Positive Gene Podcast: Living Through Loss, Finding Strength: Peter Cornell on Music, Family, and Male Breast Cancer | Season 3 Ep #4
- Sara Kavanaugh
- Sep 28
- 30 min read
(Links mentioned in the Episode are location at the bottom of the page)
Sara:
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Positive Gene Podcast. This is your host, Sara Cavanaugh. On this show, we explore the stories and science of hereditary cancer because...
As you've heard us say multiple times, knowledge is power and together we find strength in our genes. Today I am joined by Peter. Peter is a singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and advocate. He's also the brother of the late musician, Chris Cornell. In 2025, Peter was diagnosed with male breast cancer and learned he carries the check to genetic mutation, a gene that normally helps repair damaged DNA, but when mutated can increase the risk for certain cancers. Since his diagnosis, Peter has been open about his journey and shedding light on male breast cancer, hereditary cancer risk, and the importance of speaking out. Peter and I share more than just this mission. We live in the same community. We both love coffee and we both carry the CHEK2 mutation. I am honored to welcome him to the show today. Thank you for being here, Peter.
Peter:
Thank you for having me.
Sara:
Awesome. All right, let's jump right into the questions. So let's open up with a bit about, you know, your childhood. I mean, when we met before, we talked a bit about really what, ⁓ you know, what elements or what aspects of your life sort of informed who you are today. So maybe you can share and just kind of kick us off with a pivotal memory from your childhood with your siblings or with Chris that shaped who you've become.
Peter:
Sure.I'm thinking about my bio and reading it before we started. One thing that jumps to mind is just how I became a songwriter, where Chris is concerned. We were roommates for a while in the late s, and he had this little cupboard off the kitchen that we called his studio. It was a broom closet with a hot water heater in it, but he had set up a little four-track device in there. And it's actually where I learned how to record and write songs, basically, him as my mentor. And then later, after I accumulated a bunch of songs recording in that little cupboard, I was like, do with these songs.
And I remember where I was standing in my grandparents kitchen when he said this, remember it like it was yesterday. He said, well, start a band, you idiot. And that was how I got into music. So it's an important part of my life where he was concerned and a memory that just jumped into my head today.
But I think it's important to draw the connection to siblings and family because of mutation, because part of what I needed to do and was advised to do by the genetic, the Hereditary Genetic Department that's involved in, at Vanderbilt, that's involved in cancer, in breast cancer particularly. ⁓ They counsel you after the fact and they, you you have to inform your family, because it is a genetic mutation. That means that my siblings are at risk and their children are at risk. And so I was able to reach out to all of them and hopefully have them follow my path and finding out if they too have the check to the mutation.
Sara:
Yeah, right. All right, well, before we get into your diagnosis and the details that surrounded that experience, what does life look like for you today? You you talk a lot about your family, your music, and the things that give you energy right now.
Peter:
I mean, right now it's my wife and I own a bakery called the Gluten-Free Goose and it is energizing, amongst other things, but it's going so well and she's just miraculous. And so we have a lot of irons in the gluten-free fire right now and things are really heating up. And so it's exciting. We had to put it on hold. We had to put a big chunk of it on hold last year because I got sick. We have a mobile bakery that we take out to remote locations and we had to shelve it for a year and we recently were just able to pull that back out because I beat cancer. So things are great. My energy is great. My health is great. As I say, I, you know, we got past it, no radiation, no chemo. They got it all because of the mutation. They're to probably have to, well, they're not probably there. We're going to do a right side mastectomy also just because the percentages of it accumulating on the right side, creating a tumor; the risk is about 40% I think. I knew nothing about it. I didn't know men could get breast cancer. So there's a lot about it I didn't know that I know now.
Sara:
Well, and that's really part of why I wanted to bring you on the show is to help enlighten, I think, my audience and maybe those who are ⁓ newer to the show or maybe a family member that would like to pass this on to men in their family who may be at risk as well.
So let's shift to talking through about how you discovered your cancer.Take me through that journey and then how you learned you had the CHEK2 mutation. And then we can talk a bit about kind of what your views are since your diagnosis.
