To Uni-Boob or not to Uni-Boob that is my question.

I made the decision for the bilat and have never regretted it, but you need to hear from some women who kept their other breast.  Some are very glad they did.  Others wish they hadn't.  It is a very personal decision.  You might find info also on the Amazonian Women thread that would be helpful.  Good luck in making and living with your decision!

Dawn 

I gave up one boob in November 2008 and have no regrets for passing on the recon. I was going to go with a lumpectomy until the MRI showed the tumor larger than previously thought and in a bad position for lumpectomy. A friend of mine had just had her 3rd surgery because  they kept failing to get clean margins and I thought, Dang, why not just have one surgery and be done with it?

I was gonna go for recon until I started reading up on it and realized I did not want to put myself through that. Sticking a fake in my bra every morning is no big deal. Bathing suit shopping is annoying, yes, but all things considered I am very happy with the situation. Since my then-boyfriend reacted well to the uniboob I am not worried about future relationships. Actually I am thinking this is not a bad way to weed out fainthearted guys. If a new guy is not someone I would want to share my 7.5 inch scar with, then I'll keep moving. It's a good theory, we'll see how it works (still on dating hiatus after last boyfriend

A mastectomy is nothing compared to enduring chemo. Make sure you have some people helping you out during that. Good luck whatever you choose. 

I had one breast removed at the time of my diagnosis and spent 18 months as a uniboober. Looked into reconstruction and decided it really wasn't for me and so I have just had the other breast removed - I am delighted! I feel so comfortable (or I will do once the scar settles down.) Having just one saggy ole titty drove me mad. I hated the obligation of wearing a bra and prosthesis all the time. I am now going breast free and loving it. The thought of never having to have mammograms again fills me with such joy! I will eventually get myself a small cup bra and small prostheses or maybe just a padded bra - but I expect that I will be spending most of my time with nothing at all. I wish I had had a bilateral mx at the start so that I didn't have to undergo this extra surgery. Having just one breast got on my nerves and of course there was the worry of what might happen in the future. I am very happy with this decision - no regrets at all. Good luck with all of your treatment.

You could wear a camisole that has pockets for prosthetic/s.  I hate bras also and am happy that I kept my healthy breast.  Not sure if I will be doing reconstruction or not.. time will tell.

I am a uni-boob and here is what I wrote about my experience for someone who never had bc but asked a lot of questions. It's probably a lot more than you're interested in reading so if you want  to skip to the bottom part about my recon you can. I would add that studies show that removal of the healthy breast does not improve your survival odds, and in your case without the possibility of recon. without insurance, I would wait on the decision. If you can wait for recon, can't you wait for prophylactic mx? You can never ever get the breast back if you take it now. See what life is like without the other one, you can always change your mind later, and maybe by then you will have insurance or health care reform will make it mandatory that they give it to you.  There are also hospitals and organizations to help the uninsured with breast cancer. Message me if you need those. Thank God I took this same advise from my BS. If breasts are an important erogenous zone for you, think twice. Then think double twice. I do not hear many women talk about this aspect on these forums. It seems terribly underestimated. Also click on the scar project link at the bottom-very eye opening.

Here you go. Best of luck!:

Did you ever think you were at risk for breast cancer?

