Hi Ladies
I was wondering if anyone else has requested a mastectomy after a diagnosis? I’m 30 and have been diagnosed with Stage 2, Grade1/2 HER2+ ER- BC.
I’m currently undergoing neo adjuvant chemo and then surgery/radio will follow after.
My gut instinct on hearing the diagnosis was just to have a full mastectomy…in my mind I have zero need for these boobs if all they are going to do is cause anxiety/fear at every scan in the future!
I have been told that there is no evidence to suggest that chemo and lumpectomy is any less beneficial than a mastectomy… but in my mind… it’s one less place for the bugger to appear!
Have any other ladies requested a mastectomy and what issues did you encounter with this?
Any thoughts would be massively appreciated!! xx
Yes, I did. However, a unilateral one rather than bilateral which I wonder is what you are thinking of.
At the appointment where I got my results from the biopsy (high grade DCIS with microinvasion) the consultant ran through the course of my treatment. That being lumpectomy and some form of reconstruction (Licap) and/or mastoplexy followed by radiotherapy. Mastectomy was barely mentioned. Like you I was told that overall survival outcome was equal between lumpectomy/radiotherapy and mastectomy. This was all confirmed in the notes/letter sent to me immediately after the appointment, i.e, that I would have lumpectomy.
I was scheduled to go back two weeks later and in the interim, I did a lot of research on my diagnosis. At this point I realised that lumpectomy wasn’t for me. At my second appointment, I advised the consultant (a different one to previously) that I wanted a mastectomy. My sister who was present, noted after the appointment that he never made any attempt to talk me out of my decision. We don’t know whether he didn’t agree with the lumpectomy in the first place or just decided not to debate my decision. I got want I wanted and am very happy with the outcome.
In arriving at my decision, I sat down with a piece of paper and noted the pros/cons for each option and what was important to me. This was useful in getting my thoughts straight and sorting out any questions that needed to be answered.
I hope your chemo is manageable and will not impact too much on your enjoyment of Christmas. Take care.
Thanks for your story Ezzie. It’s definately something I am going to consider. There seem to be a large number of women who have had mastectomies and I can’t get my head around why they have but it wasn’t mentioned to me. I know we shouldn’t compare stories but I can’t help it!!
I will raise the question next time though xx
Sam there are ladies on the forum who have had double mastectomies by choice but I think in order to do this they have had to have some counselling /psychological assessment so the medics are happy they are making the decisions for the right reasons and won’t regret the decision .Definately worth discussing sooner rather than later -Jill.
I have had 2 mastectomies - one was 10 year ago for stage 3 BC her2+ and ER/PR+ - so had full ANC too. My latest was due to a finding of high grade DCIS on the other side - I was told to have lumpectomy and radiotherapy but I wanted a mastectomy and the surgeon was okay with that. I also did not want reconstruction and that was an interesting conversation! It seems that surgeons cannot get their head around women who don’t want any! So at least now I am symmetrical - I have never regretted my first decision or my latest decision - it just felt right for me.
I wish you all the best with your decision and in your current treatment. xx
forgot to say that because I was having a mastectomy they also did a SNB as they could not do this after a mastectomy. This found an invasive micromet in one of my nodes so they removed that one and one other. They have since failed to find the invasive cancer in my breast! So, it is there somewhere but where? So the good thing for me was that I would never have known about the micromet in my lymph node had I not had a mastectomy! Having had BC once before this is one of the reasons I wanted a mastectomy - I do NOT want to get a 3rd time! xx
I had a single mastectomy some years ago. For various reasons I did not want reconstruction and have not
regretted my decision. I wear a prosthesis. In my case mastectomy was dictated by location of lump and breast size but beforehand I too, had done the pro’s and cons list. I can’t tell you if I would have opted for lumpectomy had it been possible but I do know that I seriously considered mastectomy beforehand and the consultant seemed surprised by my easy acceptance of it. When I explained my reasons for not wanting recon.no one tried to talk me out of it.
There is a website, Flat Friends, that you might find helpful,
xx