Lumpectomy + radiation or mastectomy for DCIS?

Hi

My reconstruction was by DIEP. Big operations as they take fat from tummy area and use it to form new breast. They have to reconnect blood vessels etc. Also, slow recovery due to abdominal surgery. But it gives you an amazing natural looking breast definitely worth the hassle. I am very happy with it and it's like having your old breast there. People hardly notice I've had anything done. Good luck.XXXxxx

Hi Moresleep,

I also have a 5 cm DCIS am awaiting to see Consultant to discuss surgery options, strongly suspect mastectomy & nipple removal will be necessary & trying to arm myself with information re options for reconstruction. Know very little so far but wondering are you happy with the results of your diep?  Hugs to all going through this & all your kindness’s in sharing your experiences. Xx

More sleep, Sorry for my previous question  are you happy with your diep as I’ve just re read you are. Think I need more sleep! Xx

Hi Boudicca,

Yes, very happy with my DIEP. In a bra or bikini unable to tell and, as I have had nipple recon and tattooing, if seen briefly ie in changing room etc nobody would be any the wiser. My new boob hangs just like the other one - I did have a some tweaking after the main surgery by lipo and refill. My abdominal scar - altho horrendous at first has faded to faint white line. Also you will have little round scar round your tummy button as they have to bring it through again but again mine has faded to faint white line. The operation does take a bit of getting over but if you can have the operation and put up with the hassle of the surgery it is worth doing. With DCIS hopefully you won't need anything done re the cancer so you can focus on getting over the DIEP. Also, unlike implants there is no further surgery apart from small tweaks if you wish them. I had mine done at St Thomas' in London. I hope this helps.XXxxx

Another good thing about the DIEP, especially if you are young no removal and reinsertion of implants.  Nothing foreign either. Big operation though.  Lots of factors to consider before making any choice.  So glad you are happy.  This may be a silly question but I wouldn’t think you need any mammograms on that side anymore?  Merry Christmas too.

Barbara

Indeed, yearly mammograms on 'real' one only for 5 years, then back to every 3 years.XXXXXxxx Merry Xmas!!!

Moresleep, Very helpful thank you all helps to make a decision. Xx

Any questions, just ask. It's a big decision and you need to feel happy (well, as much as you can be in the circumstances.....) to make the best decision for you. I certainly made the right choice for me.XXxx

So great to have so much discussion going on around different options in this chat! Super useful, and thank you to everyone contributing! 

Update from my side - I found out on Wednesday from the final biopsy results that the DCIS has spread to most of the breast, not just the hard lump that I could feel. It's grade 3, i.e. high grade. As a result it is clear that I will need a mastectomy, there is no other option. And honestly, I was so relieved when I found out. The hardest thing for me is the uncertainty and the overwhelm of information. I was trying to read up everything possible on both mastectomies and lumpectomies and radiation and trying to work out if I could decide which was my preferred option based on various probabilities and statistics and my own circumstances. Too much! Now that it's clear I feel like I can direct my thoughts and energy more constructively into a positive and practical decision on whether to reconstruct or stay flat. That seems way more manageable. 

And so I was feeling pretty good about things all round, and looking forward to getting a plan and most importantly a date in place at my appointment today.... until I had bloody discharge from my right breast yesterday! My right breast being the one that has been given the all-clear despite also showing a lot of calcification. So now we start with more diagnostics on the right breast again, which is just about driving me crazy. No date set, no plan, and my mindset towards a double mastectomy and possible reconstruction is quite different to what it is towards losing one side. Argh! 

After feeling so positive and looking to the future, my fear is now taking over. Fear that it is more after all, and that they have it all wrong. I know they have been extremely thorough and I trust my team fully, but I have had such a bad feeling about the whole thing from day 1. I knew it was more than just a benign lump, even though at the initial scans I was told they weren't expecting to find anything malicious. And I have pains in my breasts, and it just feels wrong.

For now I am trying to still stay positive, to push it to one side for the next few days and to enjoy Christmas as mindfully as I can with my little ones, and take it one step at a time. Next appointment for ultra sound on right breast on Tuesday next week... 

Anyways, just had to get it off my chest (as it were ;)) 

Wishing everyone a lovely and restful Christmas, hopefully with the ability to enjoy and forget for a bit xxxx

Oh how sorry to hear that you have to go down this road.  I was on the same one as diagnosed with DCIS intermediate grade though.  Then surgeon wanted to check out my breasts with ultrasound and MRI.  Ultrasound was negative but MRI showed 2 hot spots on left breast and another small area on right.  No MRI biopsies done as my breasts are too small.  Oh joy!!  So had open biopsy done on left breast and it was stage 1 breast cancer with DCIS.  I was so shook up that I couldn’t think straight.  The surgeon had wanted to do lumpectomy on both breasts at same time but I told him I couldn’t do it as I wanted to know what I had in left side.  I told him that I might want mastectomy on both and then I would not need radiation.  It took me about a month of indecision to decide.  My surgeon sent me to the radiation oncologist so I could discuss radiation etc.  So many factors figure into decision and my age was one. At 72 and with my cancers not being aggressive I went with my surgeons opinion.  He was very helpful and I feel good about it all.  
I feel if I had been younger (way younger) I would have opted for double mastectomy as would have wanted to avoid radiation.  It really sucks and my poor little breasts had more needles and probes in them than I ever imagined.  
One thing I told my breast surgeon is that us small breasted women don’t have many options.  No reductions, lifts etc. It is usually lumpectomy or mastectomy as surgery options and that is it.  
I hope all goes well with it all.  I had bloody drainage from my left nipple about 11 years ago and they did tests but never found anything and it resolved.  
Merry Christmas to you and enjoy the little ones.  
Barbara