{"id":871215,"date":"2026-10-05T04:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871215\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T04:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:56:15","slug":"nipple-twisting-prank-between-friends-may-have-saved-mans-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871215\/","title":{"rendered":"Nipple-twisting prank between friends may have saved man’s life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s hear it for the boys.<\/p>\n

What started as an innocent prank between guy friends ended as a potentially life-saving discovery for one man.<\/p>\n

Now, the recipient of the practical joke is issuing an important warning to other men about an oft-overlooked, yet deadly disease.<\/p>\n

\"RobertWhile on a boys trip to Las Vegas, Robert Pfleghardt made a gruesome health discovery when one friend pranked him. Robert Pfleghardt \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

While on a trip to Las Vegas five years ago, Robert Pfleghardt and his friends were being \u201csilly boys\u201d and engaging in some age-old horseplay when one twisted his nipple.<\/p>\n

The \u201cpurple nurple\u201d took a surprising turn when Pfleghardt experienced sharp pain that lasted well beyond the trip, prompting a visit to his doctor, who discovered a lump the size of an eraser.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a mammogram, the lump was found to be breast cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes, a diagnosis that shocked the 62-year-old, telling SWNS<\/a>, \u201cGuys don\u2019t get breast cancer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even doctors initially thought Pfleghardt was a woman when he went in for his mammogram, an experience he called highly unusual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey called out for Mrs Pfleghardt instead of Mr Pfleghardt,\u201d the retired Virginia local said. \u201cThey said \u2018man coming through\u2019 because there were a lot of women, and some of them were getting scans with their tops off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rates for men receiving breast cancer diagnoses are low compared to women, with roughly 1 out of 100,000 males<\/a> getting the potentially killer disease.<\/p>\n

Several risk factors can increase the chances, including older age, genetic mutations, family history, previous radiation or hormone therapy treatments, obesity and certain conditions that affect the testicles which are also associated with increased breast cancer risk.<\/p>\n

\"RobertAfter a friend twisted his nipple, Pfleghardt found a lump, which led to a diagnosis of breast cancer, a rarity in men. Robert Pfleghardt \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

However, they do face about a 19% higher mortality rate, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This could be due to the fact that men are less likely to assume a lump in the chest is cancer, thereby delaying seeking diagnosis and treatment.<\/p>\n

While Pfleghardt\u2019s doctors initially recommended a double mastectomy<\/a> \u2014 a procedure to remove both breasts \u2014 his nerves swayed him to undergo a lumpectomy in January of 2022 instead.<\/p>\n

Although the lumpectomy \u201chad really clear lines \u2014 it was just one mass \u2014 not like a spider web,\u201d doctors still advised a month of radiation therapy.<\/p>\n

Afterward, he was prescribed tamoxifen<\/a>, a drug used to prevent breast cancer that can cause menopause-like side effects including hot flashes, night sweats and uncomfortable dryness.<\/p>\n

While Pfleghardt recently underwent a full-body scan to determine the state of his cancer, he credits the painful prank with helping him catch the harrowing health issue early on.<\/p>\n

He also forewarned others that \u201ca lot more men get breast cancer than they know and it spreads without them realizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and my friends still laugh about how we found out I had cancer,\u201d he added. \u201cMy friend that pinched me saved my life. I wouldn\u2019t have found the lump otherwise, and it would have spread. Boys trips save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s hear it for the boys. What started as an innocent prank between guy friends ended as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7966,687,97,2102,18334,23414],"class_list":["post-871215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-health","tag-men","tag-mens-health","tag-radiation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}