Peter:
Sure, sure. I mean, I would again, I'll segue back to my wife, my miracle. She found it. She found the tumor. I had had a shoulder replacement, complete shoulder replacement last July and was recouping from that. So there was a lot of pain and, you know, awkwardness in that region. And I may have brushed the tumor once and just dismissed it as a... ⁓ you know, hey, that's a little weird feeling. Oh, it must have something to do with my shoulder recovery. And that was that.
So flash forward to about six months into the shoulder recovery, I was working in the yard. was doing something in the chicken coop and it cut my hands up and I came in and I had a big swatch of blood on the front of my light, had a light colored t-shirt on and dismissed it as having wiped my hand on my shirt. And I was back out, repeat performance the next day and came back in and I had the same blood on another different light colored shirt, but light colored nonetheless, and this big splash of blood on the front of my shirt, and I hadn't cut myself that day. And so I thought that was weird, and my wife saw it. Right about that moment she saw it, and so she came over and lifted up my shirt and grabbed the tumor. She could see it. It was that big. And she grabbed it and she said, holy shit, you have a tumor.
And found it and squeezed it and I bled from my nipple and that's where the blood was coming from. I didn't know that was possible. I mean, she had never encountered that, although she had gone to nursing school. I didn't know that was possible, but that blood accumulation was substantial. ⁓ And I happened to be going to the doctor for something different the next day and went into her office and Amy came with me and lifted my shirt up and my doctor who's not my cancer doctor, but looked at it and said, that's cancer. within days, I belonged to Vanderbilt Concierge, and within days I was in an oncologist office, who I can't say enough about, Dr. Abramson, she's amazing.
And it was daunting for the initial, you you the mammogram and the ultrasound and the radiologist takes a look. And to each technician as they saw this bleeding nipple, it really, I saw faces going white over and over again. It was a serious business. So, I got everybody's attention. It never bled again after that day, which is the weirdest thing, but it was enough.
It really greased the wheels and it excelled everything to the point where three weeks later I was able to get in with my doctor/surgeon Dr. Ingrid Mazowet and had my first mastectomy. And through the course of that process, then other tests are done and that's when they discovered the mutation.
Sara:
Wow. And so it was the physician, was it the oncologist or the surgeon that had recommended the genetic testing? I mean, what prompted them?
Peter:
It the oncologist. It was my first meeting with her. She told me that would be part of the protocol was that they would have to test all that. And then of course they, they take your lymph nodes out and they have to check all that and make sure that it hasn't spread throughout your body. That's part of it too. But the, took a test from a company called Tempus, which was through blood, a blood draw, and they, they screen it for a multiple of mutations that can lead to other kinds of cancer. ⁓ The CHEK2 is predominantly ⁓ breast cancer in me. It's a mutation that's going to lead to breast cancer. Yes, it did. It can also have ⁓ a prostate cancer, can be an indicator that that's potential too. ⁓ So far, no problems with that. But I do have to expand my testing for prostate as well, you know, as well as now going forward, they'll want to do a more distinct testing for breast cancer as well. Until I remove the other one and then I'm out of the woods.
Sara:
Yeah, And that's since we last spoke, I wasn't aware you were going to do the right side. I think maybe at the time you were still considering it, but yeah.
Peter:
Yeah, no, it's going to happen. My oncologist recommended it. My surgeon wanted me to wait until I was six months healed on the first one before we talked about it. But that six month mark is coming up Halloween. So I see her in November and I'd just as soon get it done sooner than later. Maybe that will be my Christmas holiday. We'll see. Yeah. Yeah.
Sara:
Yeah, there you go. Some recovery time. Yeah. All right. That's good. Yeah. I mean, and you can have your family there because they'll be on break and yeah, that's great. Good.
Peter:
Uh-huh, yeah. Instead of taking them on a nice vacation, they can watch me, watch me sit in a chair in rehab, you know.
Sara:
Yeah. So now tell me since you've only, mean, really in the big scheme of things, this is a pretty short time to really digest everything that has happened. ⁓ But there's been a shift for you, I think, in several ways and a couple you've alluded to, but what has shifted, I think, in terms of your health, your identity, right? And then maybe what the future holds for you.
