Lumpectomy with radiation or Mastectomy?

I had this dilemma. I had cancerous lymph nodes on one side, but they couldn’t find the source. It was buried in the “Dense Tissue” that Mamograms and Ultra Sounds can’t penetrate. Then they found cancer in the other breast as well. They tried lumpectomies in both breasts 3 times (once a month) without getting the margins they wanted. The size of the invasive area was much larger than they thought. At that point, I decided that I couldn’t keep going with a surgery a month, and decided to get a double mastectomy. It was a good decision, the margins were still almost an inch away - it could have meant 2 or 3 more surgeries.
My friend, though, had only one surgery and it was over. Keep an open mind and be willing to change directions if it benefits you. My surgeon and I had a discussion every month about how to continue. She always said “Remember, YOU are driving this boat.

@ritalu I found the wound care to be the most burdensome toward mental health (even more-so than 'major' procedures) - and that no one ever prepares you for it! - YOU are brave!! There were moments I'd call my mom on speakerphone for those big scary bandage changes and just cry and cry while I clean and change dressings and drains. I'm 48 and she's 78, but we still need our mommies sometimes! That reminds me I need to check in with my husband for any PTSD from drain-tubes+sponge-baths time. The mental picture I had when I'd hear someone say 'cancer' was shuffling around sadly in one of those hospital gowns and hair-loss. Now I have this snapshot of myself sobbing in the bathtub, sadly clutching those drain tube bulbs while my husband sponge bathes me in inches of bathwater. I can teleport back to that moment exactly and it's just so awful. Being inside the hospitals was the easier part, it's all that stuff at home and daily life impacts that hurt the most. I hope that your healing is coming along nicely. I think another space where our providers tend to fail us is self-care and lifestyle info. I did a lot of research toward what vitamins and supplements and such that I could do to help things along. You'd assume that something so simple as 'stay hydrated' would be smart for our doctors to engage us toward - it could make a world of difference but we don't get that engagement type in consults - it doesn't correlate to a visit code that generates an insurance payment for them, so here we are. Maybe if you go to whole foods/natural grocers/sprouts/etc, some consultations in the vitamin section could be beneficial? (sorry unsolicited advice :D)

Thank you for sharing this. You are the first person to share a wound care story with me. I appreciate your advice!! I get most of my information from AI. (!!). I am taking lots of vitamins and staying hydrated. I hear this can take up to 12 months to heal. My life has definitely changed. Yes, if my mother was here, I would be calling her. I hope you are feeling better.

@diamonddog I know this is a little late but missed it the first time. I practically mimic you - grade 2 IDC, 17mm, ER+, PR-, HER- . Initially the biopsy said HR and PR+ but the PR was2% so oncologist said it should be negative. But didn’t go further into any significance. You stated it’s the PR- that makes it more sinister. Is there something I wasn’t told and should be looking into further? I did lumpectomy, radiation and chemo (oncotype+) and currently on exemestane.

I was also given the option of a masectomy or a lumpectomy................I chose the lumpectomy. I was stage 2 and it had only moved into a few lymph nodes. However, my surgeon removed 20 of them just to be safe. I was put on hormone medicine as I was ER+. It's been 5 years now and I've been on just about all the meds. Anastrozole, Exemestane, etc.................they are ALL awful!! However, I am still here and doing well. Listen to your Dr. and do what you feel is best for you.

@jodyvick Sorry that was your experience. Nursing staff went over drain care very thoroughly. Very easy to strip the drain tubing several times a day. I could shower every third day, remove the med patch to prevent infection and the small transparent dressing at the insertion site. Replace the bandages. My husband helped me with this with no problem. The nurses were only a phone call away if we had any problems.

@sai hadrlly484

@lansing
I had lumpectomy with 10 units of radiation.
I also was prescried several different medicatios which gave me terrible side effects.
I opted for double mastectomy and couldn't be happier.
No worries.