MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Huddie--actually, they are doing matectomies that leave the skin, nipple and aureole in place, and fill the space with an implant or tissue from another part of the body.  They're called "skin sparing" and "skin and nipple sparing" mastectomies.  As much breast tissue is removed as with a traditional mastectomy, so the risk of recurrence (or in your case, occurance) of bc is the same as a traditional mastectomy.  My advice to you is to make a consultation appointment with a plastic surgeon and find out about all the options and how they apply to you.  Each option has it's pros and cons, as you  already realize.  One of the pros of skin and nipple sparing mastectomies is that some sensation can be saved in some women.  Some PS's are actually doing surgery reconnecting nerves or avoiding cutting nerves to retain as much sensation as possible.  My PS showed me pictures of women after these procedures and, unless you knew exactly where to look and what to look for, you couldn't tell they had any surgery at all. My other bit of advice is to keep in mind that, while you are at higher risk than average for developing bc in the future, you have plenty of time to research options. 

My PS has a website with pictures of reconstruction results of different procedures and approaches, you might find it interesting to look at   http://www.bostondiep.com

This is just one place where you can see photos of women after skin sparing mastectomy/reconstruction, it's just the only site I have bookmarked.  I'm sure others will be along shortly with other site addresses for you to check out. 

Yes, thank you!  As I was making my way around the site I found the "middle aged 40-60ish" group and read about the nipple sparing procedures you mentioned. Good to hear that there are options.

Yes, I do have time to consider my options. I tend to be a bit practical and get it done and out of the way kind of personality with life. lol Perhaps this is an area where I need to rethink that philosophy!

Thanks again!

"what the h#$$?" phase followed closely by "what did I do to get this" phase. LOL We have all been there. 

Huddie, I know it must be hard to keep your chin up but think of the silver lining. You now have the ability to research this disease deeper and find out all your options BEFORE something happens. Perhaps even prevent it from happening at all.  

Well gang o' mine: I will be off the grid this weekend. Going to Eugene, OR tonight to visit my sis & then tomorrow AM, taking my daughter to Willamette University in Salem, OR for a leadership conference. She was chosen from her sophomore class to represent her school at the annual HOBY conference. Fairly big honor & will look good on college aps. While she's doing that all day, I'm traveling around to a couple small towns in the area that my paternal side of the family is from & visiting cemetaries to take photos of tombstones etc. to give to my dad, who is in mid-stage Alzheimers but remembers events, with clarity from years ago. I think he will be able to appreciate them still. See ya later-have a great weekend! Joni

thanks for the responses. 'Pre-cancer', hmm hadnt quite gotten to that place yet. Was still thinking in terms of 'high risk'. Sounds so much more eminant. Though I know its not, even 'high risk' still brings me to the place of wondering what to do. Do I wait , getting regular exams and mamos and wait, potentially lettting something get out of hand? Weighting the emotional long term stress of always wondering if my world is going to change with a biannual check up.

Theres also the question for me that arises because of the "pre" part and not faced with the 'have to" is the actual complications from implants. Theres always a choice to not have to get them of course, not sure I could do that. Am I putting myself a risk for other cancers by putting in implants. Theres definately issues with implants on their own. I know nothing, its not all done though is it? Do you have to get mamos after masectomies? with implants? Does it make it more challenging to detect? Do you have to have them changed (shelf life)?

lol It did make me laugh reading someones tag "Of course there fake! My other ones tried to kill me! " but as I type this, its making me cry.Crap.

Thanks for listening,I know I've got it good compared to others, I have time and options.

Blushing *** That was your quote Kate33! Thank you! It made me smile.

How neat Eph3 12 for both your daughter and for your dad. I know how difficult dealing with and Alzheimers. We lost my DH dad last year to kidney failure and he had advanced Alzheimers. He kept telling the same story over and over again and towards the end he didn't know who we were but that we were there to help us. He loved his pictures and each one came with a story. 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Did yard work in 90 degree temps.  and jumped into the neighborhood pool. I wouldn't go near it last year on chemo and it was nice to get back in the swim of things. 

My kids are growing up and we have a few milestones this week. My middle one turns 21. She is in Daytona with a group from school and went to Disney yesterday.  My oldest is moving away for an internship in California. I am so scared and yet excited for him. He's driving from Ga. to Cal. and he doesn't have much idea on the internship. He's a screen script writer and I guess in LA it's pretty much show up and go. I need to cut that apron string but it's been hard.  

