Decisions: Rads/Tamox or Single vs. Double Mast...

Mom to Three - You are truly in the most difficult phase of this process right now, but it is so so important to take the time to ask the questions and gather the information for your specific medical situation all while trying to balance the worry and stress. I remember reading virtually those same words from Beesie and some other wonderful women when I was where you are now just about three years ago, and reading that it'll get better and that once you have a plan in place it oddly actually gets easier, which it does. Everything initially seems a blur and you are being asked to make pretty serious decisions based on a topic that you neither wanted to know anything about or in fact knew anything about (my dcis grade 2 diagnosis came at age 43 when my second ever annual mammogram showed a cluster of micro-calcifications, and the stereo biopsy I was sent for came back positive -- Who even knew what a micro-calcification was?).

Like the previous poster, Xtina, I initally was leaning toward mx or bmx just because I was so worried about my two young children and we'd lost a dear friend to bc in her 40s. But after the data was all in -- genetic testing for BRCA1/2, an mri, an mri biopsy, an ultrasound, and additional mammography all came back favorably -- as well as meetings with a plastic surgeon (to confirm that I was a good candidate for immediate reconstruction using the diep procedure because I knew I wanted to wake up with a breast and did not want implants), breast surgeon, and rad.onc -- as well as reading a lot on these boards, I solidly decided that for me, the best decision was a lumpectomy w/ rads, and I intended to have no regrets about that decision. I also was faced with taking or not taking tamoxifen, and am thankful that I had a wonderful ro who laid out all of the stats and supported my decision to not take it.

We need to live our lives, yes LIVE our lives, not let this ruin our hopefully long long lives! Please do take the time to make sure that whatever surgical decision you make, it the right one for you, because the removal of a breast cannot be undone, the sensation is gone even if the cosmetic effects look good, reconstruction can have complications, body image should not be minimized, and the long-term survival rates for lump+rads v. mx are the same. 

To answer Beesie's list questions, I, too, can honestly say that I have good inner peace with all of the decisions I've been forced to make (I didn't want to make them, I would have loved to have never joined this group). Wishing you the very best!