Have just completed chemo (4 fec + 4 tax), I am now due for surgery, and see surgeon on Tuesday.
I have invasive in the left breast, but also a small amount of DCIS was picked up during my initial MRI scan in the right breast.
Based on this, and my own thought that one side is bad luck, but both sides is more sinister, I saw the geneticist. I have both a sister and an aunt that both had BC and are now dead.
His thought was that it probably isn’t BRCA gene, but it may be genetic. I have had a blood sample frozen for testing once I have completed treatment. This is really for my daughter’s sake.
However even 7 months ago before chemo started I had decided that I was having double MX. I have met with the BCN and she totally agrees, and will take my request to the meeting on Tuesday morning before I see them.
The problem is I am having doubts now and I think it is only because it is getting closer (about 4 weeks away!!) Never had surgery and to say I am terrified is an understatement, it’s being put under that worries me the most, really freaks me out every time I think about it.
I know it is the best choice for me, but I am scared of how I will feel once the surgery is done.
I also think that the whole thing is dawning on me now, I could bury my head in the sand while having chemo, but I now have to face up to it all once I have the surgery and I can physically see the results.
The op itself isn’t too bad - if you are worrying about the actual op - then you really don’t want to have one side done and then the other done later (Hope you see what I mean by this). Are you meant to be having immediate reconstruction at the same time, otherwise you will have to have more operations later on. I have had 4 ops in less than 2 years and am amazied at how I have coped with them. Nowadays they look after you so well, that you feel fine quite soon after waking up. You have been brave with coping with 8 lots of chemo and all the side effects from that. In some ways the operation is easier than Chemo as you recover quicker. A lot of this is fear of the unknown - and you overcame this with Chemo and got on with things. Hopefully you will know the decision made by your surgeons soon and then be able to prepare yourself for the next step in your journey. Stay strong and let us know how it goes at the next appt.
Hi cs1, I know exactly how you feel about being put under, I was the same, absolutely terrified. It was actually fine, the surgical team are so calm and supportive, I felt confident that they knew what they were doing and it was over in no time.
I am BRCA 2, so I will have a second mx but chose to have mx and reconstruction on only the affected breast and deal with the cancer first, then later the risk reduction. I didn’t have anything in the other breast though. I think that you will have to face your fear of surgery even if you only have one mx, and I am sure you will get through it just fine. You sound as though you made your decision for good reasons and are confident with it, so I would say trust yourself and follow your decision. But at the end of the day, it is your choice and there is no wrong answer.