had patients wondering if there was also a link between chemical exposure and the disease.
read more here
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Florida man with male breast cancer says he has now identified 39 other men with the rare disease who all share one thing: They lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The numbers surprise scientists studying water contamination at the Marine Corps installation where up to a million Marines and family members may have been exposed to tainted water during 30 years ending in the late 1980s.
Among them are more than 12,000 Floridians who have signed up for a health survey.
"This is statistically unheard of," said Tallahassee resident Mike Partain, 41, a breast cancer survivor who was born at the base and is looking for others like himself. "We've got a cancer cluster that defies explanation."
The cluster is expected to be discussed Thursday when the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs holds a hearing on contamination at U.S. military installations. A Marine Corps major general is expected to testify, as will Partain.
read more here
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Florida man with male breast cancer says he has now identified 39 other men with the rare disease who all share one thing: They lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The numbers surprise scientists studying water contamination at the Marine Corps installation where up to a million Marines and family members may have been exposed to tainted water during 30 years ending in the late 1980s.
Among them are more than 12,000 Floridians who have signed up for a health survey.
"This is statistically unheard of," said Tallahassee resident Mike Partain, 41, a breast cancer survivor who was born at the base and is looking for others like himself. "We've got a cancer cluster that defies explanation."
The cluster is expected to be discussed Thursday when the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs holds a hearing on contamination at U.S. military installations. A Marine Corps major general is expected to testify, as will Partain.
read more here
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Male breast cancer patients blame water at Marine base
Male breast cancer patients blame water at Marine base
Story Highlights
20 people, all Marines or sons of Marines, have had male breast cancer
Each lived at Camp Lejeune between the 1960s and 1980s
"We all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune," one says
Marine Corps says two studies found no link to "adverse health effects
From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series.
Jim Fontella was based at Camp Lejeune in 1966 and 1967. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The sick men are Marines, or sons of Marines. All 20 of them were based at or lived at Camp Lejeune, the U.S. Marine Corps' training base in North Carolina, between the 1960s and the 1980s.
They all have had breast cancer -- a disease that strikes fewer than 2,000 men in the United States a year, compared with about 200,000 women. Each has had part of his chest removed as part of his treatment, along with chemotherapy, radiation or both.
And they blame their time at Camp Lejeune, where government records show drinking water was contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals for three decades, for their illnesses.
"We come from all walks of life," said Mike Partain, the son and grandson of Marines, who was born on the base 40 years ago. "And some of us have college degrees, some of us have blue-collar jobs. We are all over the country. And what is our commonality? Our commonality is that we all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune. Go figure."
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/marines.breast.cancer/index.html
Story Highlights
20 people, all Marines or sons of Marines, have had male breast cancer
Each lived at Camp Lejeune between the 1960s and 1980s
"We all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune," one says
Marine Corps says two studies found no link to "adverse health effects
From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series.
Jim Fontella was based at Camp Lejeune in 1966 and 1967. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The sick men are Marines, or sons of Marines. All 20 of them were based at or lived at Camp Lejeune, the U.S. Marine Corps' training base in North Carolina, between the 1960s and the 1980s.
They all have had breast cancer -- a disease that strikes fewer than 2,000 men in the United States a year, compared with about 200,000 women. Each has had part of his chest removed as part of his treatment, along with chemotherapy, radiation or both.
And they blame their time at Camp Lejeune, where government records show drinking water was contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals for three decades, for their illnesses.
"We come from all walks of life," said Mike Partain, the son and grandson of Marines, who was born on the base 40 years ago. "And some of us have college degrees, some of us have blue-collar jobs. We are all over the country. And what is our commonality? Our commonality is that we all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune. Go figure."
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/marines.breast.cancer/index.html
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster on the water
Mike Partain shows an X-ray of the tumor found in his right breast. He knows of 19 fellow former Camp Lejeune residents who have had male breast cancer. (Colin Hackley / Florida Times-Union / December 31, 2008)
Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster on the water
For three decades, dry-cleaning chemicals and industrial solvents laced the water used by local Marines and their families. Mike Partain and at least 19 others developed male breast cancer.
By David Zucchino
August 26, 2009
Reporting from Tallahassee, Fla. - One night in April 2007, as Mike Partain hugged his wife before going to bed, she felt a small lump above his right nipple. A mammogram -- a "man-o-gram," he called it -- led to a diagnosis of male breast cancer. Six days later, the 41-year-old insurance adjuster had a mastectomy.
Partain had no idea men could get breast cancer. But he thinks he knows what caused his: contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was born.
Over the last two years, Partain has compiled a list of 19 others diagnosed with male breast cancer who once lived on the base.
For three decades -- from the 1950s to the mid-1980s -- the water supply used by hundreds of thousands of Marines and their families was laced with chemicals from an off-base dry-cleaning company and industrial solvents used to clean military equipment.
read more here
Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster
linked from RawStory
Friday, July 3, 2009
Growing list of men with breast cancer linked to Camp Lejeune
Now 17 veterans with rare cancer or tumors with Camp Lejeune ties
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 06:01 PM
Scientists studying drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune were startled when 11 men with breast cancer and ties to the North Carolina base were identified over the last two years.
Six more have been found in one week.
Five additional men with breast cancer and a sixth who had a double mastectomy after doctors found pre-cancerous tumors contacted the St. Petersburg Times last week after reading a story about the 11 men with the rare disease.
"This male breast cancer cluster is a smoking gun," breast cancer survivor Mike Partain said on Friday. "You just can't ignore it. You don't need science to tell you something is wrong. It's common sense. It begs to be studied."
Partain, 41, of Tallahassee, was born at the Marines Corps base and diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. He has worked for two years to find other men with breast cancer who lived at Camp Lejeune.
He found the first nine men before the Times profiled his search in a story on June 28, a story that noted the newspaper had found another man not on Partain's list.
go here for more and please pass this on to anyone you know stationed at Camp Lejeune
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1015699.ece
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 06:01 PM
Scientists studying drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune were startled when 11 men with breast cancer and ties to the North Carolina base were identified over the last two years.
Six more have been found in one week.
Five additional men with breast cancer and a sixth who had a double mastectomy after doctors found pre-cancerous tumors contacted the St. Petersburg Times last week after reading a story about the 11 men with the rare disease.
"This male breast cancer cluster is a smoking gun," breast cancer survivor Mike Partain said on Friday. "You just can't ignore it. You don't need science to tell you something is wrong. It's common sense. It begs to be studied."
Partain, 41, of Tallahassee, was born at the Marines Corps base and diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. He has worked for two years to find other men with breast cancer who lived at Camp Lejeune.
He found the first nine men before the Times profiled his search in a story on June 28, a story that noted the newspaper had found another man not on Partain's list.
go here for more and please pass this on to anyone you know stationed at Camp Lejeune
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1015699.ece
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