Forum Discussion
Worries/Questions regarding Mastectomy
Hello, I wasn't sure which section to place my question in so I went with newly diagnosed (hope that was ok). I am 56 and was diagnosed with Stage 3 HER2+ and ER+ breast cancer in July 2019. I had a...
Dear @Shelleyc
I haven’t been in your position so can’t speak from experience, I hope someone else can. But I did some work with a research group looking at the pros and cons of treatment/delayed treatment. There are circumstances when ‘waiting and seeing’ may be justified (ie small, very slow growing tumours) but one of the problems most participants identified was the continuing anxiety about perhaps not doing everything you could to stop the cancer (recognising there are no guarantees there either). The problem lies with not knowing for certain if any undetected cancer cells remain in the breast or affected lymph node area. You hope chemo has mopped all that up, but it’s not 100% sure. In the final analysis, it’s your decision. A second opinion may be helpful. Best wishes whatever you decide.
I haven’t been in your position so can’t speak from experience, I hope someone else can. But I did some work with a research group looking at the pros and cons of treatment/delayed treatment. There are circumstances when ‘waiting and seeing’ may be justified (ie small, very slow growing tumours) but one of the problems most participants identified was the continuing anxiety about perhaps not doing everything you could to stop the cancer (recognising there are no guarantees there either). The problem lies with not knowing for certain if any undetected cancer cells remain in the breast or affected lymph node area. You hope chemo has mopped all that up, but it’s not 100% sure. In the final analysis, it’s your decision. A second opinion may be helpful. Best wishes whatever you decide.