Hi Ellen,

They certainly won't force you to do something you don't want to do. They will advise you of what they consider to be the best surgical option for you, but I'm almost certain that they cannot and would not refuse to do any other surgery on the basis of your refusal to have a mastectomy. i would agree with the lady you spoke to that a wide local excision would possibly be the most likely option that they would take if you refuse a mastectomy, but there is no guarantee that this would prevent recurrence of your cancer.

Remember that your surgeon will have discussed your case with his multidisciplinary team at their regular meetings, so the decision to offer you a mastectomy is based upon your pathology reports and a number of the other factors I mentioned in my previous post. This is a decision reached by all of the expects, so if you are intending to refuse their advice, you need to know how this will affect your chances. Please make that list for your consultant, then discuss your concerns openly with him. You cannot reach a rational decision until you know exactly how that might influence your chances.

I was only offered a lumpectomy initially, as I was assured that my cancer was low grade, it was a small tumour and, I was assured that if I had to get cancer, this was one of the best types to get, as it was less aggressive than most.

My second surgeon was amazed that I had a recurrence so soon after my initial surgery. My experience of choice was that I was advised what surgery to have, but had I refused that, I would possibly have been offered a mastectomy - not much choice at the end of the day really, but that's breast cancer for you!

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx