Ruth,

Don't know if this will help much or not. When I had my bilateral it was due to
lobular and the stats then were about 13-15% for recurrence in opposite breast
(IF I'm remembering correctly!) -- S ince then, I understand new studies have
been done and the chance of that happening are actually a lower percentage.
Just don't know how much less.

I finally chose bilaterals for 'even-ness' -- ie: thinking of the time was,
came in flat chested, so why not go out the same way. --- Turned out to be the
right decision because the opposite breast was in pre-cancerous stages (which
didn't show up on mammograms... they didn't do ultrasound, MRI or pet ). --
Yes, insurance paid for it.

Good luck in your decision making. I haven't been sorry ..felt I did what was
right for ME at the time, and only later was it proven it was the right choice
all around.

Take care, namaste,
Adrienne

Hi Ruth, I had invasive lobular and opted for a bilateral.  Mine was dx'd 9
mos. after a supposed normal mammogram.  Within a day or so after that mammo I
found a hardened area which I showed my dr--who reminded me that the mammo was
normal.   9 mos. later I developed pain in one breast and 10 days after that my
nipple began changing.  A  new mammo showed what appeared a mass that was
highly suspicious of b.c. in same area that I pointed out after that last
supposedly normal mammo.
I did  the bilateral because lobular is the type that is more likely to recur
on the other side and because of a bad family hx of breast cancer.  At the last
moment I wondered if I were doing the 'right' thing, so I posed the following
question to my surgeon at my pre-op appt.  I was told that the lobular had been
growing for the past 5 to 10 years before I felt it and it showed up on the
mammo.  For the previous 10 years the mammos had been normal.  So, I
asked--since my last mammo showed an area that was suspicious and proved to be
malignant in one breast and it supposedly has been there for the past 5 to 10
yrs but wasn't showing up on the mammo, could it not still be possible that
even though this most recent mammo was normal for the other breast, couldn't
the same thing be happening in that breast too?  My surgeon quickly said,
"yes."  I went ahead without any regrets.
I have read (research article or professional discussion re lobular) that some
dr.'s/researchers view the breast in cases of lobular as a single entity or
organ with two mouths.  Lobular grows in sheets and appears as thickenings
rather than as tumors and it is hard to detect through a mammogram.  From what
I have recently read, it is easier to detect through an MRI>