Hi I was diagnosed Oct 08 and have just finished 7 cycles of chemo and am due to have left mastectomy with full node clearance next month. I have invasive lobular cancer which does not always show up on a mammogram and I am considering having my good breast removed too as I also read with lobular cancer there is a higher risk of it coming back in the other breast. I asked my onc this week if he thought it would be advisable to have both breasts removed and all he said was “no because the cancer you have is more likely to kill you than the cancer you don’t have”. When treatment is over I will have an annual mammogram but don’t feel very happy about this as I think my cancer was missed on a routine mammogram.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this.
pp
Dear Purpleprincess
I had the same thoughts as you and the comments made by my team were the same i.e. get the bad stuff sorted first however they did say we can deal with the other scenario at a later date. I agree that the most important thing at the time was to get the bad stuff sorted. I now have thoughts of when I have reconstruction, having another mastectomy on the other side at hte same time and reconstruction. I completely understand where you are coming from. Maybe discuss with your team like I did that at a later date you would want this - I believe that if you push for it enough then you’ll probably get it - the patient does have a say as I’ve been told. I believe although I may be wrong that because of the fact we’ve already had breast cancer, our chances of gettting it again are higher and I’m not prepared to take that risk. Hope this helps.
Best wishes
Ruby xx
Hi Ruby
I have to have an MRI scan before my op so I will be able to discuss things further with my onc when I go to get the results of the scan. I have not decided whether to go for reconstruction or not so feel that I would be better having both breasts removed at the same time. Thanks for you thoughts on the matter
pp
x