Mastectomy Or Lumpectomy - How to Decide?

After my biopsy came back and I found out I did indeed have breast cancer, my surgeon said I could choose between a mastectomy and a lumpectomy. What - me choose - I'm not a surgeon or an oncologist! But then I thought perhaps having a choice was much better than the bad old days.

My mother-in-law was diagnosed in the days when you went into the operating room, got knocked out, and only after you woke up did you discover whether or not you still had breasts. Yes, the surgeon did a biopsy and made a decision for you, then acted on it, all in one operation! Talk about shock - they didn't even do skin-sparing mastectomies in those days.

So I chose a lumpectomy, after asking my surgeon to show me just how much tissue was going to be removed. I handed him a baggie full of cotton balls, and told him to stick some together until they matched the amount of breast he was going to take out of my (in my opinion) small breast. When he used only two cotton balls, I decided - a lumpectomy it would be! He also talked me into having my sentinel node biopsy in the same trip. What a good move! That's when we found out that my lymph nodes were clear. But we also found out that what we thought was well-contained DCIS turned out to be invasive. A couple of weeks later, I went back for a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction and a port implant. So you can have both a lumpectomy and a mastectomy. But I hope you don't have to. Here's 10 Questions to Help You Decide between a Lumpectomy and a Mastectomy.

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