Hi Cherry,

I am sorry to hear that you have DCIS in your left breast. Again, looking for the positives, you have caught this early too. Having previously had a lumpectomy and discovered another cancer in the same breast within less than a year and also having lost my mum to secondary breast cancer, then six months after my lumpectomy, discovering another lump in my other breast, I felt that I had little choice. My cancer was pure mucinous breast cancer, stage 1. When I was first diagnosed, my consultant advised me that if I had to have cancer, this was the best type to have, as it was slow growing and unlikely to return. Having had 2 bouts of cancer and 1 of pre-cancer in less than a year, I was no longer convinced by what he said. I naturally didn't want a double mastectomy, but I did most definitely want to live, so I agreed.

I was surprised that I found the mastectomies easier to cope with than the lumpectomy post-op. I must confess that I felt that I had done all that I could possibly do to get rid of the cancers, which to be honest, I never felt after my lumpectomy. I had taken Tamoxifen for the first year after my lumpectomy, but changed to Letrozole for 6½ years after that. It is now 16 years since I was first diagnosed and I still lead a busy and fulfilling life, so I have no cause to regret my decision. It was definitely the right decision for me, but we are all different and this has to be your decision. No two cancers are the same and no two people who have it feel the same about it. I had an in-depth conversation with my consultant and discussed the possible outcomes. I had drawn up a list of questions before I saw him to discuss this and asked him what his advice would be if he was talking to his wife.  I was happy that I was making the right decision once we'd had this conversation.

Unfortunately, I was not a suitable candidate for reconstruction as a result of previous non-cancer related surgery. I have remained flat ever since. I wear an assortment of prostheses for different activities and manage fairly well on the whole. I do miss my cleavage and have to close most 'v' neck dresses and tops up a bit further to hide some of the scarring from my lumpectomy. I find the silicone prostheses too heavy for everyday wear, although I do still wear them when I am dressed up. I have found some foam breast forms which come in 4 different sizes in M & S and although these don't give such a good shape, they are considerably lighter and more comfortable to wear. I wear these inside a pocketed post-mastectomy bra, which keeps them in place. They tend to pop up or even out from an ordinary bra. In the past 2 years, I have found myself going completely flat a lot of the time, which is even more comfortable.

The big question I asked myself was how I would feel if I didn't have a mastectomy, then found another lump and had to undergo surgery for a third time - I thought that I would have found this hard as I would have regretted not going 'the whole way' at the time. I decided that if I had the mastectomies and had re-growth, I could cope with that, because I would have known that I did all that I could to prevent this.

Sorry for the long and disjointed diatribe, but hope this helps. The best of luck in your decision and I hope that it turns out to be the right one for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx