Does anyone understand?
Not for one moment do I think that women should not have the option of a prophylactic mastectomy and I think it has been a hard won battle to convince surgeons that this the right decision for some wo...
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I certainly agree with you, and it has been your previous posts on this that help me feel more comfortable with this. It is incredibly valuable to have a viewpoint that speaks up at times when it might appear that there is a trend resulting from more publicity about prophylactic mastectomy. Remembering and valuing all the treatment options helps avoid a potential groupthink about the right way to manage recovery from an initial breast cancer diagnosis.
As you say, for some, a prophylactic mastectomy is helpful, like the situation of a known heritable risk with the BRCA genes that Angelina Jolie's surgery made so well known and there will be other valid reasons for prophylactic mastectomy. But for many of us who do not have a strong family history, the option to be conservative is a good choice and for medical practitioners that would likely be their most ethical preference.
I also have a risk of future metastasis but it most likely won't be in the other breast. I accept that the risk of a new primary in the other breast will be much lower because for starters I'll be on tamoxifen and ideally, I'll be taking up a good amount of exercise into the future.
Exercise, improving my weight range, and listening to my doctor's advice will be my way of dealing with the fear of recurrence and my way of managing the uncertainty that a cancer diagnosis brings.