Late Complications, breast cancer.

Hi and welcome to the Community but sorry to hear about your challenges after fighting a long treatment journey.

I have no experience that can help but let’s see if any of the others can help you although I did have a lot of radiotherapy during my treatment for NHL and have been told that this has reduced the possibility of having much more should it be required.

We also have a very supportive Breast cancer group where you can open up your concerns about breast cancer to a wider audience who know exactly what you are going through at the moment.

Nothing wrong with getting a second opinion just to make sure the best plan is put in place.

((hugs))

Hi

How unlucky are you - Your case notes must fill a trolley :-/

There is a 'Life Time' dose of radiotherapy you can have; once reached there is a limit to the amount of radiation an area of your body can safely receive over the course of your lifetime. Depending on how much radiation an area has already been treated with, you may not be able to have radiation therapy to that area a second time. But, if one area of the body has already received the safe lifetime dose of radiation, another area might still be treated if the distance between the two areas is large enough.

Is your left breast affected (heart side ?) as I'm wondering if radiotherapy damage risks to your aortic valve replacement may be part of the reason too.

Have you been told if this IDC is oestrogen fed ER/PR+ or have you no other results as yet ?

Just going top pop in the link to the Breast Group as there is a surgery discussion there you may find useful.

No one would willingly have a mastectomy, so you could ask about a 2nd opinion but there may be very valid reasons for advising the surgery. My wifes breast tumour was only 8mm but she had to lose the breast as a lumpectomy wasn't the best route to avoid future recurrence for her.

Hope this is of some help at a tough time, G n' J

hi

in addition to Highlander and Dreamthief's comments, I'm just going to add that the recommended approach is lumpectomy and radio but you don't necessarily have to have the radio. 

My cousin was thoroughly reassured by her surgeon that he'd successfully removed all suspicious areas with clear margins and that further belt and braces radiotherapy was optional.

Whatever we decide we have to live with the consequences. 

At the moment statistics suggest that a lumpectomy is as effective as a mastectomy over the 5 and 10 years but you hear of women who suffer a recurrence that will bemoan the fact they didn't opt for the mastectomy. There are also plenty of news reports of the surgical teams who left around 10% of breast tissue for aesthetic reasons when that 10% residual breast tissue adds to the risk of recurrence.

It makes good headlines doesn't it.  Why expose women to further risk for vanity ?

But that residual breast tissue is no different to the residual breast tissue in a lumpectomy which everyone is saying is as safe ... see my point. 

I think this is well worth a second opinion but there are quite a few factors at play here. 

I requested a second hearing at my MDT (multi disciplinary team) meeting but they all said the lump was just too big to make a decent job of a lumpectomy and they'd do a better job with a mastectomy and reconstruction. It was a sad day to accept I had to part company with my left breast. But a week later when we were all debating whether it was also in my right breast, it took less than 30 seconds to decide that I was prepared to part with my right breast. 

I'm not really sure whether I ever consciously acknowledged I favoured my left breast over my right. 

It's a shock, the teams deal with this decision every day, they don't feel our grief at the prospect of the surgical removal of what is often our favourite body part.

You do have a choice, nobody can force you to have a mastectomy, you can have a lumpectomy without radiotherapy, it's just not what they are recommending. 

Ask the question.

What if I have a lumpectomy without radio and what are my chances over 5, 10 and 15 years with each scenario?

Use the NHS predict tool to look at the statistics too.

https://breast.predict.nhs.uk

and head on over to the breast group

Carolyn

xx 

Hi ,

so very sorry you find yourself here; you’ve had some great advice, and I too would agree a second opinion may help you. I’m a soul in both groups as our daughter had a long history with HL but I’m the one who more recently had bc. mastectomies are tough and are effectively an amputation, but the reconstructions offered can really help appearance and confidence. 

please do join the breast group, it’s busy and isn’t at all doom and gloom!

sending an understanding hug xxx