I was diagnosed with DCIS and had a lumpectomy 12 years ago followed by radiation. My tumor was practically on top of the chest wall and very close to my heart, so they had me in a special room at MD Anderson where you wear goggles during the radiation and they ask you to take a deep breath at different intervals and hold it until you can see the yellow line in your vision move to the top and turn green. That tells them to do something that actually moves your heart out of the way while they radiate. Amazing! They told me with radiation, if the cancer ever came back, I would not be able to have radiation. I couldn't imagine the cancer recurring, so I went ahead and had the radiation. It wasn't a bad experience at all. I was a little more tired than normal but no pain or discomfort at all. Having to get up extra early for my 7 am appointment every day for 6 weeks contributed more to my tiredness than the radiation itself.
The radiation effect lasted for 12 years and this year I was diagnosed with IDC in the same area of the left breast and was told my only option was a full mastectomy, which I had a month ago. The path report showed clean margins all around and no cancer in the lymph nodes they removed. I find out tomorrow the results of my oncotype testing which will help the doctor make a decision on whether or not I will need chemotherapy in addition to taking an aromatase inhibitor.