Two strikes you lose both?

CatheS
CatheS Member Posts: 21
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
why do I keep hearing from way too many people that if prior dx and then two scares (or false alarms) the only treatment option pushed is double masectomy.

Comments

  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #2
    Short answer:I do not know, go ask your Doctor. Personal answer: I am not in that situation. My story is this...1st time diagnosed, finishing chemo Nov. 26. Drs have said mastectomy on the affected side is practially manditory, on the other side, not "medically necessary". I am only at about a 10% risk of it coming back on that side. They said the same to my Sister, and it came back, spread quickly, and she died. so I am going to have a double mastectomy (the insurance will only pay for the affected side, we will work out a payment plan) the insurance will pay for reconstruction to both...makes no sense to me, but that's reality for you. Anyway, how this relates to your question is this: I am willing to go against the insurance company and the Dr. recommendation for as much peace of mind as possible. Maybe that's what other folk are going for. However, if you are being pushed to do something you don't think is right for you, be assertive, persistent, and whatever you need to be to take care of you. Find a second, or fifth, or tenth opinion. It is your body and mind. Do what's right for YOU!

    Best wishes, seof
  • PattyS
    PattyS Member Posts: 1
    #3
    seof said:

    Short answer:I do not know, go ask your Doctor. Personal answer: I am not in that situation. My story is this...1st time diagnosed, finishing chemo Nov. 26. Drs have said mastectomy on the affected side is practially manditory, on the other side, not "medically necessary". I am only at about a 10% risk of it coming back on that side. They said the same to my Sister, and it came back, spread quickly, and she died. so I am going to have a double mastectomy (the insurance will only pay for the affected side, we will work out a payment plan) the insurance will pay for reconstruction to both...makes no sense to me, but that's reality for you. Anyway, how this relates to your question is this: I am willing to go against the insurance company and the Dr. recommendation for as much peace of mind as possible. Maybe that's what other folk are going for. However, if you are being pushed to do something you don't think is right for you, be assertive, persistent, and whatever you need to be to take care of you. Find a second, or fifth, or tenth opinion. It is your body and mind. Do what's right for YOU!

    Best wishes, seof

    seof, Please check with your insurance company again. My doctor told me it was a federal insurance regulation/law that companies have to pay for a patient to have symmetry, which could mean bilateral mastectomy by choice or reconstruction or both. I had bilateral by choice and there was never any question that the insurance would pay. Best wishes.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #4
    Only if you choose. Still you have the ultimate control. I have a friend who has had breast cancer once in each breast, and she has no intention of having hers removed....

    Personal CHOICE is still yours...

    Hugs, kathi
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #5
    PattyS said:

    seof, Please check with your insurance company again. My doctor told me it was a federal insurance regulation/law that companies have to pay for a patient to have symmetry, which could mean bilateral mastectomy by choice or reconstruction or both. I had bilateral by choice and there was never any question that the insurance would pay. Best wishes.

    I checked w/insurance and 2 Drs. checked, they have their mind made up. As far as I know the law says they must pay for reconstruction after any mastectomy, but they must only pay for mastectomy if Dr. says it is "medically necessary"...makes no sense to me, but that is what it is. I go tomorrow to talk to surgeon and Billing dept. at medical center about payment options.

    thanks for your input. seof
  • cherylthe1
    cherylthe1 Member Posts: 1
    #6
    seof said:

    Short answer:I do not know, go ask your Doctor. Personal answer: I am not in that situation. My story is this...1st time diagnosed, finishing chemo Nov. 26. Drs have said mastectomy on the affected side is practially manditory, on the other side, not "medically necessary". I am only at about a 10% risk of it coming back on that side. They said the same to my Sister, and it came back, spread quickly, and she died. so I am going to have a double mastectomy (the insurance will only pay for the affected side, we will work out a payment plan) the insurance will pay for reconstruction to both...makes no sense to me, but that's reality for you. Anyway, how this relates to your question is this: I am willing to go against the insurance company and the Dr. recommendation for as much peace of mind as possible. Maybe that's what other folk are going for. However, if you are being pushed to do something you don't think is right for you, be assertive, persistent, and whatever you need to be to take care of you. Find a second, or fifth, or tenth opinion. It is your body and mind. Do what's right for YOU!

    Best wishes, seof

    I understand why someone would choose to have both breasts removed. I am making that choice right now. I have a 2.5 cm tumor in my right breast that was not there at my last sono, mammo appt, last dec. I found it myself. after further investigation, they found 3 more atypical spots on the same breast and another suspicious spot on my left breast. I am only 42 years old with three small children and one teenager. I chose to have a bi-lateral masectomy to end this nightmare. I don't need breasts to live. I've heard too many stories of women getting one breast removed only to go back and have the other years later. Whether it's due to recurrence or the stress of waiting for a recurrence, doesn't really matter, it's an individual decision, that is only right for the person making it.
  • 24242
    24242 Member Posts: 1,398 Member
    #7
    I would also like to suggest that your stage of cancer might be something one thinks of before having bi done. When I was diagnosed at 36 back 10.5 years ago I was stage 3 with positive nodes. It had been suggested to me at the time my surgeon and a nurse who happened to be my mother that one consider the trauma to the body that will occur with surgery. I wanted them both gone I didn't care but my mother really wanted me to think about it and worry about the side that had the cancer then have the other removed if I still felt the same. When did I ever listen to my mother, hardly never and this time she got me so I did do what she had asked. I got a raging staph infection, blood infection that would of been twice as bad if I had had them both done at the same time. Infections are becoming more common than ever and something we should be considering. I did have my second breast removed almost one year to the day of first surgery because I had had more lumps and could not imagine one reason to keep it.
    Tara

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