"Its up to you!!! "

Congratulations Scorpio101, 
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
I haven’t commented on your post as I only had a partial mastectomy on one side.

I get it. I had a double mastectomy because two others in my immediate family had had BC. Because I had to have a re-excision for margins discovered a 4cm dogleg of DCIS that hadn't shown up on any mammogram or ultrasound. Because my breasts were quite dense. And when it was done they found yet more occult DCIS. Six months later I found out I had a gene mutation that put me at a 66% chance of having BC. Even before that my risk of having another BC was 27%. Sad? Yes. Regret? Not one moment. K xox

I get it. If they are likely to kill you or send you mad, they need to in the bin. Good luck for the future. MXX

Congratulations @Scorpio101, good to know that you are back home recovering.  

Dear ladies and self.  Last time I posted I was in turmoil as to what to do re right breast.....to remove or not to remove..that was the question (sorry  :D )   So I saw my surgeon in May 2019. I expressed my concerns but still wasn't sure...He said once again, the concern was all in my head, I was clear with expectation of no further problems.  So I held back my decision and made an appointment for February this year to see him again.   
When I was first diagnosed I was to have a lumpectomy (May18)  ...but he didn't manage to take enough around it to make it a clear extraction...I know there is proper terminology but my brain doesn't want to work!   So that is when I said lets go Radical ...take it away ..begone !!   When pathology came back my doctor said...good thing we did that ..there was another small mass that wasn't seen on U/S or mammogram.  Oh yay!!   So other than horror of mammogram THAT little snippet has played on my mind for nearly 2 years..every waking moment!  I had a mammogram on right last year ...all clear. Ok but that piece of information wouldn't leave my head.  I had already been through 2 lumpectomies on right, one positive, one negative but i still couldn't make a definitive decision. 

  Until....I was talking to a friend about her experiences, comparing notes as one does and she said....oh I wonder if that is what happened to me, a missed mass not seen on any pictures.  Why is that ? I ask.  "Oh I have metastasis'. I also was give all clear, no further expected problems.  "   Read Catalyst moment!! 
I came home and told my husband my mind is made up...I'm tired of thinking, worrying, stressing about what may or may not happen.  

So I am today, 11 days post-op.  Prophylactic (R) Mastectomy. Yes!!  I told surgeon you are allowed to say when pathology results are in "I told you so!! "  and the B did..lol   But I have NOT thought about anything negative for nearly 2 weeks.   I cried in Hospital and Nurses were concerned ...are you sad for decision, in pain etc??   No No No ...I cry because about 5 tonnes has been lifted from my shoulders...look they aren't up around my ears...I'm relaxed!!! Yes I still have a drain :(  yes I cant throw my arms around too much at the moment but that's a temporary physical problem,  yes I will now have to got get another prosthesis but I don't have to wear them all the time AND I will be evenly hung instead of one side perky and the other not quite there!!  :)    I will admit this Coronavirus is on my mind in my  immuno suppressed post operative state, but I'm at home taking all the advised precautions  (except I don't have 6 months supply of TP !! LOL ) 

Thank you to those who are listening, I needed to get this off my chest as sort of  final closure.  My wishes for good health and happiness go to you <3 <3 <3

Ladies all, you are  wonderful for sharing  your thoughts and experiences and I love you for it.  I cannot thank you enough.  I haven't made my decision yet, although, I am swayed back to my original thoughts - Begone and  and don't even think you can give me any more grief!  :)   I have a thousand thoughts going through my head at the moment, a lot of which  I am laughing about!!  But...Thank you all. Stay well  <3 <3 <3

My advice as a two time loser of the boobie prize; if you don't think you can trust that tit, you are probably better off without it. MXX

hi @Scorpio101

my 1st specialist only wanted to remove the left side and leave the right. 
I went back and argued my case about both ... he said no I said goodbye... 
got 2nd opinion at Westmead BC clinic they agree with my reasoning ... 1 surgery over and done with... No reconstruction wanted here. 
I was a 20EE never regretted my decision now over 6 yrs later

I had my mastectomy six years ago ( nothing prior - hoping nothing after too!). No reconstruction - never fancied it, didn't feel I wanted it (68 at time of surgery too - not over giving someone else a thrill, but definitely over breast feeding!). I haven't changed my mind, and I haven't decided to have a second mastectomy. I have discussed it with my oncologist (the second mastectomy that is - my surgeon will happily do a reconstruction any time I want, but hasn't taken the lack of interest personally).
Oncologist knows of nothing that would suggest a second mastectomy as a useful procedure. I have no (known) tricky gene, and no family history of cancer (breast or otherwise). I am more likely to get a new cancer somewhere else in my body. After 6 years my chances of a recurrence are shrinking (but not gone).  I developed a persistent and very large seroma (not a  given for a mastectomy of course but my body went into a bt of overdrive and, more important, may do it again for a second mastectomy). So I finally got my prosthesis almost a year after surgery. Took about a week of adjustment ( nothing painful just a slight ache) as of course I had been walking lopsided for 12 months ( large boobs). Beyond that, I have experienced no difficulty.
I am on my 2nd prosthesis (last about 2/3 years or so), it's silicone and while some women find them hot, I don't (I live in Melbourne). I had it fitted at home -the weight is right - 12 months with a soft pad can drive you slightly mad as it rises every time you bend and is to be avoided! I don't swim much but do, and just slip it in my swimsuit- worth getting a special swim prosthesis if you swim a lot. I wear the same sort of clothes I wore before - was never one  for plunging necklines. My surgeon left me a tiny cleavage! 
Do I worry about the other breast? Occasionally, pre scan anxiety although that got MUCH better after five years. I don't regret leaving my other breast there. I am fine with the way I look, don't strip off everything in public much but have done so ( Icelandic hot tub!) and guess what? No-one batted an eyelid. 
I thought at first I would never get the hang of "just slipping" the prosthesis into the right place in my bra - it landed on the floor, looked like a Monty Python skit! But of course you do, quite fast. I occasionally worry I will head out without it one morning, as it's now not a conscious action but I haven't so far. I had to finally have surgery on the old site to fix the seroma (BIG infection) and that feels like enough surgery for me. Good luck whatever you do.

Drill down a bit on how and why your friends' disagreeing with your decision has caused you to waver. You trust their opinion because they know you well? Is it the uniformity of their view causing a kind of peer pressure?

I spent months talking about my decision with my friends, my family, my doctors. I also did a lot discussion with myself while walking. My mother, who had BC at my age and a single mastectomy, was for the decision to go the double. She's loathed the scanxiety, and of course my sister died from BC so we were past any caution on that front. My friends understood less, but were a mixed bag. One very good friend disagreed and it was in listing the reasons why to her in a WhatsApp message that actually clarified the decision for me.

I had an immediate reconstruction, and a subsequent positive test to a genetic mutation which has retrospectively strengthened my decision. I will always miss my boobs, but reducing my odds of a recurrence from high to very low is an enormous weight off my mind. I have no regrets. Sadness but no regrets. K xox