-I didn't know I had a family history until after I was diagnosed. That is because my great aunts were old and in their day people didn't talk about breasts so it got swept under the rug. I never knew that both my grandma and my grandpa lost their sisters to the disease because at 87 they didn't talk about such things. My grandparents died a fe short months before my diagnosis. One of those sisters of theirs had two daughters, my dad's cousins, who were diagnosed in their 60s and are still living. That said, I was not genetically positive for the disease. There must be more than just the BRCA 1 and 2 genes we scientifically know about (at least that is what my genetists tells me). Lets' hope they find them so my own 16 year old daughter can be tested one day.  "Know your family history"  I tell everyone. Ask loads of questions when you are young. Know how your ancestors died. Women who have relatives who died of cancers of ANY kind are at higher risk for breast cancer as well. Maybe if I had known I was high risk for the disease my doctors would not have put me on birth control pills on  me for 15 years. I believe this gave me a double whammy risk. Any form of hormone manipulation puts you at risk. IN 30 years of bc research we have discovered one thing for certain, and that is that most bc cases are fueled by female hormones. When did hormones come on the scene in drastic numbers? When hormone replacement, birth control and fertilty drugs entered the picture 40 years ago. Just ask how many women in this site where they (synthetic hormones) played one part in their risk for bc. It's a very high number. I am not saying it caused everybody's case of bc (so those of you reading this don't jump on my back here), but we will never know to what degree it did because nobody is willing to do adequate studies on this. All I know is the day I was diagnosed my doctors all told me to stop taking birth control pills. I asked why and they said because they can cause breast cancer. Sure enough I went home that night and read the little folded up pamplet in my pill pack and there in black and white it said the same thing...."MAY CAUSE BREAST CANCER IN YOUNG WOMEN (under 50) with long term use". Frightening. If you are young Ashley, think long and hard about popping those pills.

Did you know anyone with breast cancer and felt they were changing emotionally?

 ~ I am tougher, stronger, and unwilling to let myself be taken advantage of from the people I love. I learned my value is not in what I do but in who I am. Life is too short to spend it trying to make everyone else in your life happy. It's impossible anyways. Call it indifferent if you like. I call it empowered.

Do you have breast cancer? Yes.

What stage are you in for breast cancer and how serious it is?

~I was diagnosed at stage 2 because I had two separate cancers, one in the lobes and one in the ducts, her2+ for growth (about 25% of breast cancers are clasified for her2Neu+). The her2+ can be a factor putting me at higher risk for a recurrence. When I asked my oncologist how can I know if the cancer will come back he said, we can't know that until and if it does. We hope for the best.

How old were you when you found out and how did you feel?

~I was age 44 at diagnosis. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck then left to wander the highway all alone with no directions.

Did you get surgey for breast cancer, what was it for and why?

~I had the entire right breast removed and reconstructed. They had to take the whole breast because the two cancers were very far apart from one another. After surgery they found 3 more tumors in the pathology that never showed on mammogram or mri. Shocking.

If you went through surgey how did you feel afterwards?

~My surgery was 18 months ago. I still hate my reconstructed breast. It is like someone duct taped a football onto my chest, painted it flesh colored and said, "Here ya go!  Here's your new breast." What a joke. It has no nipple and no feeling whatsoever. It never will have feeling. In that surgery they cut all nerves and so a woman with reconstructed breasts cannot be sexually stimulated there like before. The degree to what she has skin sensation varies with most women.

Please do not be offended by this question. But do you feel less of a woman becase of the surgey or more of a woman?

~I do not feel less than a woman. But I'll be honest in that it hinders sex immensely for me. Not everyone feels this way but for me and many women I talk to this is the case. I guess most women don't want to talk about it so the general public just isn't aware at how breast cancer changed the quality of life for a woman. Sometimes I feel like the general public doesn't take bc seriously enough because they think that you just gets new breasts after this and you should just be happy to have LIVED. How you end up living is often drastically changed and you don't hear about that much. I dare say if we whacked off men's penises because men were being diagnosed with penile cancer in one in every 8 men, then we duct taped a flesh colored hose there and told them they would be good as new and would just find a "new normal," a cure would be just days away!! But for 30 years we have not come very far in this fight and the numbers are rising and they are rising quickly in women under age 50. 

Maybe I come across a bit angry and maybe I am. Maybe all of us need to get a little more angry and get something done about ending breast cancer. I just finished the Avon Walk today 36 miles and our Walk raised more than 6.5 million to help fight this. Sounds like a lot of money. We need more. It fueled and inspired me to do more so I start today with educating YOU! C'mon ladies. Instead of getting mad at this person Ashley, get mad about breast cancer and be honest about what it does to women....especially young women. For a great video on this topic watch the Scar project video here. Your eyes will be totally shocked at what you see and hear but it is necessary to get int he faces of those who have never had it. Young women who have never been married are diagnosed and face hurdles like menopause from chemo, not able to conceive children, not able to nurse babies, dating woes, etc.