). He reassured me there is no "wrong choice" and either way, I was going to live a long, long time. He just said it was his job to make sure I was fully educated about the pros/cons of each choice, so that my decision is a fully-informed one.He suggested I ask my surgeon for some plastic surgeon referrals, and gather reconstruction procedure information. He also suggested an MRI so I get a "full picture" so to speak, to see if there are other areas of concern in either breast, which may influence my choice.
I told him I felt a lot of pressure from the "breast-conservation" movement, and he said is is backlash from what used to be the almost barbaric treatment of women with breast cancer. They would go in for a surgical biopsy, and if it was malignant, a Halstead radical mastectomy (very disfiguring) was performed while they were still in the operating room! He said in most cases, the survival rate is equal for lumpectomy + radiation and mastectomy - so women need to be offered that option. These younger guys (both surgeon and oncologist are only 2-3 years older than me!) have been trained to offer conservation as a first line option, as most women prefer to preserve their breasts. On the other hand, the local recurrence rate *is* higher, so if I am not comfortable w/that (which I am not!), mastectomy is a perfectly reasonable option, as well. Also, the more I read about Tamoxifen and radiation, the more concerns I have about inviting bigger problems down the road as a result of those treatments...
Of course surgery has risks, but most can be minimized/reversed with quality care (post-op infection, blood loss, anesthesia complications) whereas the risks of developing another cancer from treatment (either radiation or Tamoxifen - can only be monitored, not prevented)
Thanks for listening to me ramble! I also think with all of these great Docs I need to get a recommendation for a better GP - I don't care much for mine - and this experience has shown me there *are* good docs out there - and I deserve to be cared for by one of them...
Mary
