I think it depends on your surgeon. I had always said that if breast cancer ever happened to me, I'd get them chopped off, no hesitation. When I was diagnosed, I went into my surgeon and said I wanted both off, she said she supported that but then we discussed options and I opted for the wide local excision. When the results came back, it had spread to the sentinel node, so I had to go back for more and said to take both off, and she had no problems with it. I had no family history so no reason for it, I just knew I didn't want to worry about it coming to the other side. When the results came back, the left breast (the un-cancer side) had an LCIS in it! So it was certainly for the best for me. I have no regrets, 2 months post surgery. Will probably reconstruct next year.
I do have another friend who also opted for a bi-lateral mastectomy 4 years ago and her surgeon referred her for psychiatric testing before operating. My surgeon is female, so I do wonder whether that made a difference too? She was wonderful and I'm so grateful for her!
Good luck everyone with your decisions. Dx
