I hated this decision. Ultimately a mastectomy ended up being recommended because I have lobular cancer which is difficult to see on scans, and they also ended up finding DCIS.

I was leaning toward a mastectomy anyway because I was nervous about radiation. The doctor told me there was about a 1/500 chance of developing another type of cancer (sarcoma I think) with the radiation and it could affect the size/shape of my breast as well as change skin texture. I also read about women experiencing bone pain near the radiation site (ribs) and depending on which side you need it, it could affect your heart.

I figured if I got cancer at 30 with no family history I didn’t want to take even a 1/500 chance of developing another cancer. However, as you know a mastectomy isn’t devoid of cons either. My breasts are totally numb, I won’t ever be able to breastfeed, and even though I joke about getting bigger boobs it’s not even close to being similar to a breast augmentation. The temporary implants (expanders) are strange and lumpy looking under my skin. I was also told quality of life is better with the “breast conservation” (lumpectomy and radiation) method but I’m pretty fresh out of DMX and have been feeling great honestly.

Ultimately it ended up being the right decision for me because they found 2 additional tumors that didn’t show up on scans (lobular 🙄) and I’m not sure if radiation would have totally taken care of them due to their size.

I was told the method of monitoring post DMX would be physical breast exams which is a little scary. But since scans were useless to me anyway, I don’t mind too much.