invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer

bevemar

Am 73 years old, recently diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer, results of a breast biopsy. Met with a female surgeon, told me a lumpectomy and reconstruction of my very large breasts without nipples after and lymph nodes are clear, opted to have nodes done for peace of mind cancer was not in nodes. My ductal carcinoma is a Grade 2, with estrogen positive and progesterone positive which I was told is "good". I am having a general surgeon for my breast cancer. I have read alot on the breast cancer website and after reading everything I could, I have decided to have a double mastectomy. At my age and my very large, pendulous breasts, I do not want a lumpectomy nor reconstruction of my very large breasts to a C cup. I am thinking I should have a 2nd opinion, however, do not want to delay the surgery for the breast cancer. Any thoughts or more information about my type of breast cancer is appreciated.

Rah2464

Bevemar I am sorry you find yourself facing these decisions. I, too, had IDC and opted for several reasons to do a BMx. I also understand the sense of urgency to remove the cancer. I do hope that you will have a consult with a breast and /or plastic surgeon if you can. Mastectomy is a significant surgery and there are a lot of nerves that can be impacted. I am almost a year out ( I had nipple sparing with immediate recon) and I still have some issues with tightness and discomfort. There may be different options to go flat that a breast surgeon or PS might consider that a general surgeon may not be aware of. Hopefully some of our flat sisters can add some insight on what to think about. I wish the best for you.

Ingerp

The "good" part of hormone receptor positive tumors is that you can take an aromatase inhibitor to turn off the estrogen that would feed any future cancer cells. It's a very effective tool. FWIW, I've always opted for lumpectomies, one of which was quite large, and never had any reconstruction. You can't tell at all on the right breast, and the left one has what my BS called a "shark bite" out of it, but it's on the side, where I can't really see it, and honestly I don't think about it any more. Nobody can tell when I have clothes on. It's an easy surgery with very quick recovery.