Elaine 

welcome , I was diagnosed in June I had a lunpectomy, is it you who wants the mastectomy or are they saying you need it ? 
 

By the way I'm also 1974 

Hi laraj

it was my decision. I was originally opting for a lumpectomy but the cancer came back about 10mm larger when I had my MRI. I have a family history of breast cancer and cancers in general so I just feel safer getting rid I'm just not sure about the other one yet. How was surgery for you? Xx 

I understand, I asked for mastectomy to i nagged but they would not help my lump was small 1.5 mm and I'm big busted so they refused, I had lunpectomy then 3 weeks later another operation auxiliary node clearance recovery was very fast managed to work still through operation recovery, my last op was aug 9 th I am now having pain in my arm nagging pain after wearing a bra all day .

have you got a treatment plan yet ? 

Hi I'm booked in for my op on the 8th. I don't need radiotherapy but won't know about chemo until the cancer been looked at and lymph nodes. Xx

Hi yeah it's the same type as yours but thy thought it's was around 27 mm but the mri showed a grey area around it so it's closer to 40 mm that's why I thought I'd just get rid of the pesky thing xx

Right I understand yes best get it gone to be safer x 

hopefully your nodes will be clear and you won't require chemo x 

Hi Elaine,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear that you have been blighted by cancer too. Most surgeons are very reluctant to remove a healthy breast, despite the patient's wishes. I had a lumpectomy 13 years ago. Six months later, I discovered a lump in my other breast, which my surgeon thought was cancerous. Fortunately, the biopsy found otherwise. Almost a year to the day of my original operation, I discovered another lump in my original breast. This time I wasn't so lucky and I was told that I needed a mastectomy. 

I discussed the options with my surgeon and he agreed that it might be wise to have a double mastectomy, as he rated my other breast as pre-cancerous and there is a history of cancer in the family. I must say, that I was quite relieved that I didn't have to put up any further discussion about this. I have never regretted my decision. Sadly, I couldn't have reconstruction, due to previous non-cancer related surgery, but I manage well with an assortment of different prostheses for different activities.

It helps to write down any questions you have for your care team, as it's all too easy to forget something important during an appointment slot.

I hope that all goes well for you on 8th. Please keep in touch. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx