Hi Katz
Good for you girl.Your positivity from your first to last post is quite atounding.
I opted for a mast over lumpectomy and rads, because the night before the op, I pinched in a 7cm sphere of flesh and it wouldn't have left me with much. I had to have mast on the other side a year later (non genetic), but am since part way through recon.
Have you decided what type of recon to have? Yet another decision!! I opted for "implant" as it doesn't involve extra scars and the extra infection risks of self tissue recon, and the results with the tear drop silicones are a lot more natural than the old silicones. Has it's downsides, not warm natural flesh and may need replacing within 15-20 yrs.
Good luck with it all, hope it goes well.
Keep us in touch with where you're up to.
Lotsa love, Delly xxxx
I was a 38C and had a mastectomy. It's actually fine and you don't look particularly lopsided in clothes afterwards. I went for a mastectomy because I didn't want to have to go bck for further surgery if the margins weren't clear; also my aunt has had breast cancer 4 times, so I just wanted as much breast tissue as possible removed!
They since found cancer in the other breast, so had another mastectomy and although I have prosthetic boobs I don;t wear them. If you go for no reconstruction there;s a group called flat friends who are very friendly and helpful.
All the best
Feeling incredibly stupid and not myself. Just joined and posted before getting my act together. Thinking about my bones and having read soo much stuff I confussed BC with a bone issue.
Apologies.
Reality will sink in and I am sure BC will be stamped in my brain in future.
Anyone else been diagnosed and has bone issues ie osteoporosis I would be pleased to hear from you.
Apologies again.
Liz
Hello can someone tell me what BC stands for.
I have just been diagnosed and am in a simillar situation. Choosing between maesectomy only or wide local excision with radiotherapy. I have osteoporosis and am concerned about radio therapy but terrified by the thought of looking at myself after a maesectomy. I go back to the hospital next Monday to agree a way forward and am not naturally a good decision maker I am very scared. I do not want reconstruction but am self conscious and appearance conscious. I do not have a large bust 34 b . The osteoporosis scares me too. I have been told if I opt for maesectomy I shouldnt need any other treatment. I know many drugs have a detrimenatal l impact on bone density.
Liz
HI there,
I love your approach. I have only just been diagnosed and am scheduled to have an MRI next week to discover the extent of the cancer. A mastectomy has already been mentioned. As I have lumps in both breasts, it is something I am seriously considering. Like someone else said, I don't want to have to go through all the tests and stress again.
Thanks again for the positive slant.
I have just decided to go for another reexcision as one margin from my original surgery was not clear enough. I was told that the guidelines state I should go for a mx but I am not ready for that. I have to have surgery anyway for an axillary clearance so I want to give it one more try. Maybe not the choice other people would make but it is the right choice for me at the moment. If I have to eventually have a mx then I know I did everything possible to avoid it. Its a difficult decision and not one that I wanted to make but my third surgery is booked for 10th Jan and I am hoping and praying that I have made the right choice. Good luck with whatever you decide.
I was offered a wide local excision with radiotherapy or a mastectomy. I went straight for the mastectomy without reconstruction. My aunt has had breast cancer 4 times, and although they haven't found a genetic cause, it does seem likely as there's also a great aunt who had ovarian. It's actually a good job I went for the mastectomy, because it was bigger than they had expected.
I couldn't face the thought of further operations if excision was incomplete. Also just having the rest of the breast there waiting...
I went for no reconstruction because I'm not particularly attached to my boobs, they are quite small, and I didn't want a looong operation. Also didn't want anything foreign in there which might make it harder to detect a recurrence.
A mastectomy is not that big an op without reconstruction - mine was a daycase! The op takes around 2 hours.
Tuns out I need chemo and radio anyway due to lymph node involvement.
Good luck whatever you decide!
Oh, and if you go for mastectomy without reconstruction, look into a group called flat friends, very helpful.