Don't like the sunburn - we had a beautiful weekend and my college teen worked all weekend outside - he is also beet red.  I gave him some of my cream from radiation to help heal his skin and then did my USUAL reminder about sun block.  You'd think that at age 19 and after two years working this outside job AND after a year in college he actually would have improved on the smarts!

Have you planted peppers Meece?  Those are my favorites!

The only gardens I have are flower gardens and it's a fight with the deer every year for the flowers.  Like Elimar, can't do veggies and have tried every which way.  We have a lovely farmers market in town on Thursdays and the city market in Lansing is open everyday so I'll stick with the local farmers veggies.  We have 10 acres (a lovely piece of property) but have to keep the flowers close to the house so I try to do easy to care for perineals.  I also have a couple of rock gardens and they are very nice!

I would like to see a picture of your garden too Meece.

Elimar-I like the welcoming committee today!

Too funny, Elimar! 

Suz, are you talking about Biafine?  I never thought about that, but I wonder how it would work on sunburn?  Yes, I have bell peppers planted.  Maybe I need to plant a cherry pepper.  I have carrots coming out my ears.  What can you do with them in bulk?

I was looking on Google maps, and check the sattelite pic of my address.  I could actually see my garden, and recognized that it was my garden from 2008.

I gave up with planting anything in the ground here. Way to many racoons, possums, and armordillos. I've had to put everything in 5 gallon pots. We should all post pictures. I'm going to reward myself by posting pics.  Tomatoes have blossomed and I hope to get some grape tomatoes soon.   I got some 10 cent seeds from the dollar tree and for goodness sakes!, they are doing great. 

I miss our that Michigan black soil and all the lovely worms. We have clay here and you have to add much peat moss, lime and manure to it to get stuff to grow well . Off to take a few pics.

Ooooh - garden envy! I have no space, suspicions about what's in my soil, and too much heat and too many bugs to go outside much. Please post pictures of fabulous gardens so I may live vicariously through you! I would KILL for a home-grown tomato, although it's hard to eat the plastic grocery store stuff after you have one.

Band trip update - it was actually a total BLESSING that my daughter wasn't in my group. My friend that they chose instead was all over them like a bad rash, leaving me to look nice and normal while giving my daughter tons of space away from me. And my daughter rose to the occasion. She assembled a "kit" of things to help the other kids - bandaids, neosporin, extra sanitary supplies, ibuprophen, benadryl, etc. Her suitcase was a marvel of organization - for the bus ride, competition, Six Flags outing, first night's hotel and second day's drive she had everything layered in a carryon with her and didn't need to dig through her big suitcase like the other kids did. She had every little thing she needed. It was hilarious - like I'd spawned a little mini-me chaperonelette. (We've done a lot of road trips, though, so she's actually had years of preparation for this.) She was virtually the ONLY kid who didn't get a sunburn on our beach day. She wore a bikini and board shorts and she's really fair, but she actually applied her SPF 85 sunscreen and had someone do her back. Other kids were FRIED, most using that spray sunscreen that they seem to think you can just disperse close to your body like Febreeze and get protection. Meanwhile, the group that was assigned to me was a self-sufficient and amusing group of upperclassmen, mostly drum line or band council kids. The Wanderer, the Curious ADD Boy, Bambi & Candy (gorgeous, tiny bathing suits and deep faux tans), the Drummer Boys, and Romeo and Juliet (mostly stood near me holding hands and looking star-crossed). If the kids didn't pick me themselves (not knowing who I was), I'd have sworn someone underestimated my abilities and loaded me up with easy kids.

We had a chaperone with a broken foot (Six Flags), another with a destroyed wedding ring from a ride (Six Flags !!!), a drum line boy with a broken foot (last day - not my kid, though he fell down stairs on the USS Lexington right behind me), a girl with crazy panic attacks that held us up twice, and rumors of a senior girl piercing boys' ears. Not too bad for 139 kids, 13 adults, and four days on three buses! I've almost recovered. The killer was leaving at 1:20 am on Saturday and then closing down Six Flags that night. The bus was viciously uncomfortable, so with the exception of a few cat naps we were all mostly up for 36 hours (Friday morning through Saturday at midnight).