Surgery or screening options for breast cancer?

[PanP]

Hi Karen,

Did they offer you any alternatives to surgery? There have been numerous clinical trials looking at chemoprevention for women with a very high-risk breast cancer – not just LFS but BRCA1/BRCA2 or a familiy history of elevated risk. Drugs that have been used include things like statins (Lovastatin, specifically), Metformin, beta-blockers and more traditional drugs like Herceptin or Tamoxifen.

Pan

[Karen]

Hi Pan

No, it was not discussed, it is a good point which I will look into further.

Thanks

Karen

[Sonja]

Hi Karen,

I am a 29 year old LFS positive from Germany (pls apologize language mistakes 😉 ).

I have had my bilateral mastectomy along with reconstruction 3 weeks ago. I am doing very well and feeling happy with my new breasts. They look very natural – even after 6 breast surgeries I had to go through in the last 5 years B) .

My decision was easy to take because I had had breast cancer at the age of 24 (right breast) and now again at the age of 29 (left breast), so I did not had much choice. Nevertheless, I am glad to have them removed and I can not see any big dissadventages…it looks good, I can already do sports like before…The surgery was not so hard, I could leave the hospital after 5 days, I even did not need any painkiller after the first week.

I think it is a very personnel decision and of course my situation was very different from yours. Removing healthy organs sounds kind of crazy. Nevertheless, I am considering to get my ovaries removed as well…having cystes from time to time and always scared that sooner or later a cyste will turn into something really bad. I did chemotherapy several times in my life (sarcoma when I was a child…, breast cancer…), and I do not want to have any of it again :sick: !!!!!

Regarding the drugs. I took Tamoxifen over 4 years, Herceptin over 1 year, Zometa over 3 years and now I am again on Zometa and (new) Femara. Personally, I would prefer a surgery instead of taking drugs over years. On one hand, surgery decreases the risk of any event more then drugs can do (my doctor was speaking about 95 – 98%!!!) and the side effects on life quality are from my personal point of view much higher taking drugs over years instead of having one surgery.

But still…it is a very personal choice and there is no “right or wrong” answer. What you decide, is always the right answer for you.

Wishing you the very best,
Sonja

[Karen]

Hi Sonja

Thank you for your comments, sorry for so long to reply back but I have been away on holiday.

I found it very useful to read your history and the fact that you are positive about the breast surgery. It really does help for me to hear from other women who have been through the procedure and how they found it.

I have contacted my genetics clinic re chemoprevention however the response does not seem very positive compared to surgery. The risk reduction is only around 50% and there are quite a few possible side effects including stroke, blood clots and increased risk of other cancers. I will keep you updated on the route I decide to take.

Wishing you all the best for the future.

Karen

[shoonu]

Hi Karen,
I am in exactly the same boat you are in. I just had a mass removes from my breast/chestwall and am waiting for pathology report. The answer would be simple if it was breast cancer, however it appears to be benign so far. I am 47 and have had 6 different cancers except for BC. It is a very difficult decision and nothing is 100%. I never want to repeat chemo if at all possible. Surgery is tuff but chemo is worse for me. BTW Hello to Sonja an Pan!

[PanP]

[quote=”Shoonu” post=63]BTW Hello to Sonja an Pan![/quote]

Hi Shoonu!

[Author]

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