Decision time - lumpectomy or masectomy?
It's been quite a interesting three weeks or so for me. An inflamed breast, biopsy, inconclusive results, surgical biopsy and today a diagnosis of high grade intaductal carcinoma with prominent atropi...
Forum Discussion
I had a small/medium-sized, aggressive, estrogen-positive tumour diagnosed nearly 5 years ago now. I was offered a choice too and I was quite shocked to be honest as I'd always assumed mastectomies were a last resort. My oncologist said that although some women found more peace of mind in having a mastectomy it would not make any difference to my chances of a future recurrence. In a way that made no sense. How can you have more peace of mind when the outcome with a mastectomy was no better? So I opted for the lumpectomy. It was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned. Why undergo such disfiguring surgery if you can choose something less extreme? I gotta say that lopping off boobs unnecessarily seems a little barbaric to me.
But everyone's situation is different. I don't mean to imply any criticism of people choosing this option and of course in many cases mastectomies are necessary. I would not hesitate to have it done if it were necessary to save my life or even if it would have reduced my chances of recurrence or metastasis. The thing is though that you could have your boob cut off or even both boobs and the cancer can still come back somewhere else in your body. As others have said, there are no guarantees whatever you decide.
I am happy with my decision. I try to take care of my health a little more than I used to - more exercise, better diet, less alcohol - and so far so good. I have a small scar on the side of my affected breast which has faded over time, it is slightly smaller than the other one and a little firmer thanks to the radiation. But overall I feel I still look reasonably normal. Good luck with your decision. I hope it all goes as well as possible for you. It's a tough time you're going through but you can get through it and back to a normal life.
But everyone's situation is different. I don't mean to imply any criticism of people choosing this option and of course in many cases mastectomies are necessary. I would not hesitate to have it done if it were necessary to save my life or even if it would have reduced my chances of recurrence or metastasis. The thing is though that you could have your boob cut off or even both boobs and the cancer can still come back somewhere else in your body. As others have said, there are no guarantees whatever you decide.
I am happy with my decision. I try to take care of my health a little more than I used to - more exercise, better diet, less alcohol - and so far so good. I have a small scar on the side of my affected breast which has faded over time, it is slightly smaller than the other one and a little firmer thanks to the radiation. But overall I feel I still look reasonably normal. Good luck with your decision. I hope it all goes as well as possible for you. It's a tough time you're going through but you can get through it and back to a normal life.