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Joan S. · 07-05-2009, 06:48 AM

With all the experience of you ladies out there, I thought you could give me some advice....I was diagnosed with stage 4 Her2 +++, er+. I had 7 months of herceptin, zometa and taxol(no surgery). Then continued with aromasin, herceptin and zometa till the present. Most spots disappeared with the exception of my back which was radiated. Now 2 years later, a new lump in my breast has returned(also her 2). So far it is small and localized. My onc is recommending lumpectomy, no removal of nodes and no RT but the surgeons are recommending mastectomy because of the proximity to the first tumor and scar tissue and if there is node involvement to do that. So my question is this....do any of you have any experience with this? Should I get a mastectomy even though it will obviously not "cure" my disease and is it crazy to consider reconstruction when it could raise the level of chance for infection and require another surgery?

07-05-2009, 06:48 AM	#1
Joan S. Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 24	Need to Make a Decision Quickly! With all the experience of you ladies out there, I thought you could give me some advice....I was diagnosed with stage 4 Her2 +++, er+. I had 7 months of herceptin, zometa and taxol(no surgery). Then continued with aromasin, herceptin and zometa till the present. Most spots disappeared with the exception of my back which was radiated. Now 2 years later, a new lump in my breast has returned(also her 2). So far it is small and localized. My onc is recommending lumpectomy, no removal of nodes and no RT but the surgeons are recommending mastectomy because of the proximity to the first tumor and scar tissue and if there is node involvement to do that. So my question is this....do any of you have any experience with this? Should I get a mastectomy even though it will obviously not "cure" my disease and is it crazy to consider reconstruction when it could raise the level of chance for infection and require another surgery?