Local man fights, defeats rare form of breast cancer found in men

Russellville resident Dick Tutich found that out 10 years ago when he was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Tutich, an avid family man and lover of the outdoors, was working on his car when he happened to bump his chest. 

Soon after the accident, he noticed a lump in his breast area but thought that it didn’t look like it could be related to the accident, so he went to a doctor in the Shoals area to have it examined.

The doctor Tutich saw told him they would have to do a biopsy to determine what the lump was and after the biopsy was performed, that’s when Tutich received the news.

“He told me I had a classic case of female breast cancer, and I was just so shocked,” Tutich said. “I asked him how this had happened and he told me that they didn’t have any idea how it happened in females let alone in males.”

Tutich was told that he needed to have a mastectomy right away, but before he did, Tutich wanted to get a second opinion.

Tutich contacted the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who put him in touch with a doctor whose last name was, ironically, Kure.

Dr. Kure suggested Tutich try sentinel lymph node mapping, which, according to the MD Anderson website, is a procedure that allows the doctor to perform a more accurate biopsy and gain information that could reduce the amount of surgery needed. 

During this procedure, doctors inject a blue dye that goes into the lymph nodes in order to track where the cancer might have spread.

After the studies and exams were conducted, Dr. Kure informed Tutich that the cancer had been contained to the tumor in his breast that had already been removed.

While this was great news, the doctors still wanted Tutich to take chemotherapy as a precautionary measure, but they left the decision up to him.

“They told me that I could take the chemotherapy or I could take tamoxifen for five years, which is a pill many breast cancer patients take,” Tutich said. 

“They told me that there were no cancer cells anywhere in my body, so I didn’t see the need to go through chemotherapy and I opted to take the tamoxifen.”

While taking the cancer treatment medicine, Tutich went for check-ups every six months, always receiving good reports. He now goes for a check-up once a year.

“I have to get a mammogram and have blood work done, but the cancer hasn’t come back, which I’m very thankful for,” Tutich said. 

“I feel very fortunate because I never felt bad during my experience. I really had to take my doctor’s word for it that I had breast cancer, not just because it was so rare but because I didn’t ever feel terrible. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for most people diagnosed with breast cancer.”

Tutich said that he now tells everyone about the importance of performing a breast exam, even men.

“I was told that only one percent of breast cancer patients are males, but I’m a prime example that just because you’re a man doesn’t mean you’re exempt,” Tutich said. “Men and women both should be performing breast exams regularly.”

Tutich also said the experience taught him to lead his life just like normal because he never knows what could happen and he doesn’t want to miss anything.

He and his wife Joanna are both retired and enjoy spending their time with family and friends and traveling in their motor home.

“We have a time share that we’ve had since 1984 that we take full advantage of now,” Tutich said, “and we travel to see our son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren in South Carolina as often as we can.

“We just know that you don’t get to do these things forever, so we want to do them while we can.”