Prelim diagnosis - overreacting?

So sorry you have to be here. You are so young. I am quite a bit older--55--but my experience may at least be more info for you. My tumor was on the right side. Mastectomy was recommended for right side only. The left was fine. The docs were insistent that removing the left breast also would not increase my odds of survival. I decided to get both off anyway. For me it was peace of mind even if it did not make sense medically. It has been 8 months and I have never regretted my decision to say goodbye to both of them. I am sure you will get a lot more feedback to help you decide. This is a great resource. I am sending you wishes for a good outcome.

Hopefully, your Docs will give you a very clear picture of what options you have to chose from including surgery, chemo, radiation etc. I believe recent studies have shown no difference in outcomes for lumpectomy versus mastectomy, but I don't know if that is size dependent. You will find that the ladies here are divided on which is the best. What it will come down to is what is the best in your heart for you. Everyone here will still support you regardless of which method you chose.

I know that you are overwhelmed and scared. I promise we all felt somewhat better when we had a plan in place.

Hi!

No, it doesn't seem crazy to want your breasts removed after a cancer diagnosis. That's how I felt when I was first diagnosed. I thought differently after five months of chemo, after it had killed all the active cancer in my breast and lymph node. I chose a lumpectomy because 1) I wanted to have a surgery that is less likely to produce complications; 2) I wanted to avoid reconstruction (which can take several surgeries); and 3) I wanted to retain feeling in my breasts (most reconstructed breasts don't have much feeling).

There really is no difference in survival rates between women who get mastectomies and women who get lumpectomies + radiation. Moreover, getting a bilateral mastectomy is no guarantee that you will never get a recurrence; there are women in this community who will testify to that.

Do what's right for you! But remember that there are two sides to the lumpectomy/mastectomy debate.

Hi OAJ! All questions here are valid! Glad you found us. Sorry you had to come here.

I have DCIS and IDC on the right side. Had a lumpectomy on 1/7 and a re-excision on 1/14. First surgery removed the IDC tumor with good clean margins, but left positive margins with the DCIS. Same with re-excision - positive margins, so will have a single mx on the right in May. All docs involved said it was okay to wait until after my son's wedding. I have no bc in my family. I'm 55. No lymph nodes involved. Funny thing is, after the biopsy, the tumor they removed and sent for the Oncotype test was so small they didn't have enough to test. So, I'll have no chemo and no rads, but will take anastrozole for at least 5 years. I chose just one side and no reconstruction. I'm pretty small to begin with. My medical oncologist and breast surgeon did not recommend a double when I asked them. I'm a least-invasive kind of person, so I'm okay with doing just one side. I'll keep a close eye on things and continue my yearly mammograms, which is how this was discovered.

As everyone has already said, do whatever is right for you. Ask lots of questions. I found it very helpful to have my husband with me at my appointments as a second set of ears. Take someone along with you to your appointments if at all possible.

Good luck!

No. ..I wanted the same thing. I'm a medical coder so my decision was skewed because I see the very worst cases all the time.... where the patient gets a new cancer in the other breast, or the same cancer recurs in the same breast after lumpectomy. I know it could come back in the skin and that bmx doesn't affect the long term survival rates, but if I could avoid even an early recurrance I wanted to do so- I don't care about the breasts. Also did chemo, radiation, ovarian shutdown and am on aromatase inhibitors. Don't know if I will ever reconstruct. Wanted to throw everything including the kitchen sink at it!

That was my first thoughts too. Try hard not to make rash decisions, with me they did genetic testing, so I would know if I had mutations that cause cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA@) and it came back negative. I have decided to do mastectomy of my affected breast, and the healthy breast lifted and reduced to match my new Foob. Your thoughts are normal, but make sure you take the time to ask questions and make the decision that you feel is best for you.

xoxoMichelle