2nd Diagnosis

I'm glad everything went well for you Linda and that, in the end, it turned out to be the right decision to have the bilateral mastectomy.

I also had TC chemo - not much fun I'm afraid but I was never actually "sick", mainly tired and a bit nauseaus.  I lost my hair about two weeks after the first cycle.

Best of luck with the remainder of your journey :)

I'm glad everything went well for you Linda and that, in the end, it turned out to be the right decision to have the bilateral mastectomy.

I also had TC chemo - not much fun I'm afraid but I was never actually "sick", mainly tired and a bit nauseaus.  I lost my hair about two weeks after the first cycle.

Best of luck with the remainder of your journey :)

It is six weeks since I had my surgery - skin sparing bilateral mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction. I am recovering really well, with no problems at all. Of course I was sore after surgery but improvement was noticable every day. I was only having panadol for pain relief (after morphine for 1st 24 hours) which was very effective. The pathology found that I had a second cancer which had not shown up in my mammogram/ultrasound and follow up ultrasound/biopsy. Both cancers were invasive, oestrogen and progesterone positive, about 17 mm and rated as Grade 3. Because of this I will be having 4 rounds of TC chemo, starting on Monday 4th Feb. My other breast showed signs of benign changes which may have caused some problems in the future and my breast surgeon has said that I made the right decision on having both breasts removed.

I have absolutely no regrets at all regarding my decision. I have not been emotional about having my breasts removed but I think that having an immediate reconstruction helped as I did not wake up to the visual difference of no breasts. I also think that having had breast cancer previously has in some way prepared me for going through this again.

I will be having a PICC line in my arm for the 3 months of chemo as my viens are in poor condition. This is a relief as finding veins became a major issue last time round and it is something that I have been quite anxious about. My chemo cocktail will be different than last time and I am told that things have improved in the last 10 years. I can only hope. You never know what side effects you will suffer until the treatment begins. I do know I will lose my hair again - although it is the most visible side effect I don't find it as bad a some of the more invisible ones. For me, facing chemo again is more of a challenge than going through surgery.

After chemo I will probably be having aromatase inhibitor therapy, although this is subject to how my body reacts. My treatment last time involved Tamoxifen however it caused me to develp polyps in the uterus and I had to stop taking it. I was then tried on one of the aromatase inhibitors but it also caused some problems so my oncologist will be very cautious with this type of treatment. I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

What a journey so many of us have to go through - all taking a different path and landing in different destinations. It certainly is a challenge and I can only hope that for all of us there is sunshine waiting. To all who read this - take care and be brave. Linda

 

sorry dint read down further you made the decision

 

I think you have a major decision to make. I personally had a bilateral mastectomy i April this year. I had breast cancer in the right breast 4 years ago and had a lumpectomy chemo radiation. I also had genetic testing as i was 38 and my cancer was not hormone triggered. I found out the following year that i had the faulty braca gene and was at a higher risk of developing cancer again.  At the time i was not ready to have such a big operation. I mean emotionally ready. I discussed this with drs and decided to keep up regular monitoring. Late last year i decided i was ready to have the operation because i was sick of worrying was i going to get it again.  I had planned to discuss this with my surgeon on my next checkup visit prior to this i had my mamogram where they found another lump. Which turned out to be cancer in the other breast. Needless to say i said to the surgeon to take them both. I beat myself up a bit as to why hadnt i just had the operation. But i know i wasnt ready then to do it and thats what it comes down to.  You have to be ready none of us can say do it or dont do it. Talk to the drs, your partner , the breast care nurses and do whats right for you.  I wish you all the best in what will be one of the hardest decisions in your life 

xx

You will be having your surgery on my birthday!  Good luck with everything.  I am sure you have made the right decision for you :)  Hopefully you won't be in too much pain so that you can enjoy a little bit of Christmas with your family when they come in to visit you!

Best of luck and Merry Christmas,

Louise

 

You must feel like a load has been lifted. Great news from you. Good luck with your surgery, I'll be interested with how you go as I'm looking to have the same surgery next year. What a Xmas gift this will be. Take care Louie

I too, have been diagnosed twice with breast cancer.  The first time I was 35 and had extensive DCIS (9cm) which resulted in a mastectomy but no chemo or radiation as it had not spread to my lymph nodes.  The second time I was 42 and this time it was invasive ductal carcinoma.  I had another mastectomy and this time, chemo.

