Helen, 

No one here can tell you whether you should do rads or not. 

Some women with your type of diagnosis have chosen to pass on rads, some have gone ahead with rads, some have even opted for a bilateral mastectomy.  Similarly, some have chosen to take Tamoxifen and others have decided not to.  The point is that everyone views their diagnosis through their own unique perspective based on their health history, their family health history, fears they may have (of cancer or of a particular treatments), how they view and deal with risk in their lives, etc., etc..

So only you can decide what the right decision is for you.  Here are some discussion threads on the question of Rads and DCIS that you might find helpful:

Topic: DCIS lumpectomy without radiation?

Topic: radiation therapy - yes or no

Topic: Lumpectomy only

And here is a more general post about DCIS that might also be helpful as you make your decision: 

A layperson's guide to DCIS

I had small grade 3 DCIS and I really struggled with the decision for Rads.   I decided that I was not going to do both rads and tamoxofin...   I was leaning toward doing neither when I met with the radiology oncologist.   In my case it was feasible to do partial breast radiation  (thus reducing the side effects and treatment time) and still effectively treating the area that is at highest risk.   It was the right decision for me.    I think that if you are younger (less than 45) the partial breast radiation may not be an option.

I recommend speaking with a radiation oncologist prior to making your decision.

Helen,  There are different types of partial breast radiation...I believe most of them are 2x per day for 5 days.  that's what mine was. My RO initially recommended mammosite (which requires a device to be temporarily implanted to delivery the radiation during treatments).  But because of the location, I was not a candidate for that.   I had external beam partial breast radiation.  Before my first treatment they mapped me out with markers on my breast, and  Cat scan machine (at least I think that's what it was).   I did not need permanant tatoos.  When I would go in for my treatments I would lay flat under the radiation machine.  I had about 5 or 6 different angles.  They would give me a zap (did not feel it) for about 10-30 seconds...don't remember exactly how long...then the radiation tech would come in between each zap and turn the table and change the angle of the machine.    I was in an out of the RADs room in less than 10 minutes.  I had no side effects...maybe a little tired toward the end, but its hard to tell if that was from radiation or just have a tired day.   Post radiation checkups were every 6 months for a year and a half by the RO, and 5 years by the BS.   I have mamos every 6 months, and will start MRI every 2 years because of dense breasts.   Please let me know if you have additional questions. 

Go to the top of the page, and click on breastcancer.org.  There is a lot of info on this issue, MammoSite radiation therapy.

Home → Treatment & Side Effects → Radiation Therapy → Types of Radiation → Internal Radiation

Helen, so sorry that you find yourself here. But glad at the same time, because there is support and help for you here. My surgery was one year ago this Thursday. I had similar results to yours. Thus far, I have not done radiation or hormone therapy and my team and I are very comfortable with this decision. Here are a few more resources for you. DCIS Redefined is an excellent resource, created by two patients who were influential in my ultimate decision.  My own story can be found here. In each of these resources you will find mention of the second opinion services of Dr Michael Lagios, St Mary's San Francisco, an internationally recognized expert in decisions exactly like yours. His second opinion was that with no necrosis, I was not grade 1 and 2 as the first opinion stated, but only 1. The same may be true for you. He rated my risk too low to benefit much from further therapy. I also used the Oncotype DX DCIS assay, which confirmed this. I hope that these resources will help you, and I wish you all the best. Feel free to message me.

Kay