Sun lover 

I had lunpectomy in July 22 

I was also told by medical team that masectomy doesn't typically mean it won't come back over a lunpectomy they are equal if they got clear margins so I was told  y my team 

I was happy with the lunpectomy and radiotherapy 

love Lara ️

Thank you Lara.  Glad to hear your treatment went well.  I'll have to see what the consultant says tomorrow,was just concerned as I have 2 lumps and a vague area which has now disappeared!

Sun lover 

how are you feeling anyway it's a lot to take in at the beginning it's a crazy time , but time goes quick and you will soon be back to your normal life x 

love Lara ️

I'm a absolutely sun lover too lol 

Ha ha, sun always makes you feel better!  Not looking forward to staying out of it if i have radiotherapy.  I'm feeling ok Laura, think I'll feel better when I know what the plan is, and if I have a decision to make, once I've made it.   When I get a date for surgery I'll feel like I'm getting somewhere.  Hope you're doing ok, how long ago was your treatment?

That's what give me full panick saying to stay out of sun but I finished in nov had 5 sessions it went very well , so I waited until end of January went in the sun o needed a tan after my diagnosis I looked so pale I had been diagnosed in July so had stayed out of sun . I was not overly sensible in the sun and never had any reaction just the beautiful tan I needed , I then went to Spain in March and had no trouble either .

to be fair my experience with cancer was a massive shock at the time thought my life was over but it really wasn't like that I carried on working kept everything as normal as I wouldn't accept I was I'll and it worked for me . I continued to go out and do things without missing out it's a bump in the road I'm now back to my crazy life and it seems like so long ago I promise you you will be the same 

love Lara ️

Glad you managed to get a sunny holiday in.  And thanks for your kind words.

Hi Sunlover,

This is very much a personal choice and one that you have to be happy with. Doctors told me that both lumpectomies and mastectomies are equally successful. I have had both. I was diagnosed with colloid breast cancer in 2010 and had a lumpectomy.

Six months later, I found a larger lump in my other breast. My surgeon thought that this was cancer too, but fortunately, biopsies proved otherwise. A year after my lumpectomy, I discovered a second lump in my original breast and this time I wasn't so lucky, as I was diagnosed with a second cancer of the same type.

After a discussion with my surgeon, we decided on a double mastectomy, as he said that although the biopsies found my tissue benign, he felt that it was still posibly pre-cancerous. Unfortunately, due to previous non-cancer related surgery, I was unable to have any reconstruction, but I manage well with an assortment of different prostheses for my various activities. 

Do you know what type of breast cancer you have, what stage it is and how aggressive it is? These are probably the key points for you in making a final decision? Colloid cancer is one of the less aggressive types and mine was stage 1, but when I had so many lumps in such a short time, I felt much happier to have the mastectomies. This all happened 13 years ago and I have never looked back since.

I sincerely hope that you can reach the final decision  after you speak with your surgeon tomorrow.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Jolamine

Thank you for replying, and for your reassurance.  It is the recurrance which concerns me with a lumpectomy, but the consultant seems to think that it can still recur with a double mastectomy, so I'm no further on!  It may be that I don't have a choice (seeing the consultant this morning), I'm almost hoping that is the case so I won't always be thinking 'have I made the right decision?' One of my cancers is grade 1 and in the other breast it's grade 2, both ER +ve.  Started Letrozole already, as with the third unknown area biopsies taking time, the consultant wanted me to have something to stop the growth.  They are both around 7mm and classed as slow growing.

Hi Sunlover,

This is such a difficut decision to make. It's good to hear that both of your cancers are slow growing and are grades 1 & 2. How are you coping with Letrozole?

I hope that you managed to have a good discussion with your consultant today and that you now know which surgery you are going to opt for. It is always frustrating when it is taking longer to get the third unknown properly diagnosed, as all of the aditional tests take time. I hope that it won't be much longer before you find out.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx