need help with surgery options please help me!!

sharkness

Hello there!
I am new to the network. I was diagnosed with stage 3C her 2 positive breast cancer in October. Since then I have gone through 4 rounds of AC Chemo. What Joy!! Now I am going through my second round, being taxoyl and herceptin for 12 weeks. I only have 4 more weeks to go. I had to change my surgeon because of insurance issues. I met with the breast cancer surgeon yesterday, and honestly was alittle overwhelmed. I am writing on this to see if I could get some feedback. I was told I do have a few options.
I eventually have to have a complete radical masectomy. A few options were presented to me yesterday. I could have one breast removed now and the other later, along with the nodes removed at surgery. Then undergo my radiation treatments. After radiation is complete wait for a 6 month period, then have my other breast removed and have a flap procedure done. the other option was to have a complete masectomy, have the spacers put in place, have implants placed, then go through my radiation. In doing my research I have seen that many defects can occur to the breast during the radiation process. Can anyone please give advice, I am feeling alittle bit overwhelmed with all of this information. I meet with the reconstructive surgeon tomorrow and would love some feedback.
thanks a bunch!!

Skeezie

Hi Sharkness,
Did your surgeon give you reasons or possible outcomes from these different options? Don't be afraid to call him back and ask questions. I always took a pad and pen to take notes and brought my husband cause 2nd set of ears is very helpful.

I had a simple mastecomy and no reconstruction but lots of ladies on this site have. My niece had a double mast. prior to rads and then burned so bad that she couldn't have implants put in because her skin on that side was damaged so she then had a tram flap done.

I am assuming you don't haveany cancer cells in the other breast or they would want to do the bilateral mastecomy now.

These decisions are very difficult because once made there is no going back. But talk with your surgeon to clear up any mysteries and get all the info possible to help you with your decision. Hopefully others who have been in your shoes can pass along some of their experience.

Welcome to this site, just reading thru all the posts will give you lots of info on many subjects. Let us know what you decide.

Hugs, Judy :-)

anjelic00

Sharkness
I was dx with left breast cancer on Dec 3 2009 and just had a bilateral mastectomy on Jan 8 2010. My plastic surgeon was there, I was to have the surgery and at the same time the expanders. To my surprise when I woke up from my surgery I was told the cancer had spread to 2 lymph nodes and I will need chemo and radiation. They never put the expanders in and I was told not do the reconstruction till after my Radiation treatments as this caused the implants to get hard. Now my new reconstruction will be the flap procedure in about a year.

good luck

anjelic00

Sharkness
I was dx with left breast cancer on Dec 3 2009 and just had a bilateral mastectomy on Jan 8 2010. My plastic surgeon was there, I was to have the surgery and at the same time the expanders. To my surprise when I woke up from my surgery I was told the cancer had spread to 2 lymph nodes and I will need chemo and radiation. They never put the expanders in and I was told not do the reconstruction till after my Radiation treatments as this caused the implants to get hard. Now my new reconstruction will be the flap procedure in about a year.

good luck

anjelic00

Sharkness
I was dx with left breast cancer on Dec 3 2009 and just had a bilateral mastectomy on Jan 8 2010. My plastic surgeon was there, I was to have the surgery and at the same time the expanders. To my surprise when I woke up from my surgery I was told the cancer had spread to 2 lymph nodes and I will need chemo and radiation. They never put the expanders in and I was told not do the reconstruction till after my Radiation treatments as this caused the implants to get hard. Now my new reconstruction will be the flap procedure in about a year.

good luck

sharkness

Skeezie said:

Hi Sharkness,
Did your surgeon give you reasons or possible outcomes from these different options? Don't be afraid to call him back and ask questions. I always took a pad and pen to take notes and brought my husband cause 2nd set of ears is very helpful.

I had a simple mastecomy and no reconstruction but lots of ladies on this site have. My niece had a double mast. prior to rads and then burned so bad that she couldn't have implants put in because her skin on that side was damaged so she then had a tram flap done.

I am assuming you don't haveany cancer cells in the other breast or they would want to do the bilateral mastecomy now.

