Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Is Mastectomy a Better Option if You Have Dense Breasts?

This BBC article says there's an increased risk of breast cancer recurring in dense breasts. The focus here seems to be seeing if women with less-dense breasts might be able to skip radiation after a lumpectomy.

I'd say it also suggests that women with dense breasts should opt for a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy. It also makes a great case for giving women diagnosed with breast cancer an MRI before surgery to get the clearest picture of what else might be going on in dense breasts before deciding on a lumpectomy or mastectomy.

In my case, an MRI showed two additional areas of concern in another quadrant of the breast, away from the two tumors I found.

After reading this, I know I'm happy I chose mastectomy rather than lumpectomy. I'm also happy I chose to have radiation. Hit it with everything up front so hopefully I'll never have to deal with it again.

To most people who've never had to make the choice, I'm sure a mastectomy seems very drastic, but it gives you more reconstruction options. In my opinion, it's not as horrific as it's held up to be. It ain't no picnic, but it definitely isn't the end of the world.

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