Hello there
haven’t posted in a while but, after months of deliberation and having now missed completely the window for radiotherapy following the lumpectomy I had in April, I am now going to have a mastectomy. I wonder if anyone has had a nipple sparing mastectomy. I am under a fantastic team and have a brilliant surgeon. but, because of the complexities of my case thus far, my GP referred me to a another surgeon for a second opinion. this second surgeon has proposed a nipple sparing mastectomy – something my current surgeon won’t contemplate. The tumour i had taken out in April was 2.5cm big, invasive lobular grade 2, with an additional 2.5cm of in situ lobular cancer.
Of course I would love to keep the nipple, but not at the cost of it increasing my chances of a recurrence. Any comments?
hi Stoic65. The agonising decisions we have to make. I am having a MX and LD flap reconstruction in Jan. I have multi site DCIS, clear lymph nodes and my consultant never offered the nipple sparing option. He explained that it is always wise to take everything including the nipple as until the pathology report comes back which is approx 3 weeks after the MX the full cancer diagnosis is not known. For me losing the nipple is not a problem. My consultant did talk about later ops regarding nipple tattoo and he did mention that it’s possible to,reconstruct the nipple using the other nipple which probably is a safer option. Could this be a possibility for you? Good luck with whatever decision you make. Xxxxxxx
I had a full MX with LD flap reconstruction in June - had IDC of 3.7cm and DCIS. I was not given an option to save the nipple either, instead was told that it was recommended to remove the lot.
On 1st December I had a nipple created on my reconstructed side - I am very impressed. It is still early days and I have some stitches to come out on Friday and the tattooing still needs to be done but it’s looking good. Please feel free to ask any further questions. I also had an uplift and slight reduction on my good side at the same time.
Good luck xx
thanks for your replies. The two surgeons I have seen hold very differing views re nipple sparing. The surgeon I am under won’t do it, and his recommendation is that it is simply not worth the risk. The other surgeon I have seen says the risks of nipple sparing are, these days, very minimal. There was a time when you’d need to leave a lot of tissue behind to spare the nipple but now things are different and they leave much less behind. It’s a tricky one and I don’t know which way to go. I am loathe to split my care between two hospitals – to take the surgery to another hospital while leaving the oncology and whatever else I might need in the future where it is.
I must say, I’ve only met one lady who’s had nipple sparing, and that was years ago. Plus, I think she only had DCIS.