[Jade]

I asked my onc the question "If I was your wife or daughter, would you recommend for me to have reconstructive surgery?". His answer, "No".

Like a lot of us, I just didn't want any more surgery after 3 surgeries in 6 weeks when first diagnosed, and then trying to recover from that while going through chemo. Enough already! Plus, I've always been concerned that messing around in the "cancer area" could somehow "reawaken" the cancer cells (some say it's a fallacy but to me it's logical). But my onc said research is looking into the effects from the anaesthetic, something about completely killing the immune system while the body is under surgery, therefore possibly opening the "floodgates" to anything that wants to invade. Lani, Becky and others are no doubt more knowledgeable in this area than me, but when I phrased the question the way I did to my onc and he said "no", that was all I needed to hear. I'm sure it wasn't the first time he'd been asked and obviously had good reason to answer the way he did. (He's a highly respected, top-of-his-game doctor.)

I don't want to spend ONE MORE DAY, HOUR OR MINUTE sick and/or in hospital, so that's why I decided against reconstruction. I will say, however, that being 51 has played a large part in my decision. I'd probably feel different if it was ten years ago. Whatever you decide, I wish you all the very best.