2 different opinions - help!

Ditto Bonnie Jean.  I got slightly different advice from 2 breast surgeons, and asked my primary care physician how to decide. He said that if two doctors offer 2 different responses, it often helps to talk it through with a third, which is what I did.  It's not just that you decide with the majority (though I did), but that a third person can help you understand the reasoning behind each set of suggestions. 

How exhausting for you!  I would guess that your biopsy showed the least aggressive type of DCIS and thats why you are getting the different recommendations.  I will note that radiation is not simple---it can have a big impact on your skin, as I understand it, and you don't know until you've done it. Likewise, the most recent thing I was told about Tamoxifen is that it only works to suppress DCIS while you take it.  So when you stop the chances go back to being just like someone who never took it.

If it were me, I'd go for the 3d opinion and I'd try to get someone at a breast center who specializes in this stuff.  I will say, however, that my DCIS was believed to be so small that the person who did the biopsy thought they got it all with the biopsy.  But when I did Lumpectomy1, it was found to be .7 cm still in there.  And when I went back for Lumpectomy2, the size was increased to 1.1 cm.

peggyo, I first saw 2 surgeons, both of whom said a lumpectomy and radiation would be a good choice for me.  One of them also wanted to do a sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and the other said not to unless final pathology came back invasive.  I asked my PCP how to decide and he referred me to an oncologist.  When I saw the oncologist, I told him I didn't know how to choose because I felt like I was deciding not just who would do the surgery but also who would coordinate my care from there on.  (Both surgeons had presented themselves as the "quarterback" of my team.)  The oncologist said that, no he (i.e., the oncologist) would coordinate my care and would follow me up for at least the next 5 years.  It made so much sense to me.  That plus the fact that my husband and I were very impressed with the oncologist (he spent about an hour with us and talked through every option) and that he came highly recommended made me feel hugely better.  He  then referred me to another radiation oncologist who had more state-of-the-art technology and suggested I consult with her before choosing a breast surgeon.  Which is where I am right now--waiting to see radiation oncologist and then (I hope) to schedule surgery.  The oncologist, by the way, said not to have the SNB but also said that either surgeon would be fine--he had worked with both, both were fine surgeons, and the surgery itself was not complicated. I think I got fixated on the breast surgeon because that was my first referral. In retrospect, I wish I had started with the oncologist. 

Well, certainly both BS presented themselves as the person in charge.  And that's what gave me so much trouble at first: should I got with someone who did a lot of surgeries or someone who was a researcher at the university as well as surgeon.  I thought I was trying to decide  my 5-year plan when I hardly knew what kind of surgery I wanted to do.  Talking to an oncologist helped me put that into perspective. I decided I wanted a cancer specialist to coordinate my care and that I wanted a good surgeon to do the lumpectomy. I actually haven't selected the surgeon, but I am more confident about the lumpectomy, since every doctor I have spoken to has said it's a good option for me, at least to start with.

Your DCIS was less than 5mm? This site mentions that size as the cutoff for radiation. You might consider mammosite radiation for a shorter course.

Just wanted to pop in here and add my two cents. My DCIS was really small and I still had radiation and am on tamoxifen.  I do a lot of advocacy work and the protocol for radiation was not just recommended by my onc.  At the breast cancer symposiums I have attended, studies were discussed that indicated that there is a much higher recurrence rate in women who did not have rads.  At the time I was diagnosed I was not thrilled to have to do rads, but it was very doable and I do not regret having it.  I viewed both as my insurance policy.  If I had a recurrence without doing them, I would have been kicking myself about not having done everything I could to avoid having it come back.  I will try to get back here and post the studies I am referring to.  You just need to educate yourself to the best of your ability.  We all use different criteria to make decisions for ourselves.  What was right for me may not be the choice you make for yourself.  Blessings to all.