History - first diagnosed nine years ago aged 39 with invasive bc 1.2 cm tumour in right breast. Had successful WLE, no lymph node involvement, rads followed by two years zoladex injections and 5 yrs tamoxifen. All well and had almost forgotten i ever had bc apart from annual check up… Just about to be signed off last month when final mammogram showed DCIS this time in left breast. Had lumpectomy two weeks ago (mammoplasty plus a lift to right side to balance up) and today have been told area is much bigger than appeared in mammogram - high grade and 34 mm rather than 18 mm so didn’t get clear margin - appears to be heading down one duct toward the nipple… Now have to decide whether to try again with WLE or go for mx prob with immediate DIEP reconstruction. Gutted cos the op went really well and overall result was looking great. Worried about taking so much time off work and long term well being impact of mx and tummy scar. But also don’t want to face all this again further down the line if there’s a chance of another recurrence. And wondering if there’s another option of bilateral mx with implants to reduce recovery time and give complete peace of mind re future. Due to see surgeon on Friday so any advice from any of you who’ve been through similar decisions/surgery would be very welcome.
I had to have a further excision because of an large area of dcis surrounding my original tumour… My consultant said ge could go back and do surgery as much as 4 times rather than give me a mastectomy… Only needed ocelot of further surgery though… If you would prefer an mx and recon you don’t have o have a diep there are other options like you said such as implant recon or LD back flap recon… Whether you have an mx on the otherwise is really for discussion with your surgeon to see if he would be happy to dp that and what kind of surgery is an option for you.
Lulu x
Thanks Lulu. Had long chat with good friend today who helped me explore how I feel about all options. Definitely leaning towards another lumpectomy since mx really seems such a huge operation. Think I will always worry about recurrence but have learned to live and deal with that especially since it has now happened.