Radiation therapy or without

Hi all,

I was diagnosed in April and had a mastectomy and Diep reconstruction on the June 10th. I am just getting better but still tired. Before the surgery they said that I am unlikely to need radiotherapy (which is why we went for surgery first) but it will need to be confirmed after surgery. My oncologist just told me they want to "discuss" radiotherapy with me - whilst my lymph nodes are negative, total tumor área is around 6.5cm with DCIS (grade 1/2) and they seem to say you don't need it if total area is less than 5cm, so i seem to be on the borderline. For those of you for whom rads were recommended, how did you decide whether to go for it (in terms of probability/benefits vs side effects). My plastic surgeon (not sure if it's his area of expertise?) is suggesting benefit should be at least 20%. Is there any effect on fertility/future pregnancies? What dosage do they typically give?

Can you please share your experiences of rads: did it make you tired, how long did you wait until after mastectomy/reconstr before starting rads to maximize recovery from the surgery, did rads leave any permanent side effects? Also if I lived in Ukraine at the time of Chernobyl nuclear reactor blow up, can this radiation build up on top even though it's targeted?

Also my plastic surgeon is suggesting that if i have to have rads then I will need to postpone the 2nd surgery for a few months at least (currently scheduled for Sept) which is more of a touch up surgery on a reconstructed breast/stomach plus adding a nipple. This makes me a bit nervous in terms of confidence level during the interim period when I wait for the 2nd surgery. Has anyone had this experience?