![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_Phil-outside-Clatterbridge-Cancer-Centre-WirralJPG.jpg\")
Phil Alderson at Clatterbridge Hospital(Image: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust)<\/p>\nPhil Alderson noticed the sore spot on his chestPhil Alderson at Clatterbridge Hospital(Image: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust)<\/p>\n
A dad was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump while playfighting with his young daughter. Phil Alderson, from New Brighton<\/a>, is urging other men to get checked if they notice something unusual.<\/p>\n Phil was playing with his young daughter when her elbow caught a sore spot on his chest. Later that night, while watching television, Phil, then aged 44, found a small lump at the same spot, just behind his left nipple.<\/p>\n Phil initially brushed it off, but the lump<\/a> concerned him, and he went to his GP.<\/a> He said: \u201cI joke that men are renowned for doing nothing and convincing themselves anything untoward will go away on its own.<\/p>\n “But I felt like I needed to get this lump checked for my own peace of mind. I told my partner at the time I was just going to get some back pain<\/a> looked at because I didn\u2019t want to make a fuss or worry anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Phil\u2019s GP <\/a>reassured him he had done the right thing and arranged for him to undergo a series of scans, as well as a biopsy and mammogram.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI remember being the only man in the waiting room, but it still didn\u2019t click that these tests might be checking for breast cancer<\/a>. I went on my own thinking I\u2019d be in and out and on my way.\u201d<\/p>\n But it was after this appointment in July 2016 that Phil received the diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThe feeling of being told I had cancer will stay with me forever. I didn\u2019t know what to do with myself, so started sharing updates on Facebook<\/a> as a way to express all the emotion and start conversations with others to encourage them to check themselves for symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n Phil underwent a mastectomy the following month at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Surgery was successful and Phil was given the positive news the cancer had not spread.<\/p>\n Phil\u2019s openness with what he had gone through and his own need to ask for mental health support led to advocacy work, including training as a peer supporter for others going through the same, and contributing to a book of 72 survivor stories.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cSometimes I needed to speak with Clatterbridge\u2019s counsellor, and other times all I wanted was to sit in the garden at Maggie\u2019s with a coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Phil-following-surgeryJPG.jpg\")
Phil Alderson after surgery.(Image: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust)<\/p>\n