These decisions are very difficult because once made there is no going back. But talk with your surgeon to clear up any mysteries and get all the info possible to help you with your decision. Hopefully others who have been in your shoes can pass along some of their experience.

Welcome to this site, just reading thru all the posts will give you lots of info on many subjects. Let us know what you decide.

Hugs, Judy :-)

surgery
Judy,
thanks so much for your reply there are so many options out there. I will definitely call the surgeon back, cuz I do have more questions. They never found the origin of my cancer. It was found in my lymph nodes, and has spread to the clavical and breast plate area, which is inoperable. They do want me to eventually have a double masectomy, but mostly for comfort so I won't have them both removed at one time. I was supposed to meet with the reconstructive surgeon today, but got rescheduled till Friday because she was in surgery. I think many of my questions will hopefully get answered then. Will do another post after Friday and hopfully will get more info. from other people's experiences.
Thanks a bunch:)
Sharkness

sharkness

anjelic00 said:

Sharkness
I was dx with left breast cancer on Dec 3 2009 and just had a bilateral mastectomy on Jan 8 2010. My plastic surgeon was there, I was to have the surgery and at the same time the expanders. To my surprise when I woke up from my surgery I was told the cancer had spread to 2 lymph nodes and I will need chemo and radiation. They never put the expanders in and I was told not do the reconstruction till after my Radiation treatments as this caused the implants to get hard. Now my new reconstruction will be the flap procedure in about a year.

good luck

Thanks!!
Thank you so much for the info. I am sorry to hear about the outcome of surgery for you. You will get there, just a long road ahead that will eventually bring goodness to you! I am just about done with chemo 4 more weeks to go, and then surgery and then radiation. I do have to do more homework on the radiation side of things. To find out more about it so I don't feel so in the dark about it.
Chat soon!:)
Sharkness

CarrWilson

Take your time
I am new to this also. Just underwent a right mastectomy and expander placement 2/9/2009. I waffled back and forth, with decisions one way, one day, and opposite, the next day. Got second opinion and the MD answers conflicted with each other.

There is no one right answer. The only thing you must remember is you are making the best decision you can make with the information that you have right at this moment.

If you need an extra day, week or longer to make this very important decision, take it. I feel that I will always second guess my choices. But try to remember, I made the best decision with the information I had at the time.

Best of Luck in this difficult new journey.

tambow

Know what you're going through
I have 2 more treatments of Taxol/Herceptin to go and then surgery (+ 1yr of Herceptin).
I have IDC with a large sized mass that is 7.7cm. We were hoping that it would shrink down enough to do a lumpectomy but no go. It hasn't changed much with the chemo and they are worried the mass is too close to the muscle wall, so a mastectomy is recommended. I am opting for a bilateral because now there is a "suspicious spot" on the other breast. I'm done...I want them off!!! They also want me to have rads, so no reconstruction until after that is done. My radiologist says the expanders don't work well with radiation and then you'll want to wait 6 months - 1 year before the skin heals enough to handle the expanders... Also expanders with radition especially on the left side will cause some slight deflection of the rad rays putting heart and lungs at more risk. Don't want that!
I visited with both my oncologist, general surgeon, and plastic surgeon and all tell me the same....treat the cancer first, then get the reconstruction.
Oh, the waiting.

Rague

I had mod. rad. mastectomy
I had mod. rad. mastectomy Oct 21, 2009, 2 weeks after the 4th A/C. 3 weeks after surgery, I started 12 weekly Taxol, and a week after the last Taxol I started radiation- starting the 3rd week of it tomorrow. Also started Femara last Friday.

I have IBC which is/was very fast/aggressive growing and all of my Drs. (surgeon, medical and radiation oncologists, and my PC) said not to think about reconstruction for a year at least. Part of the reasons were that any reconstruction (at least as I understood them) would have an effect on the radiation effectiveness and the radiation would have an effect on the reconstruction.

None advised bilateral surgery at the time but that when/if the time comes when I have reconstruction, I might want to consider a second mastecomy to get a "better matched pair".

We all have to make our own decisions - what is 'right' for one is not necessarily 'right' for another. Good luck with your decision - it has to be yours. Thoughts and prayers.

Susan