[sabpri]

Jessica,

I am trying to reply to your post about the masectomy but I am new here and not sure if I am replying right. Anyway, I am not sure what to tell you about the best decision to make and you have been through so much already. I can tell you that I am facing a similar situation trying to decide if I should do a total hysterectomy or just my ovaries and tubes (I am BRCA 2 and one of my Tumors was ER/PR+). I know the more I remove the better, but I am tired of having having peices of my body removed. I have had enough damage to my body and I guess I am willing to take the very, tiny risk to keep a little peice of me inside, so I can truly relate.

I just wanted to let you know that I had the double masectomy even though one of my breasts was totally clean. I just didn't want to take the chance due to my BRCA status and the plastic surgeon said it would be easier to make them even starting from a "clean" slate.

I thought the surgery was very easy, way easier than I expected. It was done in about an hour and a half, I spent one night in the surgery center and the next day I went home. Other than the pain in the neck aspect of the drains (which were out in a week), I really didn't have too much pain (chemo was way worse than the surgery in my opnion!). It was hard to take that first look at the scars after surgery, but my sis did it with me and it was not as awful as I expected. I have gotten used to it (people say how much thinner I look without the boobs - there's a plus!). I was up and around by the next day. I think the surgery is easy, but the emotional part is harder. Overall, I didn't think the whole process was as bad as I expected, physically or emotionally.

Hope this helps!
Natalie