Fareham man hiccups every 2 hours for 12 days straight during breast cancer treatment

‘It was incredibly frustrating’, said Glenn Cooper from Fareham about his bout of hiccups which prevented him from sleeping but says he was ‘incredibly lucky’ not to have any other side effects besides hair loss.

The 65-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in February last year after going to his doctor about a persistent cough.

He said: ‘The appointment went as normal with no surprises and the cough was nothing to worry about.

‘I just asked him to check a lump that I had felt on my chest behind my nipple a few weeks earlier and after a quick examination, the doctor concluded the lump was probably nothing serious but referred me for more checks just to be on the safe side.’

After a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy, Glenn was told just a week later that he had breast cancer.

The father-of-two said: ‘I had heard somewhere that men could get breast cancer, but had never even thought about getting it myself.

‘I had a few seconds of heart palpitations and then asked what we needed to do.’

The retired accountant, who now runs a small vinyl record business on the internet, had a mastectomy four weeks later but biopsy test results came back unclear and Glenn was left with the choice of having chemotherapy.

He said: ‘With the help of my wife, family and friends, I decided to go ahead with the chemotherapy, just as a safety precaution. I know they would have worried about me for the next ten years.

‘I was fortunate not to have many side effects but I did have one frustrating 12-day period of continuous hiccups that affected my sleep.

‘However, one of the worst things was not being able to enjoy my favourite foods, rare meat, seafood and a cream tea, because of my immune system being “compromised”.

Glenn has now teamed up with charity Walk the Walk which has launched a national awareness campaign about breast cancer in men.

He added: ‘I believe strongly that we should raise awareness of breast cancer in men and encourage men to check themselves.

‘I believe in the positivity of doing things and talking about issues. When I was younger, cancer wasn’t spoken about, but talking is very important.’