Hi Jolamine

Thankyou for your reply. Please could you explain what Letrozole is and why you needed it after a double mastectomy? My current situation is that after my second op (the reexcision surgery) they still have no clear margins. I now am waiting fo a mastectomy on the right. They are also going to do an MRI guided biopsy of the lesion found on the left during an MRI scan to see if I will have a double mastectomy. 

I think now that all the different scans  and surgeries haven't given me reassurances that mastectomy will give me more peace of mind despite it seeming quite big surgery.

Take care

Tink

Hi Tink,

You have been very unlucky to not have clear margins after the second attempt.  I know that a bilateral mastectyomy sounds like major surgery, but I actually found this easier than the lumpectomy I had the orevious year. 

I also found that I felt happier after it, as I felt that as much of the tumour as possible had been removed, so I fully understand when you say that this will give you more peace of mind. I hope that your biopsy doesn't show up anything untoward on the left breast. Have you been given a date for your op yet?
Please keep in touch. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Tink,

No, I didn't have any reconstruction, due to previous non-cancer related surgery. however, I manage well with an assortment of different prostheses for various activities. Waiting to get the results of the biopsy in your left breast makes sense, even though it means another few weeks of waiting.

Some cancers are helped to grow by oestrogen. There are different hormone therapies which work in different ways. Some block or stop the effect of oestrogen on cancer cells. If your cancer is hormone receptor positive, you are likely to be advised to use hormone therapy (tests will tell you which yours is).

Your care team will have discussed this at an MDT (multidisciplinary team) meeting and will know which therapy is the best for you. If your cancer is hormone receptor negative, then you will not benefit from hormone therapy. Most of the hormone therapies have different side-effects and some people will also react differently to these products.

What a pity that they couldn't get your biopsy with the aid of ultrasound. Is the hospital you're being referred to for your MRI far away?

I hope that this comes through soon and, that there is no trouble in getting an MRI guided biopsy.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx