monday the 10th

Hi Sharon,

My surgeon recommended a lumpectomy as he was convinced that only a small amount of tissue needed to be removed. Once the biopsy came back one margin wasn't clear and there were cancerous cells found away from the lump so I then had a mastectomy. I think surgeons like to try to preserve the breast if possible. It really is your decision and there is no right or wrong, only what feels comfortable with you. Hormone receptive means hormone therapy usually by way of a tablet once a day for at least 5 years. All the best with your decision and operation.

Hi Sharon,

My surgeon recommended a lumpectomy as he was convinced that only a small amount of tissue needed to be removed. Once the biopsy came back one margin wasn't clear and there were cancerous cells found away from the lump so I then had a mastectomy. I think surgeons like to try to preserve the breast if possible. It really is your decision and there is no right or wrong, only what feels comfortable with you. Hormone receptive means hormone therapy usually by way of a tablet once a day for at least 5 years. All the best with your decision and operation.

Confused???  you will be, unfortunatly when we start this journey we dont understand half the jargon thrown at us, but make sure you take notes down as questions come into your head, that way when you do see the professionals you wont forget what you wanted to know, also i made sure my husband was with me every appointment as i thought i was taking it all in at the time, but i came out the room not knowing if my name was arthur or martha (its actually moira)lol, As for the decision about masectomy vs lumpectomy as tanya said it is a really personal decision and dont let anyone make it for you, mines was hormone receptive, and i had a lumpectomy, then the surgeon came back and said we are going to do a masectomy, anyway long story short i live in rural area, and the professionals in adelaide decided i wouldnt need it, i went with their decision as like you at the beginning i was confused and so i went with the flow, whatever they said i went with, anyway i did have chemo, radio and am on Arimidex tablets for 5 years, so all going well, it wont come back. but who knows. i know wish i had this site to be able to run things past others, and get information, even although the decisions have to be made by you. Please let us know how it goes, good luck Moira

Confused???  you will be, unfortunatly when we start this journey we dont understand half the jargon thrown at us, but make sure you take notes down as questions come into your head, that way when you do see the professionals you wont forget what you wanted to know, also i made sure my husband was with me every appointment as i thought i was taking it all in at the time, but i came out the room not knowing if my name was arthur or martha (its actually moira)lol, As for the decision about masectomy vs lumpectomy as tanya said it is a really personal decision and dont let anyone make it for you, mines was hormone receptive, and i had a lumpectomy, then the surgeon came back and said we are going to do a masectomy, anyway long story short i live in rural area, and the professionals in adelaide decided i wouldnt need it, i went with their decision as like you at the beginning i was confused and so i went with the flow, whatever they said i went with, anyway i did have chemo, radio and am on Arimidex tablets for 5 years, so all going well, it wont come back. but who knows. i know wish i had this site to be able to run things past others, and get information, even although the decisions have to be made by you. Please let us know how it goes, good luck Moira

Hi Shaz

Umm still sounds a bit confusing??  Did he mention what grade the cancer is?  (this means how aggressive it grows?  Grade 3 is the fastest growing).  Also Hormone receptive is a good thing, because at least they know that your cancer is 'fed" by  - estrigen or progesterone?? (depending on the exact pathology of the tumour) and there is medication to "turn off" the hormone that is feeding your cancer.  I do hope I am not confusing you more than you were already, but this is how best to explain it. 

Dont let people tell you whether to have the mastecomy or not, this is a very personal decision based on the facts for your particular cancer.  Be guided by what information the surgeon gives you, the size of the tumour, the grade of the tumour and the statistics for reoccurance, so dont be confused.  There is no right or wrong answer until you have all the facts and speak with all the medical team.

Take time to process all the information given to you and then make an inforrmed decision.  I chose to have a bilaterial mastecomy, but my tumour was very large, very aggressive and I was very young with young children, and this is not something I would suggest to anyone else to do.  But at the time, based on the information available to me, it was something that I wanted to do.

Good luck, hopefully you will be able to sleep tonight.

Tanya