Anyone else 'double trouble'?
Hi there lovely BCN! After the whirlwind of diagnosis, lumpectomies and reexcision over the last 6 weeks. It's only really now that I'm understanding how unusual synchronous bilateral BC (IDC) is - a...
Forum Discussion
Thanks @LMK74 and hello @Mrs_H
Jen, thanks for your response to my post. I was feeling quite lonely with bilateral BC.
It's great to hear that you had a good response to the chemo and I'm sorry to hear that you now need more surgery.
Like you I also had no idea that synchronous bilateral BC was rare. Unlike you, my surgeon wants me to get the results of my BRCA test before deciding next steps. I'm older than you (47) and my tumors were not very aggressive (grade 1) and small; so I've had the lumpectomies already (with a re-excision on the right) and clear SNBs on both sides with no requirement for chemo, but need radiotherapy. I need to decide on having/not a double mastectomy before that though, which my surgeon said is an option if I have a BRCA mutation.
Like you I am concerned about recurrence, but I can't find any info in the literature about the relationship between synchronous bilateral BC and increased (or not) likelihood of recurrence/survivor-ship if I don't have BRCA. It's my key question for him when I see him next! My Dr has said that bilateral is very rare and that is why he wanted me to do the genetic testing, but hasn't really commented on what it might mean for recurrence/treatment beyond that - he has a very 'let's cross that bridge when we get to it'. I sense that will be our next conversation :-)
Thank you again for your response and best of luck with your surgery.
Take care, Libby
Jen, thanks for your response to my post. I was feeling quite lonely with bilateral BC.
It's great to hear that you had a good response to the chemo and I'm sorry to hear that you now need more surgery.
Like you I also had no idea that synchronous bilateral BC was rare. Unlike you, my surgeon wants me to get the results of my BRCA test before deciding next steps. I'm older than you (47) and my tumors were not very aggressive (grade 1) and small; so I've had the lumpectomies already (with a re-excision on the right) and clear SNBs on both sides with no requirement for chemo, but need radiotherapy. I need to decide on having/not a double mastectomy before that though, which my surgeon said is an option if I have a BRCA mutation.
Like you I am concerned about recurrence, but I can't find any info in the literature about the relationship between synchronous bilateral BC and increased (or not) likelihood of recurrence/survivor-ship if I don't have BRCA. It's my key question for him when I see him next! My Dr has said that bilateral is very rare and that is why he wanted me to do the genetic testing, but hasn't really commented on what it might mean for recurrence/treatment beyond that - he has a very 'let's cross that bridge when we get to it'. I sense that will be our next conversation :-)
Thank you again for your response and best of luck with your surgery.
Take care, Libby