Surgical options
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and I have my first meeting with the surgeon on Thursday. I know to expect surgery soon but dont know if this will be lumpectomy or mastectomy. I know that this will be one of the things to discuss on Thursday but I am curious if there is a 'choice' - in a sense part of me just wants to be told which option but I wondered if anyone here made a decision one way or the other and how they felt about that? How long do you get to make any decisions if a choice is available? Am also put this query in the recently diagnosed thread as I have not posted before and not sure which is better for this. Thanks for any thoughts.
Oncotype testing
Hello everyone, I had a double mastectomy with Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy with expanders on 24th August. ER+ PR+ HER2-. Pathology shows clear margins and cancer not detected in Lymph Nodes. Left Breast -DCIS of low and intermediate nuclear grade. Right Breast - Multiple foci of invasive carcinoma LCIS. Six foci of grade 2 invasive lobular carcinoma and a 5mm focus of grade 1 invasive carcinoma. Extensive classic LCIS. I mainly have one question, and I am hoping you can all help me. This diagnosis happened so quickly it was like a whirlwind. Between diagnosis and surgery, I was overwhelmed with information and decisions that needed to be made. At that stage I did not even know about Oncotype testing. My question is can I still request oncotype testing 3 weeks after my surgery? I feel silly that I did not know about this and therefore request it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.Discussion about surgery with Surgeon
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and I have my first meeting with the surgeon on Thursday. I know to expect surgery soon but dont know if this will be lumpectomy or mastectomy. I know that this will be one of the things to discuss on Thursday but I am curious if there is a 'choice' - in a sense part of me just wants to be told which option but I wondered if anyone here made a decision one way or the other and how they felt about that? Am also putting this query in the treatment thread as I have not posted before and not sure which is better for this. Thanks for any thoughts.
Another Re-Excision or Mastectomy?
Note: this is all behind me now and I feel great. I had four surgeries in the end, the last being a mastectomy. Recovery was pretty easy and I now have my external prosthesis, and noone would even know! Well, here I go again. I was diagnosed with DCIS in December. It has been a long path, but I eventually had a double lumpectomy on my right breast on 26 March 2026. A week later I was told that although they got clear margins, three of the margins on my largest lesion (4 cm) were less than 1mm. So, I had a re-excision on 15 April to get wider margins. I saw the surgeon this morning, who told me they found more disease and the new margins are still less than 1mm in two places. I have to have more surgery next Wednesday but have to decide (by Friday) whether to have another re-excision (and my breast will be starting to look a bit sad after that) or go straight to a mastectomy. She said it was quite feasible to try a re-excision again, to preserve the breast if I want to, but if they still find disease or don't get good clearances, then I have no choice but to have a mastectomy. If I have the re-excision, I have to have radiation treatment for 3 weeks, 5 days a week afterwards. If I have a mastectomy, then it's all done. No radiation and no lymph node involvement. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do / or want to share your story if you've had a similar experience? I know it's my decision, but your advice is appreciated, thank you.
Expander to implant surgery
Hi, I’m looking for feedback on how long everyone had to wait to have their second surgery to replace the tissue expander with an implant. I’m being told that I’m now on a waitlist for ‘elective surgery’ that could take 12 months. Is this normal? I feel like I’m living in limbo and can’t even begin to recover or move forward until the second surgery takes place. I’m in NSW. This is my second breast cancer after my lumpectomy and radiation in 2018. Both times DCISImplant Reconstruction After Radiation
Hi, this is my first post. I had a lumpectomy with radiation 10 years ago at 44, and I've recently undergone my 2nd lumpectomy on the same side due to the return of this hormone ER and PR+ BC. Due to having my lifetime exposure of RADS on my left breast 10 years ago, my option is mastectomy. I'm battling with my options (of which I'm blessed to have) and tossing between a double mastectomy with reconstruction using first tissue expanders and later implants, or going flat on my left side. My right breast is healthy. I only have enough fat for one very small breast, about half the size of my healthy breast. My main concern is having implants after radiation. The aspect of capsular contracture, skin or nipple death has thrown me for a sixer, and I would love to hear from you beautiful survivors about your stories of reconstruction after radiation. I have a wonderful breast surgeon who I have been blessed to have 2nd time around. She highly recommended the PC who has been transparent in the risks. Stories?Inquiry
Had left hand side mastectomy with sentinel lymph biopsy 3 weeks ago and results showed 4mm on the node and dcis 19mm and invasive ca 22mm found hence surgeon suggested axillary clearance which i have done a last week and still recovering. I dont get enough sleep as i kept waking up in the middle of the night. I have not book my post review as still processing all the information.Hormone Therapy
I had a double mastectomy two weeks ago and need to take letrizole. I have also been told to have a bone scan and PET scan. I have a few questions, firstly, when should I begin taking letrizole, do I wait till I heal more or start now? I am worried about the side effects while I am still recovering from the surgery. I have the same question with the two scans, (bone density & PET) should I do those now or wait till I have recovered more from the surgery? I know I should have asked my surgeon at my last visit, but I was concentrating on her explanation of the pathology results and didn't think of it. The last 5 weeks since my diagnosis has been a rollercoaster of emotions and I still shake my head that I am where I am! I know that I tend to worry about the 'what ifs?' too much, and probably delaying all the inevitable instead of just getting on with it. Thank you for your advice.
To take Tamoxifen or not to take it.
Hi, Im awaiting my oncology appointment which will clarify if I need to take tamoxifen for my situation : Grade 1 tumours, bilateral masectomy recently done, less than 7mm tumours each in size (multifocal) no lymph. Hormone receptive cancer. Does anyone have a similar profile above and been told they won’t need tamoxifen? I am dreading taking this drug. If I have grade one tumours and a bilateral mastectomy my chances are already so low of recurrence…🤞
Telling my toddler and child I have breast cancer
Hi All, Last month I was diagnosed with IDC and 2 weeks ago I had a single mastectomy. I have a 3 and 5 yr old who I am struggling on how to discuss this with them. So far for all the surgeries and appointments we have told them 'Mummy has a sore booby' which has been enough for them. However I am likely to need chemotherapy and I with the likelyhood of hair loss I will need tell them more about what is going on. I have done reading online into how to do this however it seems to all be directed at older age groups. My children I dont think would understand cancer or even cells. We tell them to brush their teeth so they doing get bugs eating their teeth so I am worried to say I have a bug in my booby to them and scare them of bugs! Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was wondering if anyone had found a good little video or book to help them understand what cancer is?
