@sart Hello and welcome I am sorry that you are having to go through this. I made the decision for the bilateral mastectomy for several reasons. Although I do not have the BRCA genes my mother had 2 different types of breast cancer 1 in each breast within 3.5 years. The second time it was Triple Negative. My cancer although small was a grade 3 tumor which is considered more aggressive. I have a special needs adult son who will always require care. I am his only caregiver. My desire to be around for as long as possible for my family was the deciding factor for me and the fact that my cancer was aggressive. It took me several weeks to reach a decision I went back and forth a dozen times trying to decide. I did not want to do the single mastectomy and one day wonder if I made the right decision. I also chose to go flat without reconstruction. I did not want to have to go through the anxiety again waiting on mammogram results then getting diagnostic mammogram if needed etc. I feel I made the right choice for me and my family.

As far as the mastectomy being painful the worst thing has been the drains that they put in. I had a little pain not at all like I expected. I went home the next day and took the pain medicine but had switched to Tylenol extra strength by day 3. The pain medicine was mainly at night due to discomfort from the drains not because of pain from the incisions. You will be sore and may have some bruising. Everyone is different and each of us have our own pain tolerance. I will say that it was not as bad as I expected it to be.

I hope that you have a quick recovery and that everything goes well. There are lots of wonderful ladies on here that I'm sure will be glad to share their experiences.