Hello Coralie, I am sorry to hear you now need a mastectomy, hopefully it will all go smoothly for you whatever type you decide on. Also you know there will be lots of support and advice available from Ladies on here who have had a mastectomy:) I was treated in the past and managed to avoid a mastectomy, but have to say I sometimes wish I had chosen to have it when offered as I have had ongoing issues with pain and more recently bleeding from the nipple ( which has stopped) I have had scans and everything shows as clear. I accept that the scans are okay and am trying to forget about it. What really confuses me is that I have been told by a Consultant that no treatment is given for low and intermediate grade DCIS anymore, which I am sure is not right! (I know there is a trial, LORIS, which is looking at the possibility of omitting treatment but it will be many years before the results of the trial are available) Sometimes I think they just say things hoping it will make you feel better, when actually it is just totally unhelpful! It would be so much better if there was a clear countrywide protocol for dealing with DCIS of all grades and that we were all given clear and concise reasons, including appropriate statistics to assist in decision making. Another area of concern is that there does not seem to be a way for surgeons to determine the extent of DCIS, it would save a whole lot of trouble, worry and no doubt money if it was clear from the beginning how much of the breast was involved! We can only hope that improvements in scanning provides a solution in the future to save other women from needing to go through multiple surgeries and the associated physical and psychological trauma. Well that's my little rant of the day over, apologies Coralie for hijacking your thread but I do feel it important we discuss how it feels to go through a DCIS diagnosis, it may be minor as breast cancer goes but it sure does cause a lot of trouble!
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