Peter:
I mean it is certainly I've always been an advocate of you know staying in shape and eating right I mean I don't eat as well as I should but ⁓ this certainly has dialed in for me ⁓ I've been working out like a madman; my shoulder had slowed me down a little bit on that but since I've you know to recover from cancer to beat cancer I don't take that lightly. It's a terrifying diagnosis at any level. had skin cancer a few years back and it was the same thing. It's terrifying until you get it fixed, until you're on the other side of it. has its, I mean, cancer trumps all. ⁓ It's the king. It's going to do what it's going to do and you just kind of have to be lucky, I think.
You do all the things you need to do, but at the end of the day, could have been a lot worse. And as it was, it was a very small piece of cancer that was in there. But now I know because of that, I know about the genetic mutations. So I have more tools than the tool chest to deal with being aware of the right side, being aware that I'm at higher risk for prostate cancer, and being able to make sure I'm ahead of that.
And it may sound corny, but it certainly does give me a new lease on life, you know? The sun is brighter and the air smells better, you know, and the food tastes better. I hug my family more, you know.
And my wife, you know, she just put on the armor and powered through it with me, you know. Can't say enough. Can't say enough about that, you know.
So I certainly, mortality, that word comes into into play and you you find that you're making sure that any bridges burn or fences that need to be mended gets get done so you know and I've had an opportunity to do that and reconnect with some of my family because I needed to reach out to them and let them know that they needed to be aware of the possibilities and to get checked.
So at of the day it's been a positive experience and I've been very fortunate that I was able to get through it quickly, the hard parts, I think. ⁓ I certainly, it all came to realization probably end of August. It all kind of caught up with me one day and I was like, holy crap, that was a lot, you know. I'm lucky.
Sara:
Yeah, that's good. I mean, just that, you know, the awareness or the signal that you were given with the blood appearing and Amy being there at that moment to recognize it. Yeah, that's interesting.
So, and I pulled in the question there sort of related to identity as well, identity as a man, you know, being in the world of the breast cancer advocacy or the breast cancer space in general is typically targeted to women. How does this shift your thinking in terms of identity and really what we see out in the world today and the media and advocacy and just in medicine in general?
Peter:
I appreciate the color pink more than I ever have in my life. mean, everywhere I went for every doc and even my surgeon said that there was one office, she had me go to a different office for one of my appointments because she said it was less, she didn't say it was less pink, but that's what she meant, you know, because it is all, it has been traditionally geared for the care of women.
Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it is becoming more prevalent in men. It does exist in men. They don't have a lot of or is it data? They don't have a lot of information. The overnight nurse on my ward when I had my mastectomy, he'd been there for seven years. I think I was his first male patient on the overnight ward one of two, if there was maybe another one, but that was it. So the numbers are definitely skewed. They don't have a lot of information about how it's going to go for men or how many men have it really. And I encountered that.
I encountered that in talking to colleagues and peers and friends and men my age or my wife's age, know, of our ilk. And they don't want to talk about it, you know. To a guy, they were kind of like, yee, know, let's change the subject and talk about football. know, it's, and that was kind of surprising for me. I'm not a super over the top like machismo guy, but as far as like being, you know, misogynistic about things, but I was kind of taken aback and realized, I mean, I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know a thing about it or its possibilities, but I certainly found that there's a stigma, a huge stigma about it, where men are concerned, so men aren't checking and men aren't talking about it. And I know some stubborn guys that probably would take it to their grave, you know?
Sara:
Yeah, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, know, as a fellow advocate or just, you know, as a fellow human being, being appreciative of somebody being, you know, comfortable and open to sharing your experience. It's going to go a long way. know, it's yeah. So I know I appreciate it.
Peter:
Yeah.Well, I owe it. I owe it to give back. You know, I've been lucky. I've been fortunate. It could have gone a lot worse. And so it didn't. And it didn't interfere really with our lives. You know, we had a vacation booked in July that was either going to be a victory lap or it was going to be a final goodbye. And it got to be a victory lap. And that was, you know, so I haven't even, my life wasn't even upended that much. You know, of course it is, you can't not be, but because of that, then I need to make sure if my voice can help and all I have to do is yap, you know, flap my gums, I'm really good at that. That's my wife. I'm really good at that. Yeah.
