if the right breast BC wasn't bad enough...

Hi Erin!  This sounds just like my story.  I found a lump in my right breast which turned out to be IDC and when I had the MRI done during the pre-treatment testing a spot was found in my left breast as well.  It too turned out to be IDC, a separate primary tumor. I had a few freak out days but then it settled in and it made treatment decisions easy for me.  Chemo was a definite already due to my age (36) and two invasive tumors but if I had been on the fence about Bi-lateral Mx before this I was no longer.  I did chemo first and then had my surgery almost a year ago, June 30 to be exact.  I did immediate reconstruction and finished recon with implants in December.  It was a long road but so worth it.  The way I looked at it is that you read about so many having recurrence in the same breast or the other breast a few years later and it means chemo and surgery again.  We know our enemy now and can fight it all at once.  I know that it feels like getting diagnosed all over again and you feel completely out of control but give yourself a little time, IF it does end up being cancer on the other side, and realize that it does not affect your outcome.  One or two, it is all the same.  Treatment will depend on the bigger or more aggressive of the two.  My bigger tumor completely disappeared after chemo.  The smaller one, the little buggar found with the MRI shrunk but did not do away completely so bilateral mx put an end to that.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I have walked in your shoes and I am now over a year out from diagnosis (diagnosed Jan 2009) and doing great.  You will be too.  You can do this.  PM me if you have any questions that I can help you with.  Best wishes and take care!