CHOOSING HEALTH OVER BREASTS
It's a choice former CBS News Anchor Rene Syler made to avoid a breast cancer diagnosis after several painful biopsies.
But more and more women are choosing to have both breasts removed to avoid a recurrance of breast cancer.
The process is called a prophylactic mastectomy or a double mastectomy.
About 4-and-a-half percent of breast cancer patients are choosing this option.
That's a 150 percent jump in the last ten years.
It allows women not to worry about the cancer coming back.
Some doctors disagree with the choice - calling it a high price to pay for peace of mind. But Dr. Scott Spear of Georgetown University Hospital says "Although it sounds terrible, the data for prophylactic mastectomies is that its preventability is about 95%. So, if you're a woman who's at high risk for getting breast cancer because of your family history or because of gene testing you can reduce your risk by 95%."
To see why Hilda Scharen , at age 39, made the difficult choice click here.
If you've had a prophylactic mastectomy, share your story. Something you say or do may help another Buddy.
Andrea
But more and more women are choosing to have both breasts removed to avoid a recurrance of breast cancer.
The process is called a prophylactic mastectomy or a double mastectomy.
About 4-and-a-half percent of breast cancer patients are choosing this option.
That's a 150 percent jump in the last ten years.
It allows women not to worry about the cancer coming back.
Some doctors disagree with the choice - calling it a high price to pay for peace of mind. But Dr. Scott Spear of Georgetown University Hospital says "Although it sounds terrible, the data for prophylactic mastectomies is that its preventability is about 95%. So, if you're a woman who's at high risk for getting breast cancer because of your family history or because of gene testing you can reduce your risk by 95%."
To see why Hilda Scharen , at age 39, made the difficult choice click here.
If you've had a prophylactic mastectomy, share your story. Something you say or do may help another Buddy.
Andrea
posted by andrea roane @ 6:48 AM
2 Comments:
At February 12, 2008 11:13 PM,
toddlerplanet said…
Andrea,
I have a story to share. I'm 34 years old, and I had both my breasts removed 3 weeks ago today. I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) on June 16, but the tumor was growing rapidly (as IBC does) and surgery was impossible. After 6 months of chemotherapy, the cancer had finally subsided enough for surgery. I had to have a modified radical mastectomy on the right side in order to remove the remaining cancer and the damaged skin.
I reviewed the research and found that removing the second breast would reduce my risk of recurrence of breast cancer by 15%. This may not seem like much to most people, but to me this was huge! As removing the second breast would reduce my risk of recurrence from 90% to 75%, I made that choice.
Imagine my surprise when the pathology report came back after surgery showing that the cancers had both been cut out with clean margins. Both cancers. Cancer in the right AND left breasts.
There was another cancer already growing in the left breast, and, had I not had a double mastectomy, it would have required me to start treatment all over again as soon as it was detected. If it was detected.
I can't decide whether I was incredibly lucky or incredibly blessed, but I do know that I made the right decision and I am very grateful to my surgeon for agreeing to remove both breasts, even though we thought only one had cancer.
I don't miss my breasts at all.
At February 13, 2008 3:24 AM,
andrea roane said…
Dear Toddler Planet,
You are both - incredibly blessed and incredibly lucky. Thank you for sharing your story. It's a difficult choice to remove both breasts, but breasts can be reconstructed. Thank God your surgeon acted aggressively.
I will keep you in my prayers as you continue your recovery.
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