Hi Mandy
I was 41 upon dx, with large tumor, neo adjuvant chemo, WLE and node clearance, radio therapy and tamoxifen. I was dx in June 2010 and like you have a strong family history (mum bc, maternal aunt bc and ov). Above and the fact that my cancer was strongly ER pos were all deciding factors to have an oophorectomy (bilateral salpingo oophorectory, basically the tubes and ovaries). My onc only wanted to consider the op once I had finished treatment and 2 months post treatment we got the ball rolling and in July 2011 I had the procedure done. It was a tough decision, as I felt it was my decision rather than part of my treatment. And I wondered what am I doing to myself....? But, I haven't looked back and am to this day happy with the decision to go ahead.
The op was done via keyhole surgery and involved an overnight stay, and within 2 weeks I was back at the gym. It really was a easy compared to the other bc stuff. Another deciding factor for me was the fact that I had started to feel my hormones kick back in post treatment. It drove me insane to think that I was producing oestrogen again and thus feeding any stray cells.
The hot flushes kicked in pretty quickly post op, but they seem to have calmed down a bit off late.
I stayed on tamoxifen and will now after 2.5 yrs on it move to an AI, anastrazole.
If you have any questions, please feel free to pm me.
NIM
... View more