New diagnosis

Hi Bungle01

Welcome to the forum and I am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with DCIS and need a mastectomy.  While I don't have experience of a mastectomy as I only needed a lumpectomy I noticed that you haven't had any answers yet so I thought I'd reply to you to welcome you to the forum.  This reply will move you to the top of the discussion.  Hopefully  someone will be along shortly to give you the benefit of their experience.

Wishing you the best of luck with your operation.

Best wishes

Dasiy53

Hi Bungle01

I had a mastectomy on 6th November for intermediate dcis. I had a lumpectomy in 2017 followed by radiotherapy & 5 years of Tamoxifen. I chose to have a delayed reconstruction, although I kind of wish now that I'd opted for immediate reconstruction. ( I have been told that I could be a 2 year wait)The day after the op, I had no pain at all but on day 3 needed to take paracetamol for mild pain. I did get an infection during week 2 but was resolved quickly with antibiotics. My advice is to do the exercises as they will help regain good movement in your arm & chest area. It is stressful waiting for post op / pathology results appointment,  mine was 5 weeks. Luckily my results showed good results, no lymph node involvement & no further treatment needed.

Wishing you all the very best for your op & results

 Try to enjoy Christmas as best as you can under the circumstances.  

Hi Zafy

• Thank you for your reply.  It's so difficult to know what do as I won't really know how I feel until my breast has been removed.  The thought of going through another operation to reconstruct isn't appealing.  I only have a few days to make a decision as my op is on 31st but it's not an easy one.