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Lumpectomy with radiation vs mastectomy for stage 1 invasive plus DCIS
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Jun 13 10:06pm | Replies (50)Comment receiving replies
Everything I've read has indicated that if you can keep the breast and have just a lumpectomy, it is superior in many ways, both psychologically and physically. Obviously, this does not apply to those who have high stages of b.c. and lots of spread, but I'm talking about the average presentation like mine, which was 1A, no spread, good margins, 11 mm. 95% estrogen positive, caught early.
Replies to "Everything I've read has indicated that if you can keep the breast and have just a..."
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I don't pretend to know how anyone else has felt about the "loss" of their
breasts in any capacity, but I know that---with America's obsession with
our mammary glands---I wanted as little damage done to mine as possible. I
admire those women who have embraced being "flat" and flaunt it, but I
guess I'm not that brave. In my youth and adulthood, my breasts were an
asset to my overall appearance, and it both physically and psychologically
has been a blow to even have just a small dent now in the right breast. I
hope I don't have to adjust to completely losing either one, but I
acknowledge that it isn't worth losing one's life over that particular body
part. Still, to me, personally, it would be a big blow to have to adjust to
the loss of them--or even of one of them. Again, hats off to the brave pink
warriors who have made their peace with such an assault on their bodies I'm
still trying to adjust to the unsightly gash that my lumpectomy caused. We
all do what we have to do, and I'll adjust if I have to, but it doesn't
seem like it would be easy to say "farewell" to that particular body part,
after 78 years as one of my better attributes. I definitely am too old for
reconstruction, I think, but.....