Girls With The Mostest

sissy

A topic in the DSP room has me wondering what more of you think of this. I was going to post this response in that thread, but felt it was kind of hijacking, so I decided to start a new discussion on it here.

I don't know, for me as far as the breast cancer thing goes, I'd do whatever else I could do in order to save my breasts. What if brain cancer was genetic . . . I know that's apples and oranges, and maybe thinking a little too simplistically, but I have a hard time seeing mastectomies used as preventive measure to warding off cancer on, at the time, perfectly healthy, normal women.

My mother had breast cancer as did my SIL's mother (both beat it with surgeries and treatements). So, does that mean my 21 year old neice should think about a mastectomy because of family history?

Maybe I'm just not informed enough on the subject, but it just seems so drastic to me.

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Snippy · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:05 am Post subject:

Personally I think it's going too far. I'm all for preventative care, healthy living, self exam, and mamagrams.

But there's only one given in life, we are going to die. It's the only sure thing we've got. We cannot stop it, and IMHO taking drastic measures to stop it are just causing more pain in your life than they are worth.

Enjoy life. Feel good. Take reasonable precautions.

Sorry to get on the soap box, but this ones been growing on me for awhile.
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I thought my life was a tragedy until I realized that I had a choice.
Heather

chelliesmom

It doesn't run in my family, so it just isn't something I fear. Though I can't ever imagine doing it myself, I won't go so far as to say that others shouldn't.

But my mom had a friend who lost her mother as a child and her two older sisters in her twenties to breast cancer and she had an elective bilateral mastectomy at 25. She as never been sorry. She is 70-75 years old and credits being here still to her drastic decision.
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shakay

Larissa · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:00 am Post subject:

Well you already know how I feel about it since I posted my opinion in DSPR but if I saw my great grandmother, grandmother and my mother all die of breast cancer I would most definitely have a mastectomy. They are just breasts...removing them will cause no harm to the rest of my body. Brain cancer is obviously totally something different. But if I could prevent a life threating disease I would do everything in my power to do so. A family friend just had her ovary's removed because she has battled breast cancer for many years and she finally got rid of it all and her dr said she was at high risk for ovarian cancer so she decided to have them removed before anything could happen. I agree with her decision 100%

Now if breast cancer doesn't run in your family and you are not at high risk for it having a mastectomy would seem pretty drastic and not necessary but ultimately it is the womans body and she can choose to do whatever she wants with her body in my opinion.

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chelliesmom · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject:

Larissa · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:20 pm Post subject:

chelliesmom · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:43 pm Post subject:

ouisiebayougal · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:10 pm Post subject:

I voiced my opinion...did she do any home work on this...Any one who would choose to dismantle their body (for no reason at all....other than attention) needs to have their head examined first.

I think the breat cancer gene is an entire different thing..it is proven. My SIL is in recovery from BC...her daughter is being tested to see if she has the gene just to be on top of the whole thing.

IMHO.......this is a very stupid thing to mess with your body this way for no apparent reason.
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jennkat · Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject:

I think that if you have a family history of people in your immediate family that have had/died from breast cancer then by all means....that said, if you don't have a history and are just doing it "just in case", then I think that is sad. Obviously it would be a cry for attention.
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Anyone who thinks only sunshine is happiness…has never danced in the rain...

chersnewme

drdisaia · Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject:

Hello all,

I saw the post and decided to chime in. I am not a fan of elective mastectomy unless the woman has strong family history and positive genetic markers for cancer. Elective mastectomies ruin perfectly good breasts and reconstruction only partially compensates. The risk has to be high for me to be down with these operations.

For whatever it is worth.
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Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD
Orange County, Ca.
www.ocbody.com

Pretty Woman · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:06 pm Post subject:

I understand being scared of BC.
I think I would wait until I did have it then have them removed.
Electively probably not.
I recently learned, someone I know who's BC was in remission, well it returned. So she had a double mastectomy. People thought she was extreme. I don't.