Sara:
It's good. Well, I knew there was a reason why I selected you to be on the show or why I asked to be on the show because. No, no, that's good. All righty, so ⁓ let's talk. You know, you mentioned a bit, you know, obviously you have a very supportive, you know, family situation now.
Peter:
Yeah, because I like the sound of my own voice. Yeah, good reason. That's a good reason.
Sara:
I think some of, just based on our conversation, I think some of what informs that support that you have as a family is that you've dealt with loss in your life. And some of that loss is the person who was closest to you, and that was your brother, Chris, who died in 2017. So let's shift gears a little bit and really talk about what that looks like for you. Like how grieving Chris shaped the way that you live and speak now.
Peter:
Well, first thing that I think of is thriving. He would want me to thrive in my life. I know that, you know? And I, you know, in many ways, I often get back to this feeling of owing him. That "thriveness", if that's a word. It's a loss I can't really put into words. It's not something that you get over. It's something that you hopefully learn to manage.
And I mean, I think about him every day, every day. In fact, I've just, I've been working on this song for eight years to tell my piece of my story, you know, where he's concerned. And I was just playing that a minute ago.
I see him in nature. He and I were sort of amateur ornithologists. We had this affinity for birds and this connection to birds. And we live in a bird sanctuary at my house. We have bird feeders all over our yard and we have a couple acres in the trees. We live in the forest and there's birds everywhere. Since he passed, I've had experiences with big hawks that just show up at the right time or at times of sorrow or at times of revelation where I'll be thinking about him. And it still holds true today. The first time I ever really noticed it was when my mom came to visit. I had mended the fence with my mom at my brother's funeral and she came to visit our house when we were still living in LA. We were sitting out by the pool and there was just this absurd squawking going on while my mom and I were sitting having a quiet conversation. And up on a pole was this giant hawk just giving me the business.
That and it had no business being there was no reason for a hawk to be there. didn't live by a forest, know, or the trees or hunting ground or anything. And that same hawk landed on the fence outside of our bedroom window. A couple of days later, my wife got a picture of it and just sat there and stared at her for a while. And, um, and she was very connected to Chris is very connected to Chris. She was his manager. That's how I met him. That's how I met her. When I moved to LA, she was his manager and sound gardens manager.
You know, now living here in Tennessee and you know, was the other day I was on the phone with my older brother who I don't speak to, but he had reached out and we're trying to have more communication. And I was in my truck driving and this giant hawk just swooped my truck. I nearly hit it, you know, right past the windshield. To me, that's my brother. I see my brother in that. And the adventures that my wife and I have had in last eight years, know, We'll be somewhere, we'll do, buying this house and moving to Tennessee and, you know, for school for Goose and we'll say to each other so many times, Chris would really love this for us. He would really love this for us. He would really love it here, you know, different places we've been and different things we've done.
So he's part of our world and on the daily and because of that, something like this comes along and I just, I just think in that mindset of I owe it to him to make sure that I get through this with grace and dignity and strength.
Maybe that's goofy, but it certainly plays a role in my life. Because he didn't get to do that. He didn't get to do that. ⁓ So hopefully that's the long answer to your question. Yeah. Yeah.
Sara:
No, that's great. And it's really a beautiful tribute. ..just to know that, you know, if birds, you know, and hawks, you know, terms of what they represent, you know, freedom or strength or whatever it is, he's, you know, and that's, that's beautiful.
Peter:
Yeah, strength and connection, for sure. And the fact that they just show up at those times, you know, ⁓ when I need him or when I'm thinking about him, or just, he's just part of it for us, you know.
Sara:
Yeah, And now for Goose to see this, you know, to see you go through this experience and even sharing that relationship or that legacy that you had with Chris, really talking about fatherhood and family. ⁓ What does this mean to you now given things, you know, have somewhat changed for you?
