Peter Criss

Cancer Type – Breast

Bio – Peter Criss the co-founder of  the band “Kiss” was shocked when he discovered a lump in his breast during a workout at the gym.

Short Story – Co-founder, original drummer, and occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss, Peter Criss found a painful lump in his left breast after a workout in 2007. He sought medical attention in March of 2008 and had what doctors thought was a harmless nodule.

Learning it was actually breast cancer, “I flipped out. I just couldn’t believe it. It’s a nightmare,” he recalled. “I was angry at everything. I couldn’t believe I had this. I was a really angry guy for a long time.”

There is a lack of awareness for males with breast cancer, and one of the major reasons Criss spoke up about it. It is not common, and in the sea of pink ribbons, men can feel isolated.

Criss was lucky. The cancer was caught early, and it had not spread, so there was no chemo, and the surgery did not leave a scar.

Now, every year Criss gets a mammogram.

He urges men to get a check-up and not to worry about their manhood. Thank you Peter for speaking up about this devastating disease that can be a real thing for men.

Image Credits – By Steven Hoffmaster (Contact us/Photo submission) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons