Upcoming surgery
Carriemciver2020
Member Posts: 1 ✭
Hi I thought I would reach out to the group I’ve had almost 5 months of chemo final AC on 30 July and surgery booked for 21 august. I am having a single mastectomy with all nodes removed and I can have the option to have a double mastectomy. I don’t carry the braca gene but the thought of no more scans in the future and not having to do a reduction or any other surgery seems great to me. I have large dense breasts which will require an mri every year. anyone else have a similar situation xx
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Hi @Carriemciver2020,
I have a very similar story to you and I am just a little bit ahead of you. I was diagnosed just before Christmas 2019 with HR+ lobular BC and I completed neoadjuvant chemo(4 x AC, 12 x taxol).
I had a BMX on the 19th June - 4 weeks ago. I knew from the beginning I was going to push for the BMX as I knew that I could not go through the uncertainty of having scans etc on my remaining breast. My history is that I have dense breasts which were large and as you know, it is difficult to scan dense breasts. I had a mammogram and US every year for the last 12 + years. I was extremely lucky that the ILC was picked up as I had only had my annual scans 10 months prior to the diagnosis.
Fortunately my surgeon supported my decision. I now have the pathology on the tumour which was pretty much what the MRI had shown - no lymph node involvement and they got clear margins. I am yet to meet with my oncologist (next week) to hear the finer details, but I do know that there were unusual cells in my good breast - NOT cancer, but cells that would have needed monitoring. This had not shown up on any scans I have had - I guess they were still too small. One of the nurses said that I would have probably ended up needing some kind of follow up 2 years down the track. This just confirmed that I had made the right decision to have the BMX.
It is a very personal decision and not one I made lightly, I had already been through many years of biopsies and a lot of anxiety. I had in fact been discussing a preventative BMX with my GP - but sadly my diagnosis beat me to it. I should add that I am 53.
When I woke up after the surgery I can honestly say I felt relief. Yes I have been sore, but I have done the right thing for me. I have also had expanders put in as I most likely will not be having radiation and I am able to start the reconstruction immediately. The surgery went well and I feel better every day.
I hope this helps you. I tried to imagine how I would feel each time I had to go to the breast clinic and get an MRI on my remaining breast every year. As I said, this is a very personal decision that only you can truly make. Get as much information as you can and I wish you all the very best. You have already come a long way. M X0 -
hi Yes I had dense breasts diagnosed back in 2012, had double mastectomy and then 9mths of chemo and rads no recon I am very happy 8 yrs and no evidence of disease.
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Yep, I was in the same boat as you. Decided to have a bilateral mastectomy with no reconstruction back in 2018 (age 39) and have been happy with my decision every day since. I don't bother to wear prosthetics, I'm very happily flat
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