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Jan 24, 2013 09:43AM
Momine
wrote:
Claire, I don't know what the answer is. You should ask your doc.
As far as the ooph, there is a downside. You lower your estrogen and avoid ovarian cancer (seems to be related often to ILC, and it is hard to find) so that is good. However, it does also increase your risk of high cholesterol, heart disease etc. In my case I was on the verge of menopause anyway, the cancer was advanced, and my mother had ovarian cancer. Conversely we have no family history of heart disease and I was otherwise healthy, good BMI, blood work etc. So weighing all the pros and cons, the consensus was to get rid of them. It also allowed me to go straight on an AI and skip the tamox. I was not into the tamox, and it now turns out that AIs seem to be more effective against ILC than tamox anyway, so it worked out well that way.
Also, a lot of docs are reluctant to remove healthy organs/parts. They are, of course, right, but I prevailed because they also tend to be quite accommodating to crazy old bats if the bats have serious cancer and bitch and moan enough ;). As it turned out, my "good" breast had DCIS, LCIS and hyperplasia, none of which showed on any of the numerous scans by various methods (ultrasound, mammo, MRI and CT). So I have zero regret about my decision. My surgeon completely agreed when he saw the path.
Dx
6/1/2011, ILC, 5cm, Stage IIIB, Grade 2, 7/23 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
Chemotherapy
6/19/2011 Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), Ellence (epirubicin), Fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil, 5-FU, Adrucil), Taxotere (docetaxel)
Surgery
9/12/2011 Mastectomy: Left, Right
Radiation Therapy
1/8/2012
Surgery
3/7/2012 Prophylactic ovary removal
Hormonal Therapy
3/31/2012 Femara (letrozole)