Peter:
He's super sensitive, very... He's very concerned about my health and I've, you know, I've had a few surgeries since I've known him, in the last years that we've been together, he and I, and his mom, but he... It definitely puts focus on so many things, but certainly family. I mean, they're my guys, my wife and my son, he's my step son, but he's my son, and we've been together since he was a baby. It certainly clarifies, you know, the things that are important and, and gratitude, I mean, gratitude is such a word. It plays such a huge role. I'm grateful that I'm here because he needs me, you know, he needs me and he's in puberty, which means he needs me more than ever. You know, if I could say that, And I'm able to continue on with him. And he can also see too that, you know, a male figure in his life who is vulnerable and capable of that vulnerability, but also of doing the right thing, taking care of business, you know, got to take care of your business. And that was, you know, we powered through it. My wife and I have a tendency to do that. We have a tendency to like, okay, here’s the deal, let's go kick its ass. And that's what we do. And so I think we can impart that strength on him where he can see us taking something like as big as cancer and beating the crap right out of it. I hope that he saw us do that. I'm sure he did.
Sara:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So let's talk about how you do power through that in a sense, like not necessarily just what's happened, you know, in the last several months, but maybe what you use for, you mentioned, you know, what's in your toolbox, right? You have certain things in there and like you said, gratitude is one of them. ⁓ Your health, taking it seriously and sharing that knowledge with your family and your stepson, right? So there are other things that when we met earlier that you discussed that you have taken seriously and that is mental health and tools that you have in your toolbox to help you manage that. So you have routines. I know you mentioned exercise and supplements and your Peloton and things like that that you do. How did those play a role in managing that mental well-being.
Peter:
Well, mental health starts, it starts there for me, I imagine for everyone, even if they haven't had some of the opportunities I've had to address it. But if I didn't have that, if I hadn't been on good footing with, I suffer from, you know, I'm treated for depression and anxiety and have been for a number of years. And because of that quality of life that I obtained by keeping up on that, by knowing you know where I stand on that and keeping it in check and you know doing the things that I need to do to make sure that I'm not suffering from those ailments, gives me the leg to stand on when something like this comes along that could certainly throw you for a loop. So I can't say enough about that. I mean my life changed when I met Amy and it changed for me because she loved me enough to say the hard words and say you need help you know and then I was able.
And again, I'm grateful for it, to have just enough hearing capability to hear and get help. And then continue to deal with it, because with a family and with responsibilities as things start to grow, if you don't keep up on it, it ain't going anywhere. You know, it's going to come back. Now mine's combined with addiction and that has to be treated on the daily as well, because it ain't going anywhere. It's, you know, it's just waiting for you. So having that, having that foundation certainly played a role in being able to just put my shoulder down and go - okay this is life on life's terms, you know - and that's I think that you know maybe it's the modern world I don't know maybe it's just this sort of mindset of the human race where you want everything to be rosy all the time you know and it isn't ...
...there's yin and there's yang there's light and there's dark and one is not better than the other or worse than the other but you have to you have to find the balance and you have to be able to adjust and manage both of those things and I think that managing my mental health being able to do that and the good things that come with that. Then being able to manage my and the good things that come with that certainly sets you up for a better chance when you go to the cancer doctor and they say you have male breast cancer, you know.
So those tools, having those tools already, mean, and I'm grateful and I'm lucky because I didn't plan it that way, you know, to be all squared away before I get cancer, you know, it's just, I was lucky, yeah.
And then just making sure that I stay in shape, you know, really, and I gotta eat better, you know, if nothing else comes from this podcast, Sara, I have to make sure that I am eating less sugar.
But part of that mental health was making tough decisions. I mean, we owned a coffee company for several years. And right around the time that I was diagnosed, we had shut the company down. I had an episode with some medication, and I had to quit drinking caffeine. That has been probably - cancer schmancer - Don't take away my caffeine. So it's been a tough year because I am now caffeine free as well. But it's saving my mental health. And, you know, it's helping me. And honestly, I mean, I should have probably quit a long time ago. I think I can see some issues I've had in the past that were directly related to the fact that I was jacked up all the time. You know, so, ⁓ but those are the, those are the things that come along. I mean, you couldn't have told me a year ago. You couldn't have said you're going to have to stop drinking caffeine. I would have said you're out of your mind, but here I am. So, the the different things that we think are daunting maybe, or are impossible to live without, and then you find out, you know what, maybe quality of life is different than I thought it was, you know?
