The "good" breast.

WC3

I just had a bilateral mastectomy due to IDC in my left breast. My grandmother had two seperate occurrences, one in each breast, two different types of breast cancer, about 8 years apart, so given that and a lumpectomy would have required radiation and remove enough of my breast that it would essentially be a mastectomy and require reconstruction, I thought it best to have both sides done.

The path report for the "good" breast came back as having dense stromal fibrosis and fibroadenomatoid change.

They are both benign conditions but FAC is thought to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and both SF and FAC can make cancer diffucult to dectect. My cancer was misdiagnosed by the radiologist as benign the first time, after I found the lump, so to hell with that happening again. I'm glad I made the choice I did.

Kerri_Oz

It sounds like you made exactly the right choice. I had my "good" breast removed, too, and am waiting on pathology to come back. I'm hoping everything comes back as only a risk factor for cancer, with no actual cancer. LCIS/ALH is as close as I want to come.

WC3

Yeah. I would have done a lumpectomy had I been diagnosed when it was less than half a centimeter and I wouldn't have required reconstruction but as long as I needed reconstruction, it was best to do both.