So afraid of my choices...

Stacee

I am newly diagnosed stage 2b breast cancer. I'm er+pr+ her2-. I was planning on a lumpectomy followed by radiation. The surgeon explained that she would have to take a significant amount of tissue out so if I wanted any reconstruction, I feel like my only option would be mastectomy. With that said, I feel like it would be foolish not to do a double? I am terrified by a mastectomy but I feel like that is what makes sense. I've talked to a bunch of people and they've all said they knew it was the right choice (to have a double) and they were never upset about this choice. What scares me is I am very upset about the choice. It scares me terribly. I am afraid I will wake up after surgery and be so upset with the choice I made. I question myself because so many women are saying it was an easy decision for them. This is the hardest decision I've had to make.

RV6gal

Hi Stacee, I too was Dx as stage 2b. Because of the location of the tumor, I opted for for UMX initially since there were going to have to take the nipple anyway. I thought about having a Bmx then but decided I would feel better after surgery coping with just one side. It is such a personal decision. They told me that they would have to alter my own breast later for better symmetry. I just discovered a lump on my left breast now so I could end up having that breast removed anyhow. Just contacted mytreatment centre about it as I'm currently in chemo treatment so I'm not sure what can be done about this right now. I still don't regret my initial decision. Easier to do more later than regret whats already done. Good Luck to you.

GraceB1

It is a really hard decision. There are options out there for reconstruction with a lumpectomy like fat grafting. You need more information from your doctors about expected results. Sometimes it depends on the type of bc you have. Is the other breast perfectly healthy? Do you have dense breasts where it's hard to diagnose new lumps? How physically active are you? I wanted one arm that I could so my gardening without worrying about lymphedema. My MO said I was still more likely to have a recurrence in the bc breast than in the unaffected breast. If you mentally need matched breasts it's easier to get that with a double mx. I just wanted to look normal with clothes on. I have enough side effects from the mx (shoulder hurts every day even after physical therapy) that I wish I had done the lump but my tumor was bigger than anticipated so maybe I'm better off with the mx. I try not to obsess over it. It's done and I made my best choice with what I knew at the time. A lot of life is like that. I'm not sure I helped but but I did give you some things to think over.