Which is certainly true, in my experience, it's certainly, no, it's certainly true. The life that I live now was not the life I imagined. I had one plan, I was gonna be famous musician, and that was it. That was all I had on the books. When that didn't work out, you know, but here I am…We own businesses and we have a son who's thriving and he's in eighth grade and we live in the trees and we have birds and dogs. What the hell else do you need?
Sara:
Exactly. That’s great, you’ve created a beautiful legacy, you know, for your family. And I really appreciate that you have shared so openly some of the things, not just in the last year that you've experienced, but, you know, dealing with anxiety and depression, addiction and yet you continue to have this grace and gratitude, Right? Where does that come from? What is innate you that is bringing so much of that out?
Peter:
I think that just recovery has taught me to be grateful, because I spent a lot of years in the dark, and I don't have to live in the dark anymore. that's... When the lights come on, if you get an opportunity for the lights, your own lights to come on, you know, it's... You better be grateful, and you better not forget because like I say, it's out there waiting. It going anywhere. It wants me to come back. You make a pros and cons list. There's a lot more cons in my list that say I probably shouldn't be here sitting here talking with you today. And yet here I am. So boy, if I can't be, if I can't be grateful for that, then you know, what am I going to be grateful for, if that makes sense.
Sara:
Yeah. Well, now let's shift this then to that gratitude and how you're leveraging that, you know, with this cancer diagnosis, Tell me why you have decided to share it publicly. And I can tell. Like I found out about it through social media because I hadn't seen you a while at the coffee shop to get my Americano. And, and then I reached out to a friend we have in common and I'm like, what is happening? And so then I contacted you a bit after you kind of got through a few weeks past your surgery and you were still communicating it out. like, I'm just going to give them a breather. And then I checked in and said, oh my goodness, what's happening here? Yeah. And I'm glad that you shared it publicly too, because one, that gave us an opportunity to discover that we have a common diagnosis, if you will, with our genetic mutation. And then to give you a platform to share your story even more specifically.
Peter:
I'm glad you did. I'm glad you did.
Sara:
And that it also enabled us to get you connected with FORCE and really bring some of that to, ⁓ and for those that are newer to the show or aren't aware, FORCE is Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, which is a national nonprofit for those facing hereditary cancer. So ⁓ we've made that connection as well. So talk to me about going public with your story and what you hope to get out of that experience.
Peter:
Yes. Well, I learned not to drive everything back to my brother, but I learned when my brother passed that I have enough of a social media presence because of being a musician and having a famous sibling, I guess. When he passed, I found that there was something that I could do to give back because I found such a stigma in the world about suicide and I knew nothing about it. I had no idea anything about just like everyone else, was just something who wants to talk about it. And I found that through my experience, I could give something back to, you know, in the beginning specifically, the community of his fans who reached out by the thousands to someone that they don't even know - myself, my family, my brother's family. And it just dawned on me that the grief that existed that those people's grief was legitimate as mine was, that my brother belonged to the world. And I was able to do a couple of things and reach back through social media into the universe and just acknowledge that, acknowledge that everyone's grief was as legitimate as mine was and that I was so, so sorry for their loss to them. That helped me, that helped me in the sense that I found that I could be of service on a bigger scale. And so, when I was diagnosed with cancer, was my first inclination was to reach out through social media and say, I have this, I didn't know it was possible for me to get this.
So far, I've found a stigma attached to this, just like I did find that same kind of stigma attached to suicide. And...I'm hoping that by discussing that stigma and saying, I'm a man, you know, with cancer, with breast cancer, that hopefully I can enlighten or broaden someone's view or inform. But I just feel because I do have a platform for it, it kind of be wrong to not use that platform. You know, it's...I kid that I love the sound of my own voice, but it's not always about that. If this was an opportunity, and honest to God, give credit where credit's due, and my wife, Amy gets to the party lot sooner than I do, always, and she said something really odd about that. Well, you should go on social, and you should share some of this, because you're finding these stigmas, and you're finding a lack of information out there regards to this, and then you came along, and I was like, okay. Well, that's a way that you can take it further. It's my duty to be of service.
