Re-excision or mastectomy?

Dear Silvabell,

Thank you for getting in touch today. My name is Carla, and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

I can see you are a member of our breast cancer forum, I hope you are finding it helpful connecting with other members.

I am sorry to hear that you are feeling out of your depth with the decision about having a further excision or mastectomy.

Here at Macmillan, we don’t have access to your NHS records, so we can’t address specific queries about your treatment plan however we can talk broadly about the two different surgeries and what to consider.

The important thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong answers when it comes to making decisions between treatments. It is about finding the outcome that feels right for you.

You may find it helpful to reach out to other members of the breast cancer forum who can share their experiences/ feelings on their treatment decisions.

Some people find that talking through your feelings with friends or family, may help you to reflect on how you feel about the options in front of you.

It can be helpful to note that both options can work equally well as surgical treatments of breast cancer. But these options do have different advantages and disadvantages.

It is important to take the time you need to make the decision that is right for you.

You might find it helpful to have a read of our information on treatment decisions for breast cancer. It includes information on recovery times, potential follow-on treatments, changes to your appearance and risk of disease recurrence.

Some questions that you may wish to consider or discuss with your team include:

• How would you feel to have the whole breast removed?
• Is it possible that another excision may still leave insufficient margins?
• How quickly you would want the treatment to be finished?
• Whether you would want to have a breast reconstruction? And whether this would be straight away or some months down the line?

It may be helpful to write down what specific worries and concerns that these bring up, so that you can discuss them with your Breast Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or your Surgeon in advance of making a decision.

I would also invite you to give us a call to the Macmillan Support Line and speak with one of our nurses. We can often explain things better over a spoken call with the opportunity for you to ask questions. 

I hope this helps to guide you. Don’t hesitate to come back if you need anything.

Best wishes,

Carla, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

Ref: CC/LM

Thanks Carla,

I spoke to the BCN yesterday so feel perhaps re-excision is the way to go this time.

My surgery may be on Thursday so I'm trying to get courage up for that.

Many thanks for your support. It was good to be able to turn to you, as I've had so much advice from professionals, family and friends that my head is spinning.

Regards