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Need Help on Bilateral Mastectomy or Lumpectomy

Posted by fashionmom @fashionmom, Apr 27 3:43pm

It appears that you have a locally advanced, hereditary-based, Luminal A Breast Cancer.
Most of the studies suggest that at this point, there is no proven benefit of a bilateral mastectomy over breast-conserving surgery.
Regarding the axilla we now practice Targeted Axillary Dissection plus Sentinel Lymphnode Removal. An Axillary dissection is also practised in some regions.

this was advice by an oncologist,
however, I'm so torn as I have 2 ATM mutations - C9139c>T and C6212T>A.

the question do I want to remove my small tumor which has lymph node involvement, or just remove both my breasts and add implants. Just don't want to go through chemo and scans again. Not sure what to do. It would be a peace of mind to remove the breasts, but they say the chances of recurrence is the same, which I don't understand. If I remove the breast tissue, doesnt it give me a fighting chance for it to not to come back? Also, mom has STAGE 1 breast cancer and opted for lumpectomy and radiation.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Breast Cancer Support Group.

myoga | @myoga | May 3 11:01pm
In reply to @briarrose "My situation was difficult in deciding implants vs. flat? Bilateral mastectomy was the way to go..." + (show)
@briarrose

My situation was difficult in deciding implants vs. flat? Bilateral mastectomy was the way to go for me. I have invasive cancer, insitu and atypical ductal hyperplasia in right breast. Left breast is insitu plus atypical ductal hyperplasia. My whole adult life I was always diagnosed with dense breasts & microcalcifications. Lumpectomy x4 with radiation no good for me as I have severe heart disease. The radiation could damage my heart further as in scarring. I already have a damaged heart so radiation was a no-go. Plus I wanted my lymph nodes tested.
I also have cerebral vascular disease & my plastic surgeon wanted to do implants at the same time to avoid multiple surgeries w/general anesthesia. I am 70 years young. He told me the implants would be much smaller than the breasts I have now and grafting a completely no-go for me. So I decided it was not worth potential complications with implants...I have a history of always developing scar tissue after previous surgeries in my life. I wanted this awful chapter in my life to be over with! One and Done! My husband very supportive of my decision and I will probably get a beautiful tattoo down the road on my flat chest. Yes, susan7656 the MOST important issue is to minimize risk of reoccurring or cancer spreading. Every women is different and must decide in her heart & mind "what works for me??" It's not easy...but look at the pros & the cons of each procedure. Absolutely nothing is guaranteed in life. So one must make the best decision possible under their particular circumstances. And always have faith...
My bilateral mastectomy will be May 12. It's very scary to lose my breasts/have this surgery.
I am mourning my breasts...BUT THE CANCER HAS TO GO!
We are all in the club no one ever wants to join...but never alone. The very best to you.

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I felt a sense of relief after the BMX and hope you will feel the same way. I went flat because I didn’t want to deal with after surgery complications. Praying for your speedy recovery.🤗

REPLY
lcr2017 | @lcr2017 | May 4 6:00am

I’m sorry and I’m sorry you are going through this. The fact is that first of all, you had lymph node involvement then mutations that show high recurrence. No one’s posts say that their situation was the same as yours. Every breast cancer can be different. For example, I needed a bilateral mastectomy because DCIS was everywhere but I didn’t need chemo and it was early stage but they couldn’t remove all those micro calcifications which were cancerous. They also removed the sentinel nodes which were negative and testing on the cancer showed that I wouldn’t benefit from chemo, I did oral treatment for 5 years which is the protocol in my situation. I chose implants because in my head I kept thinking that using my body tissue for reconstruction could possibly carry cancer in it so my own dilemma was what type of reconstruction and that part was based on what was in going on in my my head. They didn’t care what reconstruction I chose, if any.
Your situation is different from mine because it sounds like you had lymphs involved plus the high recurrence mutation. Did you have chemo once before or is it getting scans all the time that worries you? My sister had colon cancer and her tests showed very high recurrence mutation. She fought to not have surgery and she fought to not have chemo. Ultimately, she did what her doctors said: she did both and goes for a scan every 6 months and there’s a CEA blood test that she gets in between which will show that the cancer is back. Ask more questions about your treatment options and how tightly they will stay on top of the potential recurrence.

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