Sara:
Yeah, for sure. That's good. So for the men that are listening or for the family members that may be dealing with a potential risk in their family, like what do you hope men hear when they listen to your story?
Peter:
That they got to check themselves. You got to do that check that women do when they're in the shower and they're feeling their own tissue. You got to do that. It's probably that simple gesture probably freaks me out as much as anything. The man part of me, it's girl stuff. We don't have to worry about it. We don't have babies. why would we worry about our breast tissue? But I think that that's by not, know, trying not to get up on a soapbox about it. But yeah, I think that's probably first. And then if you do find something, it's not a pec, it's not a muscular issue, it's breast tissue. And you've got a tumor and you've got male breast cancer, which means you have breast cancer just like any other human, male or female that has it.
And it's okay, go deal with it, it's okay. And so what? know, what I, first thing I did was I went out and bought pink shoes, you know? I watched the NFL. The NFL is the pinkest thing on the planet for the month of October. And I think that is amazing. In fact, I'm hoping that I get to get involved in something during football season in October this year. You know, I would love to stand at center, you know, on the yard line at Titan Stadium and say, I survived, you know? Look at me, I'm a guy and I survived.
I would love to do that instead of being chagrined that it's been a predominantly female issue for centuries, why not say, maybe I can help somebody else get saved?
Sara:
Okay. So that is one thing absolutely that I would love to see happen with your story. You know, this is just one means of you getting the information out there, right? One of the questions that I had was like your pre diagnosis self. ⁓ you know, you shared a bit about what you didn't know going into obviously check too, much less male breast cancer. But what would you tell your pre-diagnosis self, anything that you would want him to know or feel?
Peter:
Man, I dismissed what I felt on my chest and I didn't want to believe it was anything other than part of rehabbing my shoulder. What is that born out of? Why was that where I would go? As opposed to going, what is this on my chest? What is this behind my nipple? It was so quick for me and so I'm certainly that kind of a man up to that point where I didn't want to.
I didn't want to think that could possibly be cancerous tumor on my male breasts. ⁓ There has to be a, it's again, I get back to the stigma there. That stigma has to be removed. It doesn't matter where the lump is on your body. If you've got a lump on your body, get proactive, man. Don't wait to get lucky. I got lucky that I bled from my nipple because then my wife saw it and what if I hadn't, you know, what if I hadn't and bled from my nipple and what if she hadn't seen it? Because it got, it was growing fast and I might not have addressed it until it wasn't a little bit of cancer in that tumor where it was a lot of cancer in that tumor, where it was a lot of cancer that had migrated into my lymph nodes and now was in my liver or my bones or my pancreas and you've got a lot less chance of doing what I just did if it spreads, you know. And, and I would say there has to be, I don't know, an awareness that I didn't have, you know? I hope I'm answering the question. don't know. You know, yeah.
Sara:
I'm sure a lot of folks who are survivors and have that reflection point throughout their journey. And I think you sharing and reflecting on that is huge, right?
So for those that are maybe learning that they have a genetic risk, like a check to ⁓ or other predisposition, and they're not really sure where to start, what advice would you have for them? I mean, you gave some advice just now, like, hey, react, do something, don't wait. But what advice would you give someone who's just learning they have a genetic risk?
Peter:
Yeah. I would, well, if they're learning they have a genetic risk, they already took the test. But I would say if you find a tumor, take the genetic test for sure. Because I'm certainly, there was relief for me when I got the results back and I found out why I had cancer and where it came from and what that meant for future cancers. And it helps me be able to target the two specific regions, my right breast, which I can remove and remove all of the risk and then to update and upgrade how I'm checked for prostate cancer because that's risk for me too. And then go a step further and make sure that everybody that's got my blood in their body knows about it. My family, my sisters, my mom, my nieces and nephews, make sure that everybody knows that they've got it.
And then I just had this conversation with my older brother because he's not a go to the doctor guy. Trying to explain to him the test and getting it taken and what to do. I've gone through all these steps in the last week because we just had this conversation. And then once you get that information, follow the roadmap that they lay out for you. And again, my first reaction was relief. Thank God I know why I have this, not what's the mystery - Do I live too close to power lines? Is there something in the water up here on the hill where I live? I don't know. No, I know why I got it. And I know what I can do to prevent it from coming on the other side and what to do.
