First time

Well, now you're in the "wait" part of the "test/wait" cycle.  This thing can go on for a bit, so try and stay calm as possible.

What I did to help myself was create a decision matrix, along the lines of, "if this......then that".  Example:  "if my BRCA test is positive then I will do BMX".  I did this for a variety of things including the analysis of whether to do sentinel node biopsies.  (I ended up not doing them.)  I shared these decisions trees with my doctors and got their feedback.

You can ask your doctors and you can get all kinds of opinions.  I have access to many brilliant medical minds and believe me, I used them all.  I got opinions ALL across the board.  Doctors have a lot of differing views.  There are just about no clear answers when it comes to cancer.  There are medico-legal matters they consider that you will not be aware of.  (like the fact that bmx is not standard of care for DCIS and if they recommend this often enuf they will lose their medical license and may be exposed to litigation.) 

My surgeon posed an interesting question to me: "if we do the BMX and I come back and tell you all we found is normal breast tissue, how will you feel?  Will you be horrified that you took off your breasts without finding any cancer or will you be happy?"  My immediate gut reaction: " I will pop champagne and thank the Lord that we got ahead of this thing."  That was my straight gut feeling and that's how it came out and that's what I did (and frankly still do - I consider myself the luckiest girl.)

You might also review how you feel about taking tamoxifen and if you have any medical issues that preclude it. 

I think I said it before, but you also need to review your path report with great care.  A grade 1 dcis in a small size is far different than a grade 3 with comedonecrosis in a large area.  These are totally different IMO and you should know what you have so you can make a good choice.

I think relatively few people "feel sick" with cancer of any type until it's gone pretty far. There are always exceptions, of course, but I think the majority of people feel nothing for a long while. The cancer is discovered either with a regular diagnostic test or by happenstance. Once one feels sick, one is generally (not always) in a very late stage, and possibly won't be successfully treated. Here on BCO we occasionally hear from a woman who's diagnosed with Stage IV cancer who previously had no idea there was anything wrong!

So if you don't feel sick -- that's a very good thing!