Well of course the surgeon is the expert but I do wonder why she suggests a
mastectomy for a stage 1 cancer. It seems fairly extreme to me. Can you get
a second opinion? It might be her favoured practice.

I had it without being told about it, as far as I know it didn't kill me (if
it did you're reading ghostly words!). A 1% risk is very low though ...
there's a risk in having the surgery, in taking a car journey ... in being
born ... it doesn't stop us from such activities.

Which could be treated appropriately. Of course you might be one of the 90%
who didn't have a recurrence ... :-)

I don't know where they get these figures, they all seem to be very neat.
You never hear about a 17 3/4% chance of anything happening. She might have
been rounding up the 1% risk, it might be only .6%.

I was 60 when diagnosed, I had a lumpectomy, axillary dissection and
radiation (and the dye job) and am very happy. If I have a recurrence it
will be seen to.

Did your surgeon give reasons for her recommendations? Mine explained
everything (except the dye) but with no percentages and sent me home for a
couple of weeks to think about it and make a decision. I originally wanted a
bilteral mastectomy (Stage 2) but eventually decided on a lumpectomy - with
the proviso that if I have to have more surgery at any time for any reason
it will be the all-off. My life's to busy to waste it in hospital :-)

But we all have different priorities. You're doing the right thing by
finding out more and by coming here, just remember that nobody knows all the
answers.

Let us know what you decide and stay with us.

Hugs,

Mary

Mastectomy is a rather simpler operation from a recovery point of view,
cutting along the lines as it were, plus one can often avoid radiation,
which for most people has few side effects, but does mean a lot of
travelling to and from hospital.

If you have other medical conditions, then there is something to be said for
minimising the impact of surgery on your system.

My mother ( I think she was 76 at the time) had a mastectomy for a similar
cancer, after a lumpectomy failed to get clean margins.  She is of slim
build and said that at her age she had too little breast left to be worried
about losing it.  I don't recall ever having seen her wear a prosthesis, but
you wouldn't notice if you didn't know.  For people like her, mastectomy
would seem the logical option.

I believe the survival rates etc. are pretty much the same for both
treatments, and that lumpectomy has a slightly higher rate of treatable
recurrence.

Tim Jackson

Joan..
Welcome to the clu no one wants to join...but glad to have you. I hope
as you make your way through this you will lean on us for whatever help
we can be to you. The best part of this group is that once you post
asking for help, you are never alone with this...there is always someone
here to help you with just about everytihng you'd want to know. And the
research will be done if there's something we might not know..although I
have literally NO clue what it would be that someone in here wouldn't
know... They're are some truly amazing people in this group. You will
not only be given good solid information, but you will also find some of
THE most compassionate people I've had the pleasure of getting to know.

I myself have been posting here almost 5 years now.
I started out in 4/99 {49 yr} with Stage 1, IDC {invasive ductal
carcinoma} 1cm, lumpectomy, clear margins, node neg. I had 33 radiation
treatments and went onto to do 6 months of chemotherapy {CMF} I'm not
trying to be snotty or rude here by no means by saying what I'm going
to, but I lived and breathed that "10% or less chance of recurrence" I
really wasn't being realistic I don't think, based on the fact it was an
invasive type.

I was cancer free till November of 2002. I then was faced with having to
have a mastectomy. I had already had radiation and it wasn't an option a
second time.
I had a "modified radical mastectomy" {MRM} I had immediate recon.
I'm fine right now, but as I've said here before when these type posts
come up. I would do things _much_ different then I did based on what has
happened to me.
I'd have the mastectomy right away and had the more aggressive chemo
that was offered, but that I declined on at the time.

But this is a _very_ personal choice that we all have to make...and of
course as I read you've got other health issues that you're dealing
with, so perhaps a mastectomy is not the best route for you to take. And
I'm sure you're concerned as well with quality of life {ref:radiation
treatments} issues with you being older then I was when I was making
these decisions.  
I guess we just have to do what we can based on what we're told at the
time, and hope for the best outcome.
Whatever path you take we will be here to support you 100% and help you
get through this.

I certainly hope I didn't upset you with what I've said here, as that
was certainly not my intention...but I try to be honest with people
feeling as though if you're asking, then you want both sides of an
issue, and you want facts or you wouldn't be here.
Take care there dear/God bless you
annie
p/s I'll be more then willing to put the "Len's Crafters Coupons" in the
mail, now that you're probably half blind having to read this post...
   

Ultimately.....we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a
freedom.

"Courage"...is *fear* that has said it's prayers.

Hi Joan--a belated welcome to the newsgroup everyone here would rather not have
to be (I think that makes sense--gramatically)
I have read your posts and am very impressed by all that you've done and are
still doing.  I won't go into the details of my b.c. only to say that I was
dx'd with 3 types of very aggressive b.c.  3 years ago (woke up in the wee
hours of my 50th b'day with a burning pain in my breast and 10 days later my
nipple started changing).  I have been in treatment of some kind ever since but
seem to be doing okay at the moment--I think.
I have learned that there is no one 'right' treatment for all.  Each of our
cancer's are different.  What works for one may not work for the next.  It
sounds like you  have been doing your 'homework' and will be able to make an
informed decision that appears to be 'right' for you at this time.
I wanted to share 2 stories of women I know who have been dx'd with b.c. in
their 'later' years.  One is my husband's aunt--dx'd age 75 with b.c. with mets
to her abdomen, uterus, colon, and one other place which I can't recall.  She
opted for a lumpectomy and radiation and refused any further treatment because
she was concerned about the quality of her life based on her memories of past
cancer treatment.  She was a former nursing instructor whose memories of
treatment were somewhat out-dated.  Still, after her treatment--lumpectomy and
radiation, she went for repeat scans.  Lo and behold they could find no further
evidence of cancer.  She refused to believe them and sat around waiting to pass
on.  This continued until her daughter said to her--"look ma, you're gonna die
(someday) but it's not going to be from cancer."  She had a spontaneous
remission which is generally very rare.  She finally decided to get on with her
life and has--starting a business and being very active.  She is now 80 and is
still doing well.  I must say, though, that around this time she also switched
from pill to control her type II diabetes to insulin injections which may have
been what helped her have this spontaneous remission.
Then another friend of ours mom--who is in her late 70's was dx'd with b.c.  I
can't recall whether she had a mastectomy or lumpectomy.  She did have
radiation but also chose no  chemo and has been okay--she is 2 years out.
Although the above women did not have chemo, it is being offered to older women
now, in many cases.  Older women generally have much slower growing cancers, in
general, and may do welll with less aggressive treatments.  Research findings
indicate that as a group they do just as well as younger women.  Chemo is alot
easier these days with the new anti-nausea drugs.  
Wishing you all the best with whichever way you decide.  Take care and
{{{hugs}}}