Masectomy or Double Masectomy

AnneWM

Hi, I am undergoing my Taxol chemo cycles after just completing my AC chemo cycles. I have tumor in left breast with one also in my lymph nodes. My treatment plan incudes a modified masectomy of left breast only at end of April followed by hormone therapy. I want to have both breasts removed even though the right breast so far shows no cancer. I do not want to go through this again but my doctors don't want to remove both breasts. Has anyone been is this situation? I am so afraid that the cancer will develop in the other breast. Do I have a right to have both removed?

Marcia527

I was in the same place. I
I was in the same place. I had very large tumors (6cm,3cm,and another smaller) in the right breast. I had A/C chemo for 4 cycles before surgery (I still had 2 nodes infected out of 15.)and Taxotere for 4 cycles after surgery. I had 6 weeks of radiation after chemo. I questioned my surgeon about it coming back in the other breast and he said it wouldn't. Not sure how he could have been so sure. He never suggested taking it off too. I was diagnosed in 2003.

Maybe have them explain to you why they feel the other doesn't need to be removed so you will understand their thinking. Or you could get a second opinion.

AnneWM

Marcia527 said:

I was in the same place. I
I was in the same place. I had very large tumors (6cm,3cm,and another smaller) in the right breast. I had A/C chemo for 4 cycles before surgery (I still had 2 nodes infected out of 15.)and Taxotere for 4 cycles after surgery. I had 6 weeks of radiation after chemo. I questioned my surgeon about it coming back in the other breast and he said it wouldn't. Not sure how he could have been so sure. He never suggested taking it off too. I was diagnosed in 2003.

Maybe have them explain to you why they feel the other doesn't need to be removed so you will understand their thinking. Or you could get a second opinion.

Thank you Marcia. May I ask
Thank you Marcia. May I ask if you had reconstruction? Is it difficult have one real breast and one not real? How did you heal from surgery? I hope you are healthy and cancer free today.

Different Ballgame

Yes, You Have The Right
I had both breasts removed - one cancer and one non-cancer. There are some other advantages to a contralateral mastectomy. First, you will be symmetrical with your reconstruction. If you keep one breast and have it reconstructed, the following can happen down the road. If you gain weight, the reconstructed will always stay the same but the real breast will increase in size or if you lose weight, the real breast will decrease in size. So if you fluctuate in weight, this is a major consideration. Or...if you are younger, as you age you may gain weight and the breasts will no longer match. If you are big breasted, in order to achieve symmetry the real breast would need to be reduced to match the reconstructed breast.

Also, you will have peace of mind when both breasts of removed.

What kind of doctor are you seeing? Are your doctors oncologist surgeons? I don't know where you live, but if you live in or near a major city, there are oncologist surgeons in that population.

Before you decide on surgery, visit a plastic surgeon to find out what your options are for breast reconstruction.

I was 65 years old with microcalcifications. I had 0 Stage DCIS. After 2-1/2 months of research, I opted to have a contralateral mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction. Ten years ago I had a friend who had breast cancer. She decided to have both breasts removed with breast reconstruction in the works. I thought she was stupid to remove a good breast. When it happened to me, I no longer thought she was stupid in her decision. Being 65 years old, I am mentally alert and was in charge of all my decisions. We don't know what the future holds for us and I did not want to chance it in the other breast, have the beginnings of not being mentally alert, and have someone else then make any decisions with remaining breast. Plus my oncologist surgeon said that I would also have "peace of mind".

Do you have the option to find another set of doctors? If you do, seek them out for another opinion. Remember, you have the ultimate say.

Hugs,
Janelle

Marcia527

AnneWM said:

Thank you Marcia. May I ask
Thank you Marcia. May I ask if you had reconstruction? Is it difficult have one real breast and one not real? How did you heal from surgery? I hope you are healthy and cancer free today.

I did not have
I did not have reconstruction. My surgeon said I'd have to wait till after radiation. I've heard of woman who didn't have to so not sure what he was thinking. I didn't know about this board at the time and had limited knowledge.

I healed fine from surgery. I thought about getting reconstruction a year after treatment but my surgeon had a heart attack and I decided I'd just not go with someone else.

Sometimes its hard living with just one but I'm 59 and it doesn't bother me as much as it would someone younger.

sparky72156

I chose to have a bilateral
I chose to have a bilateral mastectomy even though I had DCIS in one breast. I did this mainly for peace of mind, but the weight gain/loss thing was a factor, too, since I yo-yo a lot in my weight. As it ended up, they found a very small (0.5 cm) tumor of Stage 1A, Grade 2 cancer in the breast with known DCIS. The doctor told me that, because I had chosen to have the bilateral surgery, I will not need any follow-up medication or treatment of any kind because it won't show up in the other breast! This is the same doctor who said, prior to my surgery, "We don't generally recommend bilateral mastectomy for DCIS." Yesterday, he said to me, "I don't know what inside you told you to have the bilateral mastectomy, but it sure turned out to be the right decision." It worked for me but I know it isn't the right decision for everyone. I found out later that my family thought I was nuts to have both breasts taken, but I knew in my gut that it was the best decision for me.

BethInAz

double mastectomy
I would say that you're the patient and you have every right to have what you want to have done (you may want to check to see if your insurance would cover double mastectomy). A lot of doctors are of the opinion that breast conservation is important. I would rather have life conservation be the more important thing. My doctors all gave me the final choice after looking at my particular cancer. Chances of my cancer showing up in the other breast were fairly significant and since my tumor didn't show on mammo or ultrasound, I would have had to have yearly MRIs. When I said I was opting for the double, they all agreed that if it was their wife, that's what they'd recommend. In addition, the plastic surgeon said that his happiest ladies were those who came to him with a "clean slate" - no trying to match a saggy older boob with a perky new one. I found that it was better being flat than being lopsided during the healing process. This is such a personal decision - I hope that you're able to come to a resolution that you're pleased with and that your doctors concur with.
Beth

kasd

Also concerned....
Like you, I am also questioning a unilateral or bilateral mastectomy.

My journey: I found a small lump on 6/3 and things moved along quickly. An MRI done 3 weeks later found 2 very small < 1 cm. tumors in the same right breast. This discovery delayed the original surgery that was scheduled for early July. I've been through 4 A/C treatments and a lumpectomy that did not achieve clear margins (thank God my sentinel nodes were clear!). The original size guess was 2 cm, upon removal in October, it was over 4. I have had 11 of my 12 planned Taxol treatments (stopped because of neuropathy). On Monday, I will have a unilateral mastectomy. I've been researching and reading a lot these past couple of weeks and am now wondering if I should have a bilateral mastectomy instead because I don't want to go through this again. I have infiltrating lobular cancer. Thankfully, I do not carry the BRCA gene.

This is so confusing...