Bill Smith has interacted with scores of men who are breast cancer survivors, and their significant others, as well as women who are breast cancer victors. He has observed that there is no predictable set pattern of behavior or reaction in any one of them; that each handles it differently in their own time frames and circumstances. Let's take a look at some of the males.

• The first to blast a home run for males was the late Bob Safford, who chose to hit it head on, and created the initial web site on the subject, and was quoted extensively in The New York Times, as well as other media. He also became an email buddy, and helped Bill through his process.
• Some men have retreated so far into non-belief or denial that mental and/or physical recovery may not be possible.
• Nancy Nick made it a cause with the John W. Nick Foundation, Inc., the best web site on the internet that she humanized to inform all publics of what breast cancer in men is all about. www.johnwnickfoundation.org. At the request of Nancy, we made an appearance at a California prison, where she interviewed a guard, who was a survivor.
• Others, matter-of-factly accept it, and simply get on with their lives as if it were an occurrence that just happened, and now it's simply time to move on.
• Some turn to religion and make it the focal point of their lives.
• There are those who have become advocates of a cause. Mike Partain did, and has constructed a powerful web site focusing on Camp Lejeune's water contamination as the cause of his breast cancer. www.tftptf.com.

And finally, there are those who seek an answer to how do you educate women and men who may be on a collision course with this horrific disease. One of the answers may be to find out how to approach men without an intrusion into one of the best branded causes created for and by women. The Alliance for Breast Cancer Awareness' creative group suggest the solution may be simply to add a line in women's campaigns that might read:

P.S. Breast cancer transcends genders, or

Breast cancer is not gender blind, or

There is no gender bias when it comes to breast cancer.