Decisons on surgery

Hi Maria, I also had to make a decision between a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. My first surgery in early December last year was a lumpectomy to remove a 4mm tumour. No other options were spoken of, and I was so shell shocked at this stage that I just went with the flow. Pathology showed an aggressive grade 3 cancer that was 21 mm long, and although the margins were clear, they weren't great. With my history, ( clear mammogram 3 months before plus still clear at consultation) and this cancer being larger than expected, more surgery was required. My surgeon was keen to do a mastectomy incase some other surprises lurked within. For peace of mind I also had an MRI. This showed nothing else suspicious, so I could have opted for another lumpectomy. However by this stage I had done some research about radiotherapy and reconstruction, and I decided that I didn't want to have have radiotherapy. The Dr of course couldn't guarantee this, but felt that it would be unlikely in my case to need this following a mastectomy. I chose to have a mastectomy and 9 more nodes removed. (sentinal node was clear). This was the right decision for me, and I have never regretted doing this. I was 52 years old. My surgeon arrived on Christmas morning last year to tell me that no other nasties were found, and that all my nodes were clear. That was about the very best Christmas present I could have wished for for my family. I've since completed chemo, 4 rounds of Taxotere and cyclophosphamide, and am on Tamoxifen at present. I'm now seeing Plastic surgeons about reconstruction, and all options are open to me since I've not had radiotherapy. I'm almost 100% sure that I will also have a prophylactic mastectomy at the same time as reconstruction. I can't control if the cancer comes back in my body, but I can reduce my risk by not having any breasts. I also will always doubt the results of a mammogram for me, as nothing showed before.

Good luck with your decision making.

Chris xx