MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Did you say SIX? I can count better when speedos are involved.
Where is F-nut? Wonder how she is doing?
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Oh Yeah, Elimar, I'll go with that.
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six speedos is a nice way to count!
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i was just wondering where F-nut was, too. I bet she's off having fun somewhere! Those guys? i want. & mmmmbacon too..
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Well I got my biopsy results back from Monday. TI havevtiny calcium deposits in my left breast bbut no cancer. I am glad there I'd no more cancer there but I think my doc is only going to do a single mastectomy now... I'd rather do bmx but he says he does not remove healthy breasts. I don't want to have the other come down with it in 2 years and do it again....glad for the good news... Wondering what it means for my treatment plan.
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Hi, Justmy, very happy no cancer, but I am very surprised your doc won't remove both, if that is your wish, especially with calcifications. I never heard of this. You might want to get a 2nd. opinion, although I know how hard it is to have to wait for appointments and for treatment to begin. Best wishes, Stephanie
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I am also surprised that with calcifications he won't take the breast off! That is how the cancer starts!!!! Could take years and years to develop, but that is the beginning! Why put someone through TWO surgeries for heaven's sake!!
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justamy - I agree with getting a 2nd opinion. Why wouldn't he remove that other breast especially since you're HER2+.
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To be fair, I haven't seen the surgeon since I got the results. I got a phone call from the radiologists today. But he told me when we last met that if I did not have the gene ( I don't) and if there is no cancer in lefty then he will only do a single mx because he doesn't do prophylactic MX on healthy breasts. To make it worse (I'm venting a bit) my always supportive husband of 22 years wants me only to get a single mx. I'm sorry but I am the one who has to get sick, lose my hair and deal with all of the other SE of this crap. I think I should get to weigh in somewhere. I want a bmx. If insurance won't cover both though, there is no way my husband will let me do it....just have to wait and see. Not having surgery until after chemo...prob in January.
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justamy. women. get. to. have. prophy's. insurance has to pay. definately get a second opinion, do not let anyone stop you, if that is ypour wish. your body!!! you are the one who has to live with it! are you thinking recon? please forgive me if you have already said so. its just, even with recon, it would never match exactly, and if you don't, you will be the one having to deal with getting dressed, etc. your husband can weigh in, but it IS YOUR choice.
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justamy - so sorry your DH isn't supporting you. Personally I think it's easier to deal w/both of them gone, either to stay flat or for reconstruction. And sure enough, the lymph nodes on my "other side" had a recurrence or mets before 2 years was over. Someone else will no doubt weigh in but I think that insurance will cover a prophy mastectomy of the other side.
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I am planning on having reconstruction and I thought the same way....esp for my health. If they take one, they might as well take them both. I want the least chance of doing this again! If I can get hubby behind me then I will find another surgeon if I have to. By the first of the year (when i have surgery) I will have private and social security disability insurance so it should be good...thanks for helping me validate my feelings on this!
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justamy - Each of us is different and all of our points of view are valid! The good ladies at BCO will be here when you need to talk. Good luck w/continuing chemo.
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Insurance should cover a double even if you only have cancer in one, it's done all the time.
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Perhaps validate was the wrong word...thanks for helping me figure out what to do and put into words what I want for myself.
and I'm glad to hear the insurance part. Nighty night all.0 -
Justamy, the first surgeon I saw said the same thing. I got another surgeon.
The argument is that your chance of developing contra-lateral is tiny, and so a BMX does not improve survival, statistically speaking. I am sure that is true. This numbers argument does not take into account, however, peace of mind, symmetry, QOL (no 3-monthly checks of the "good" breast) etc.
It is a big decision, and the docs are right that purely medically speaking, there is no reason to do it. But if you have other good reasons to do it, find yourself another doctor.
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my radiated lumpy breast is smaller & higher than my lefty "good" one. lefty is also larger since ive been taking those pesky pills,too. waaaay bigger. not fun.
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Calcium deposits on their own are not signs of cancer, it's when they start to multiply and group together right? Having fibroid cystic breasts can include calcium deposits that never turn into anything - that's what I've been told anyway by docs over the years.
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justamy, Much like our breasts during a mammo, you are between a rock and a hard place now. These thoughts come to mind:
That a breast with calcifications is healthy is questionable. Another doctor might disagree, if you go for 2nd opinion. I don't know how often calcifications turn malignant. That is question I would want answered.
Removing the alleged "healthy" breast would give you twice the potential for surgical complications and for lymphadema. There is that to consider, as well as lack of feeling on both sides rather than just one.