Sara:
Yeah, that's great advice. So before we close, I want to ask what anchors you? What motivates you and reminds you to get through it all each day, even on your darkest days? Good.
Peter:
My family, my wife and my son, and to a lesser degree, but probably not too much lesser, my dogs, you know? Because those guys need me. And all of them, all need me. And I need them. But yeah, family. Family, family, family, family, ya know, years ago I met my wife, I was almost homeless. You know, I mean, I was pretty much homeless.
And now I have a life I never imagined; a script I never could have written. And so I suit up and I show up every day. And this just helped remind me that you get to suit up and show up every day. And I'm going to continue to get to do so, which is, you know, I'm very fortunate.
Sara:
Absolutely. Well, thank you. Before we close, where can people find you online or connect with you, your work, your music?
Peter:
Thank you. Connect with our work is the @GlutenFreeGoose615 on Instagram is where our business lives mostly and they'll find my beautiful lovely wife there instantly and she is hilarious and magnificent.
My music is on Apple music and iTunes and know Spotify everywhere you can go. I have got a couple records that I've done that are out there and I'm still writing you know. Writing this morning and I'm rehearsing. And I want to play a show. And I live in Nashville. I mean, they play music at the grocery store. There's live music everywhere you go. So ⁓ I want to play a show coming up. So it's my new lease on life. I started playing again in my recovery. I hadn't played for a while. I certainly hadn't written for a while. And I'm playing every day right now. So I intend to be visible as a musician again in the very near future.
And I want to show this shirt. This shirt is, it's backwards in this, the original, it was a clothing company that endorsed my brother back in the early 90's and sent him a whole bunch of gear when he was just starting out and he would give it to me and we'd sport ourselves around. They reached out to me around Seattle, we'd wear their gear. they reached out to me, Anita at 90 reached out to me last week and said, I want to send you guys a bunch of t-shirts. So yeah, it's cool, right?
Sara:
I love it. Well, send me a picture of you wearing it and we can put it on the podcast blog. Yeah, it'd be great. ⁓
Peter:
Yeah. Yeah. I will, my wife will take a picture. Absolutely.
Sara:
That's good. And I'm so excited to hear that you're going to be doing music again and that you're writing. That makes me grateful that I am your neighbor.
Peter:
Yeah, Cool, yeah I'm gonna do it somewhere, I don't know, I mean I've got connections all over the place, I mean I'd love to do that again. And that was something I realized through the course of, know, thinking I might die. It's like, holy crap, I'm a musician and I need to be thinking music. There you go.
Sara:
And you have all of this, you know, experience to help bring another way for you to bring your story to life, right? And it's cathartic, right, they say.
Peter:
Yeah. absolutely. Yeah, absolutely it is. like that, the whole vacation in Florida was one big catharsis. Cause again, I was prepared that it was going to be my farewell tour to my family. You know, I thought that was a real possibility for it to be the victory lap. had an amazing time with family there and I've had a chance to connect with my own, ⁓ Northwest family, my mom and my sisters again since then.
Sara:
So glad. Well, thank you, Pete. I really appreciate you being so open with your story and sharing it with the podcast audience. The honesty and courage that you've had throughout this conversation and what you're sharing online will undoubtedly help other men facing breast cancer or maybe grappling with their risk it will make them feel less alone and hopefully more empowered to take action.
Peter:
I hope so, I hope so.
Sara:
So for everyone listening, I hope this conversation gave you some new insight and some encouragement. Be sure to follow the show on Instagram @PositiveGenePodcast share this episode with someone who may need to hear it.
Until next time, keep asking questions, keep advocating for yourself, and never underestimate the power of knowing your genes.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Peter Cornell’s Music: Spotify | Apple Music
Peter's Family Business - GlutenFree Goose: Website | Instagram
FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered): Website | Advocacy & Action Center | Male Breast Cancer Resources
Learn more about the CHEK2 mutation: FORCE: CHEK2 Information
Disclaimer:
This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any questions about your health.
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