In retrospect I wish that I had had both breasts removed at the time of my first mastectomy.  It would have meant that I wouldn't have had to go through the breast cancer journey all over again and wouldn't have had to have chemo at all.  It's all very well to say that in retrospect though!  At the time of my first diagnosis, I was only 35 and I only had one family member who had had BC.  There was not a strong family history.  I was also not ready to lose both of my breasts.....  When I was diagnosed a second time, I had a cousin who was also diagnosed around the same age/time and due to that I was able to go for genetic testing.  I don't carry the BRCA1/2 mutations so there is no genetic reason for me getting breast cancer (twice!).

I guess in the end you have to be comfortable with your decision.  If you will forever be worrying about a third breast cancer scare, then maybe you should have them both removed.....but I know that my doctor was very reluctant to remove a perfectly healthy breast.  If you want to get it done, make sure that you stand by your decision.  It is your body and you should have the right to choose what to have done.  If you decide not to have the double, then be happy with that choice too and be happy that your doctor is happy with your choice either way.  If he thought that it was likely to come back a third time, I'm sure he would have no hesitation in recommending a double mastectomy.

Hope that helps?

Louise :)

I too, have been diagnosed twice with breast cancer.  The first time I was 35 and had extensive DCIS (9cm) which resulted in a mastectomy but no chemo or radiation as it had not spread to my lymph nodes.  The second time I was 42 and this time it was invasive ductal carcinoma.  I had another mastectomy and this time, chemo.

In retrospect I wish that I had had both breasts removed at the time of my first mastectomy.  It would have meant that I wouldn't have had to go through the breast cancer journey all over again and wouldn't have had to have chemo at all.  It's all very well to say that in retrospect though!  At the time of my first diagnosis, I was only 35 and I only had one family member who had had BC.  There was not a strong family history.  I was also not ready to lose both of my breasts.....  When I was diagnosed a second time, I had a cousin who was also diagnosed around the same age/time and due to that I was able to go for genetic testing.  I don't carry the BRCA1/2 mutations so there is no genetic reason for me getting breast cancer (twice!).

I guess in the end you have to be comfortable with your decision.  If you will forever be worrying about a third breast cancer scare, then maybe you should have them both removed.....but I know that my doctor was very reluctant to remove a perfectly healthy breast.  If you want to get it done, make sure that you stand by your decision.  It is your body and you should have the right to choose what to have done.  If you decide not to have the double, then be happy with that choice too and be happy that your doctor is happy with your choice either way.  If he thought that it was likely to come back a third time, I'm sure he would have no hesitation in recommending a double mastectomy.

Hope that helps?

Louise :)

Hi Linda, thought I too could give you further insight into bilat mastectomy. Two weeks ago I had bilat mastectomy and immediate reconstruction with implants. I had what they call skin & nipple saving reconstruction which is possible in some BC cases. Mine was DCIS in the right breast and was initially recommended lumpectomy for it. however after a weeks' pondering and researching I myself opted for bilat mastectomy instead. My surgeons (breast & plastic surgeon) were okay with my decision and did not try to talk me out of it even though it was a drastic change to the initial treatment plan. I just felt like it was the right  thing for me to do, I did not even want to think about having cancer in my breasts again. And I'm now even more convinced it was the right choice since having the post surg pathology report; they found a small DCIS in my left breast which had gone unnoticed in the ultrasound.

I feel the same as Louise and Chris here, have not regrets. I am actually rather surprised how quickly and well I have recovered from the surgery and my boobies look pretty much like they did before, even my 8 yr old can't tell the difference (he doesn't know I have implants). The only major difference is that I am numb in my chest area and have unusual sensations occasionally in my breasts which are not painful but just something I've never had before. My surgon also said that some sensitivity to touch will eventually come back to the chest but the amount varies between patients. I also discussed the other options for "fillers" with my plastic surgeon but felt that implants were the easiest, both in amount of surgery and recovery time. I did not have enough fat on my tummy either for flap reconstruct. But anyway, so far all's gone pretty well and I'm happy with the surgery result, both visually and mentally.

I hope you find the right decision for yourself and  wish you all the best whatever you decide to do. Good luck - /Annie