prophylactic surgery

I am 54 years old and have the BRCA 2 mutation. I am meeting with a surgeon and plastic surgeon tomorrow to discuss a prophylactic double mastectomy. I am going to Roswell. I would love to here who you are seeing and also hear from other people who have had this surgery here in Buffalo. 

Hi Ladies,

I am brac 2+. Had I known this before my cancer, I would have had the surgery.

You can go to the breast reconstruction topic and ask questions. It's very active over there.

Good luck & hugs

Hi!  I am 38 and tested positive for the braca1 mutation. I learned this when my youngest of three was 15 months old and was breastfeeding(A year and a half ago).  I decided to do the surgeries. My mom died of cancer when I was 16(had ovarian cancer) and mom's two sisters died of mets breast cancer. So a about a year ago had a total hysterectomy and about 4 weeks ago had a PBM with expanders.  The PBM was tough...very painful. I started to feel the pain about six hours after the surgery.  It felt like a ton of bricks were on my chest. So I was pressing the pain pump as much as possible.  When I was home the pain  felt like my chest was throbbing and tight.  So I made sure I stayed on top of the pain meds.  Everyone is different.  So you may not experience much pain.  I was off the pain meds in a week.  A huge mental and physical improvement was when the drains were removed. I had four drains and a pain pump attached to me.  Mentally that was a drag and when all the attachments were removed I was SO HAPPY.  Every day after the surgery gets better and better.  The surgeries and mutation diagnosis have taught me to enjoy everything in life(especially those little things) and take nothing for granted. ! I have no regrets.  I am happy to answer any questions you may have!

hi td - I know our situtions are different, since I've been dx, and it's a highly personal decision, but for what it's worth, I would have surgery 10 times again before I would even consider chemo and the mental anguish of breast cancer at 35. Just my perspective. Good luck with your decision! Xo

I came up positive for PALB2 and Chek2 after I had my lumpectomy in Aug 2015. PALB2 is the Pathway And Locator of BRCA2 and my genetics counselor put my risk at 45%! Both of those mutations have m implications for other cancers, such as colon, thyroid, and pancreatic cancers, all of which are in my 1st or 2nd generation relatives. Given my dire family history of BC and other cancers, my MO has recommended BMX and oophorectomy after chemo. I just finished the chemo and I'm scheduled for BMX Feb 4, 2016.

In a way, I'm looking forward to getting the breasts off. As my MO said "You're breasts are gonna try to kill you sooner or later." Eek! She said the oophf wasn't as urgent, but she wants me to see a GYN next week to discuss whether I need a full hysterectomy. Two of my sisters have had uterine cancer, one had breast cancer, and my grandmother had cervical, uterine, colon, AND breast cancer. Hopefully, I'll be able to get all that taken care of later this summer, if I have enough sick leave left!

cajunqueen, thank you. love this. ; )

one breastless mutant to another.