New diagnosis need help

Welcome, I'm so sorry you have to be here. I too did not have a family history of breast cancer  when I was diagnosed almost 6 years ago. Are you the type of person who likes to research and find out all of your options or do you just go with your gut feeling? In my case I was so shocked that I just basically did what my surgeon suggested ( I never went for a second opinion) and had a lumpectomy followed by radiation. I had a huge tumor and I was treated with chemo prior to surgery. For me the lumpectomy was the right decision. I believe that what ever decision you make will be the right one for you. Don't second guess yourself because you will drive yourself crazy. I hope this helps. Love surf

Shinu85 said:

Thank you

 I did research a lot  and spoke to others who went through both mastectomy and lumpectomy. I also did genetic testing which is pending. my family would like me to have mastectomy because they don't think I will be able to tolerate the side effects of radiation but I don't know if that's the right choice since its a stage 1 and only 1.7cm. It's been so hard to make a decision Because I don't know which is the right choice for me 

Personnaly I wouldn't have a mastectomy to avoid the side effects of radiation. Mastectomies come with their own set of side effects and life altering changes.

I had a 1 cm invasive ductal cancer in my left breast. Oncotype was 27 so I also had chemo, but chose lumpectomy and radiation when onc and breast surgeon said research has shown the outcome is about the same between the 2. They had me do the breath holding technique to try and protect my heart. I've had no problems with my heart or lungs, skin got pink and a little tender from the radiation but I faithfully used the creams recommended by the doctors and never developed any actual sores.

Good luck making your decision

Hi Shinu85...I was in the same dilemma that you are now. Im 33 yo, i was diagnose with IDC stage 3 in the right breast, my tumor was about 3 cm thou. It grew super fast. Not so much of BC history in my family (just my grandma, dad's mom) but prostate and liver cancer (dad, uncles and grandpa). My onclogist sugested 8 rounds of Chemo first (AC followed by T). First 4 rounds reduced the tumor to almost nothing, but then I started Taxol and i guess it wasnt strong enough for a cancer as agressive as mine (my tumor grew back, not as much as it was before chemo). The question was pending, should i go for a mastectomy? But then I got the genetic test results, Positive for BRca2. These results, plus my tumor growing so fast even under going chemo, made me think and I decided to go for a double mastectomy. I read and read about it, second guessed my decision 1000 times, at the end I decided that a double mastectomy was the right choice for me, still hard to accept that my two breasts are gone, but I know it was the right thing to do. There are so many things that you need to consider, but I believe that the results of your genetic test are very important when taking a decision like this one. Good luck to you, and I hope that you soon can start to live a cancer free life

Shinu85 said:

Decision

i got my genetic test result back and it's positive for brca1 so I decided to have double mastectomy

I know it feels good to have your decision made and can certainly understand your reasoning at your age.  We all send you Love and Understanding and Prayers for Strength and Courage as you go forward in this Battle.   Please keep posting.   Glo