DCIS Stage O - I have breast implants

Hi Luvrun,

Sorry you're going through this. I didn't have prior implants but I was diagnosed with DCIS in January. I had a BMX, expanders and exchange to implants. No hormonal therapy or any other treatment. I am very content with my choice.

Are your implants under the muscle now? If so, I'll bet you would be finished very fast with the reconstruction process if you choose that option. I was done in 12 weeks start to finish.

Good luck with your decisions.

Carla

I had small implants when diagnosed. They were placed as a result of a large lumpectomy and asymmetry from previous breast cancer. My size never changed from them but my is thought they may make direct to implants a possibility. I told him they were very small but I don't think he believed me. After surgery he was like yea... They weren't doing anything for you. So I did expanders to implants. I chose to have bilateral for symmetry. That's always been my priority but everyone is different.

I had implants already when I was diagnosed with IDC. I had LD recon direct to implant, no radiation, only on the BC side. The other side he reshaped it (lifted slightly), replaced the old implant with a new one and did his best to match them. I often wish I had done both to get a better match but at the time I was so sad to lose one that I didn't want to lose both. Plus for me I had skin sparring but due to prior breast lift couldn't keep my nipple. I'm so happy I still have the one.

As far as screening after, due to BC I get a mammo on my non-BC side and then ultra sound on both - all in the same visit. So I feel really good about the screening, even with implants

I will say this....my original implants were how I found my BC in the first place. On my left side the implant was getting hard due to capsular contraction. I was feeling around trying to decide if I should get them redone and I felt the little bastard of a lump.

Good luck in your decision.

your situation is exactly like mine!

Feb 2014 diagnosed with DCIS stage 0 in right beast! Did lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy!

Feb. 2016 after MRI found it returned! Same breast DCIS again. Did a double mastectomy this time. Had expanders put in at same surgery. I'm now in the filling stage. Very painful process.

Happy with decision, just want this to be done.

Hi, Luvrun -- I hope you are finding your way. DCIS can be a tricky diagnosis for several reasons. Grade is very important in determining the appropriate treatment. Some folks with Grade 1/low-grade DCIS choose to watch and wait. Grade 3/high-grade DCIS has been associated with a high risk of invasive cancer and is usually removed and treated with radiation. Lumpectomy may be sufficient if it is not yet widespread, but DCIS spreads through the ducts and can require mastectomy more often than higher grade cancers which present in a more discrete lump. My DCIS was distributed throughout my breast and I had to opt for MX after 2 unsuccessful lumpectomies. Lumpectomy + radiation has the same survival rate as mastectomy but a higher recurrence rate. There is a lot of misinformation about DCIS overtreatment online -- if grade is not part of the discussion, ignore it. Best wishes in finding the best treatment.

I have breast implants and a few years ago during a mammogram some calcifications were found. I went through several rescreenings. Released to merely annual monitoring. This year January I had my annual screening and nothing found. In May I noticed a small "knotted" type hard spot and immediately went to the doctor. This spot, however, was in the opposite breast. The calcifications were in the right breast and back against my chest wall. Within a 2 week span of time, a biopsy was performed, confirmed malignancy and lumpectomy with 2 lymph nodes removed. Following surgery my condition is confirmed as DCIS Stage 0. Margins good. Nothing found in lymph nodes. Now I am trying to decide on radiation and hormone therapy. At this time, I am skeptical of both treatments. I am not even 50 years old and haven't gone through menopause. I am concerned the radiation will result in a mess with implants and then going back in for more surgery. I am also not a fan of inducing menopause and its side effects. I am a math person and numbers matter to me. The math says I have a 80% chance of this being addressed without further treatment. To reduce the other 20% chance it can involve breast implant surgery, possible full MX with loss of my nipple, imbalance of hormones, weight gain, etc. The outcome is I still have a 2 to 5% chance of reoccurrence. And not to mention the calcifications in the other breast. I may go through this on one side and turn around and do it on the other down the road. Please help with some advice.