I also went through a rollercoaster of a decision making journey when it came to my mastectomy now almost 2 years ago so thought I’d reply. It sounds like you’ve had a lot of support from ladies sharing their experiences. I went down the no reconstruction route (with the option for delayed reconstruction later, my experience shared here. But 2 years on I can safely say I’m happy with the choice I made. At the time I went for second opinions via private medical insurance (2 surgeon’s and a plastic surgeon due to a number reasons), but ultimately had my surgery done under the NHS with the surgeon that gave me my diagnosis. In the NHS trust I was treated at there were 3 surgeons who formed part of the team, along with 3 BCN’s. I saw one surgeon at the time of my original mammogram, but thereafter my case was handed over to another surgeon due to the original surgeon going on leave for a few weeks. They worked as a team so that if one member wasn’t available there was someone else available (all of them are involved in the MDT meetings that take place to review results and come up with treatment plans).
Perhaps it’s worth asking your nurse who the other surgeons are at your hospitals breast unit? Or if it’s at a different NHS trust then I guess would need some research to find out more about their breast team staff. Or if you are considering going private, then it may be looking for recommendations based hospitals near you. At the time I went for second opinions I asked a colleague who had been through BC before and also family in the medical field for recommendations. I totally get “being all of brain power” as I felt like that a lot, all the way through. It does get easier though. xx