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justamy, my right "healthy" breast turned out to have ADHP which IS the first stage of cancer! It did not show on MRI or mammogram, but would have shown up within months of my surgery. I am so glad I only had ONE surgery to recover from. I did NOT have to have lymph nodes taken from my "good" side, so risk of LE was MUCH lower than if there was a suspicion of cancer! My body has learned to make breast cancer and I have Isolated Tumour Cells (ITCs) circulating in my blood and tissue. It would have developed in time in my "good" breast anyway. I have heard time and time again of women getting it in their left-over breast! Now you have to have yet another reconstruction experience (surgery), as well, as that is your choice at this time. I know of women that were told to wait 6 months to get the other one off. Why????? The surgeon said it would be "easier" to deal with one at a time! Are you kidding me? I NEVER would have gone through it twice and I WANTED them both off. I was so glad I did it at the same time. As well, my surgeon only got paid for one surgery....as well as OR time, anaesthesiologist, OR nurses, hospital, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc......get it??
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justamy- That is NOT his decision to make...it is yours! That's why they call it a prophylactic mastectomy. ESPECIALLY with calcifications
You need to see another surgeon for a second opinion. I chose that route (without the biopsy) and it was good thing I did... I had trouble brewing and would have been dealing with another surgery in a year or two.
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Justamy- You are wise to completely evaluate your options and make the best decision for you. After I was diagnosed and told I needed to have a mast I immediately thought that I would want a bi-lateral. But discovering that cancer in one breast does not automatically mean cancer later in the other (only slightly increased odds) helped in my decision to wait for BRCA test results. If positive, I was going to have a bilateral. My result was negative, and my BS strongly encouraged me to have a uni, for reasons similar to what you were advised.
I am so glad I did. I still have feeling in one breast, which really adds to my enjoyment of time with hubby between the sheets. My chest is very symmetrical (nude and clothed) because I had a reduction and lift on my right side when an implant was placed in my left. Not all results are great with any surgery, and I have two girlfriends who had bmxs and both ended up with one side that was acceptable and one that was problematic. A bmx also will likely require a greater recuperation period with lots of help needed. If you weigh all of the particulars to your case, I'm sure you'll make the best decision for you. And once you decide, it will put your mind at ease.
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Good points SNS about symmetry, but I do have to add that most of us didn't have symmetry even when we had our original breasts!
hehehehheRecuperation twice and anaesthetic twice is harder on your body than doing it once...I do have to push that point. You will feel it whether you had both done or just one and be restricted to lifting a certain weight limit with either option.
Edited to add that it was the lymph node removal that was the harder part to recover from, and that is on one side only anyway.
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staynsane, all good points. It is a difficult decision with many factors entering into it.
As for symmetry, I meant in case you do not reconstruct.
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Thanks for all your input. I think I want a Bmx because of all the reasons you have listed. They do not think there is lymph node involvement. They biopsied the one they thought might be but it was clean. There is a lot to think about but I have 5 months at least.
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some kind of microcalcifications are completely benign, such as 'popcorn' kind, or vascular m.c.'s, funnily enough, the vascular kind can be an indicator of heart disease. It is the clustered linear or branching kind that are most concerning for early disease process. i did a lumpy, cause i had no idea that the internal scar tissue would be so enormous. i don't like it. if i ever have another problem, off with, for me, no recon. i don't want to mess with my muscles. i still miss my breasts. they were nice and even. apparently i had a pretty good surgeon, as i do still have nip sensation, she is just a little pulled to one side.
justamy, you do have time to figure out whats right for you. just one question. is your surgeon a breast surgeon, or a general surgeon?
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..also, if you are switching, you might think about finding a new breast surgeon sooner rather than later. you might get tireder than you think after a few rounds of chemo. at least i did. i didnt want to do anything i didnt strictly have to do.
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My surgeon is a general surgeon. The only "breast surgeons" in this area are plastic surgeons. They do the recon.
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can you go anywhere else? Dr. susan love's breast book says that you should go to a breast surgeon specifically. you don't want someone messing this up, as can happen with a general surgeon. your first shot is the best. for me, the fact that he doesn't want to do the other one prophylactically, is a big red flag, like maybe he is not really confident in his abilities. i beg you, please please please, try and find another! plastic surgeons are plastic surgeons, and not breast surgeons. there are some very imprtant nerves at spencer's tail, between the breast and the axilla, that if messed up, can seriously damage your arm. i would ask how many mastectomies he has performed. you want someone who does them every day, not a couple times a year. or you could ask to speak with other patients of his that he has done them to. i am getting worried for you now.
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My lumpectomy was done by a general surgeon. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have had a BMX & I would have found a breast surgeon. That's me.
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