I had my treatment at Mayo in Rochester and the staff was amazing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you have ANY questions at all the staff is helpful and will take good care of you. Be sure to routinely use a lotion on the breast and nipple area. I used Aquaphor. It is thicker than a Vaseline and left a grease stain on my bra that I couldn’t remove. Ask them to play your favorite music while you’re getting the radiation and concentrate on the words to the songs. It’s totally painless and doesn’t take very long. Good luck and I’ll be thinking of you. Let me know how it goes. HUGS!

If you decide to get radiation, and you have a DCIS recurrence, they will suggest a mastectomy. If you do this and want a breast reconstruction, it adds more complication on the radiated tissue. I am only two months after radiation and a biopsy (just last week) shows a recurrence. I am not ready for a mastectomy. I prefer to do breast conservation. I feel like I am starting all over again.

@colleenyoung -

Well, here I am finally responding after my post radiation second surgery for breast conservation. I am slowly healing - but it will take so much longer this time due to radiation.

First, I would interview surgeons until I found an oncologist surgeon who specializes in DCIS and breast cancer surgery. (This is easier to do if you have a PPO).

Secondly, I would not do radiation until several months after surgery so that the MRI and/or Mammo show a clear picture of what is going on - vs. asumming it is simply post surgical tissue. DCIS is tricky. It can hide. Make sure you connect with your radiation oncologist. Ask them questions, and understand what the risks are. I trusted my my radiation oncologist 100 %. However, I would not have done radiation if I wasn't a high risk/ grade 3.

Most importantly, find a surgeon who communicates with you so that you can build trust and feel secure throughout this journey. The surgeon is everything!