Happy with prophylactic mastectomy decision?

CurlyGirly

Hi
I'm scheduled for a prophylactic mastectomy on August 23, nine and a half years after having the right one done due to cancer. I'm doing it for peace of mind (no more mammograms or worrying about every new lump I find), and for symmetry (only wear a form occasionally). I'm wondering if anyone has done this and regretted it, or were you happy with your decision? Did it give you peace of mind?

SpecialK

I was a lumpectomy/rads candidate for the right breast but decided on a BMX for peace of mind.  Also because I was Her2+ and node positive I decided that since my body knew how to make cancer in one breast it could certainly make it in the other, and I really did not want to take that chance.  Turns out that I had ADH and ALH in the "prophy" breast so it was a good decision.  You can see in my sig line that my BMX with TEs was not problem free but I have no regrets at all.  It did give me peace of mind because I had very dense breasts (2cm tumor did not show on mammo) and always had a few cysts so I would have driven myself nuts, both with constant self-exam and with continuing imaging!  Good luck!

BarbaraJo50

Curlygirly...your curly-girly is adorable!

I am so glad that I had the phrophy MX! I had large breasts and the lopsidedness was so uncomfortable. I lived that way for two years. This past May was my one year anniversary for that surgery. I am much more comfortable being no-breasted than one-breasted.

As far as "peace of mind"; for me that was not the issue.

Best of luck and continued good health to you.

CurlyGirly

SpecialK - Wow, you've really been through a lot with your reconstructions. I feel the same way as you did with the Her2+ and the positive nodes, but my onc feels it's unnecessary. He says the cancer I should be worried about is the original one spreading, not a new one in the remaining breast. He hasn't gone through the anguish I've been through the last couple of months with a recall on my mamo, which turned out ok in the end. He said at my age (54), I shouldn't expect normal mamos because women my age have lumpy, breasts. It's just made me question my decision a little.

BarbaraJo50 - I've been lopsided for a long time. My breast isn't that big, but it's noticeable. I hide it a lot with jackets and hoodies, but I always have to take them off because of hot flashes every hour. I think I'ed be more comfortable with none as I hate wearing bras.

Take Care and I'm glad you're both happy with your decisions.

SpecialK

curly - Yes, I did have a few challenges with recon!  It was mostly skin healing issues that caused removal of my left expander after several tries to keep my skin closed.  My BMX was skin/nipple sparing and necrosis happens about 20% of the time - just happened to get me.  Once the TE was back in after chemo I had no problems and an easy exchange to implants.  I am actually older than you and still had very dense breasts that were difficult to image and always had a few cysts in each breast.  Since I couldn't tell a good lump from a bad lump I decided o the BMX.  I really did not want to deal with repeated mammos/ultrasounds every 6 months and going through all that anxiety.

ThisTooShallPass

Hi CurlyGirly,

I am happy with my decision. I did bilateral prophylactic due to family history and BRCA1. It's was and (still is) a challenging process with a few setbacks but I had an agenda to do this. My breasts were very dense and created lots of "call backs" from my MRIs and ultrasounds departments that I attended every 6 months and I just didn't want to deal with it, having 2 small children. Closer to the time when I made my choice, hospital MRI found "something" that they wanted to monitor more closely (ultrasounds every 3 months to make sure "it" didn't grow) and did not know for sure what it was. It was very nerve-wracking for me. Turned out nothing after mastectomy lab inspected breast tissue.  I still strongly believe that it's the best decision for me and yes, I would do it all over again.

CurlyGirly

ThisTooShallPass,

I read your bio. You've really been through a lot with your reconstructions. I understand the anxiety issues. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it either. Glad to see you're finally done with your surgeries, and that you're happy with your decision. Take care.