Mammogram found new mass

Ah, that's different. What a surgeon says about chemo is, frankly, irrelevant. Wait to see what the MO says. An 8mm tumor is small, but not when it's ER-/PR- or HER2+, because those are such aggressive cancers. Most people with 8mm tumors with either triple negative or HER2+ tumors will get chemo.

dontwantthis,

Ah, so your surgeon was wrong after all in what she thought the MO would recommended. Honestly, she should never have said anything because she simply caused confusion and misled you. Surgeons operate. MOs develop the treatment plan.

Now that you have a diagnosis and are deciding on your treatment plan, you probably should start up a new thread in the Just Diagnosed or HER2+ forums so that you get people reading your questions who have the personal experience to be able to answer. My diagnosis was ER+/HER2- and I did not have chemo, so I don't know what chemo regimen would usually be given for a diagnosis like yours. But lots of people who read and post in those forums would know.

As for the bilateral mastectomy, if this is what you want, insist on it. It's your body, your future and your decision, not their's. Some surgeons and MOs resist, but in the end they work for you and should be doing what you want.

Good luck with your decisions and treatments. I'm sure I'll see you around the board.