Best Of
Re: Preventative Mastectomy
Hi mermaid,
I am a week and a half out from my PBMX (actually had it the same day you posted this). I’m mutation negative but have a strong family history (mother & grandmother pre-menopausal BC, maternal aunt post-menopausal). It took me many years to come to this decision, but what ultimately brought me here was two things: losing my aunt to a recurrence of her stage 1, “caught it early” cancer that we all thought was history; and then having a lump scare a few months later where I spent two weeks absolutely terrified that I had missed my window to remove this tissue from my body before it tried to kill me. After those two events, plus reading here about all the people whose cancers were missed by imaging or grew rapidly in between imaging appointments, I decided that the heightened screening I had been doing felt too passive, and I needed to be proactive. My doctor had recommended a five year course of tamoxifen for me (I’m 42), but knowing that many people struggle with the side effects of that drug, I decided I would rather go through the surgical route and be uncomfortable for a few months than potentially spend 5+ years feeling bad.
So far, I feel really good about the decision. I chose to do immediate reconstruction with over the muscle tissue expanders which will be swapped for silicone implants once I reach the right size. The surgery went smoothly, and my pain levels have been easily controlled and minimal. My mobility has been quite good so far, I think largely because my pectoral muscles weren’t cut and also because I had no node surgery. After the first few days it’s settled into a combination of tightness/mild soreness that’s unpleasant but tolerable. I’m taking it one day at a time, doing my PT exercises, and reminding myself to be patient and have faith that things will continue improving with time. And most importantly, when my surgeon called to tell me that the pathology report from surgery was clear, the relief I felt was like a physical weight leaving my body. Of course my risk will never be zero, but knowing that I’ve done everything I could to protect myself from this disease that laid waste to my family is incredibly reassuring.
Best of luck with your decisikn