New to this and my mind is reeling

Hi Jannylouise. Sorry you find yourself here but welcome!

Sounds to me like you are pretty well versed in your options and why they are best for you in each way. Now it is just a matter of deciding what works best for you personally.

I chose the lumpectomy and rads as the thought of such radical surgery for early BC was too much for me but I respect anyone's right to choose their own path. I was worried about rads and heart/lung involvement but nowadays, they have ways to minimize this, not like years ago. You could have your rads in the prone position for example.

Weigh all options carefully and you will figure it out. Wish you the best what ever you decide to do. You have a lot on your plate right now so just choose your path and don't look back!
There is no right/wrong answers with this!

I had lumpectomy and radiation as well. Sailed through both really. Also did you know that some who have mastectomy still need to have radiation?

The thing to remember is that these are two GOOD choices. It's not like one is right and one is wrong. I think your reasons for wanting a mastectomy are reasonable. I've had both -- a lumpectomy (actually two) and a mastectomy, all on the same side. I kind of wish I'd has a mastectomy to begin with, but who knows what's going to happen. I was free of cancer for 11 years after the lumpectomy. If I were you, choose the procedure you lean toward and be kind to yourself.

Janny, I don't have the same diagnosis as you, but I was given the choice of lumpectomy with radiation or mastectomy. Since I was triple negative and had both mother and sister that had been diagnosed with breast cancer, I chose a bilateral mastectomy (without reconstruction). I know that the stats are about the same with mastectomy and lumpectomy, but...1) I wanted to reduce my risk of local recurrence as much as possible and...2) I wanted to avoid radiation...3) I wanted to avoid the stress of future mommograms, etc.  As everyone will tell you, it is a very personal decision and you have to do what you are the most comfortable with.

 My surgeon said he wanted to make me appointments with the plastic surgeon and radiology just in case I changed my mind. I told him there was no use wasting time and money...my mind was made up. He said ok. I have never regretted my decision. I am an anxious person my nature and I made a decision that I thought would give me the most peace of mind. 

Wishing you the best.

Hi Jannylouise, sorry you have to be here, but we wanted to welcome you to Breastcancer.org where, as you can already tell, you'll find a wealth of knowledge, experience and support.

The decision you have to make right now is not a piece of cake, we all know, so hopefully our member's experiences and advice will help you a bit. Also, in our main site there is an article titled Mastectomy vs. Lumpectomy that you may find interesting.

We hope this helps! Please let everybody here know what your final decision is.

Best,

The Mods

You have done a lot more research than I did.  I found a tiny lump near my nipple and my new doctor said all I needed was a lumpectomy and then before even knowing if it was benign or not, asked what kind of insurance I had.  When she found out I had Blue Cross, she immediately decided I would have 6 weeks of radiation but no chemo.  I did not know anyone who had had breast cancer.  I was a single gal, 62, never married, few friends, and when I told someone I had breast cancer, most women would say "Oh, everyone gets breast cancer today."   On the mammogram I was shown, I had a huge black cyst she would take out at the same time.  My surgery was successful and I was released from the hospital the next day.  Not much pain. Right breast is now no longer a C cup, but an A cup due to the cyst removed (negative). I went back to work a week later and had a blood clot in my right leg (same side as my lumpectomy) and was rushed to the same hospital.  I happened to mention I had just been in this hospital for a lumpectomy and the ER doctor called in my surgeon's assistant.  I had a huge blood clot due to having vascular disease (PAD).  Anyway, my surgeon came in the next day to say her surgery caused the blood clot.  I was started on thinners as I had NO pulses in my foot, which was bluish-grey and the pain was tremendous.  I found out later they thought they'd be doing an ankle amputation on me (I'm diabetic Type II) but about an hour before I would go in for amputation, my pulses started working again.  I healed and about a month later, I had an aneurysm in my left groin where they always put in the IV for the fluids.  That required additional surgery and I healed fine.  It was over six months before I started by six weeks of radiation.  No one told me I would get so tired towards the end and I worked full-time at that time.  If I had to do this over, I would not have had my two sentinel lymph nodes removed because what they don't tell you is that you can never have either blood pressure or an IV in the side they removed your lymph nodes (as a precaution).  I was with a large teaching hospital and now believe that breast cancer is a money-making health issue for almost all hospitals.  Look at all the buildings that get built to deal with cancer.  My surgeon never did check to see when I was coming in for a follow-up and to this day she has never contacted me again.  She was actually bored while she gave me my diagnosis, like it did not excite her.  I should have gotten more opinions but did not.  It is now 6 years out and have only had one mammogram and was fine.  This experience taught me to rely on No one but Myself:)  My friends were not there for me.   Moirish

I have a diagnosis similar to yours. I also had some doubts about the radiation. One of the breast clinics in my area offered a intraoperative radiology feature. There are several criteria that your diagnosis needs to meet for this to be an effective treatment, but it seems like something that you might qualify for if you can find a center in your area that offers it. It is called Intrabeam. It might be worth looking into as an alternative between the options.

find out about intra-operative radiation therapy. They do it at the time they do the lumpectomy, if you have a small enough area removed and you can find a facility close enough to do it. Just another option to think about