HWN Suggests

On Mastectomies, Pink Ribbon Culture, and Women’s Choices

Thankfully, the days of Halsted’s radical mastectomy are behind us. No longer do women go into surgery to find out if they have breast cancer and wake up to their entire breast removed, including muscle and in extreme cases ribs. Women now have the choice of mastectomy (including a nipple-sparing technique) or lumpectomy with radiation. How and why women make these decisions is complicated and always personal...

None of these choices happens in a vacuum. The year-round pink ribbon awareness campaigns and marketing ploys demand attention to breast cancer through relentless fear-mongering…

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Featured

 I Got Breast Cancer But Not a Mastectomy

For those with breast cancer, a mastectomy may seem the best option. I thought so–until the last minute.

Articles of Interest

For early breast cancer, lumpectomy is at least as good as mastectomy

When it comes to fighting cancer, “get it out” is a common and understandable response. It’s what prompts some women with early-stage breast cancer to choose mastectomy, an operation to remove the entire affected breast. Results from the largest-ever observational study offers reassurance to women who choose a more conservative approach—removal of just the tumor and some tissue around it (lumpectomy) followed by radiation therapy.

I Didn’t Need a Double Mastectomy to Save My Life. Here’s Why I Did It Anyway.

Once survival odds and quality-of-life issues are discussed, and it’s time for a woman to make her final decision—to remove one breast or two, to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy, to reconstruct or not, silicone or saline—we would step back and honor her choice. And why not? She’s the only one who is, we hope, going to live with it.

Mastectomies Are on the Rise, Despite the Evidence Against Them. Why?

Buried in last week’s news that double mastectomies don’t improve survival outcomes for women with breast cancer (among the general population— not those with a genetic predisposition to the disease) was another interesting tidbit: Women with early stage disease treated with lumpectomy and radiation had higher survival rates than those who’d had a single mastectomy alone.

Mastectomy No Better Than Lumpectomy For Early Breast Cancer

There are a number of options for women when they learn they have breast cancer in its earliest stages, when the tumor is relatively small and has not yet spread. Each option is similarly effective when it comes to killing cancer cells and preventing the disease from returning. Yet an increasing number of women are opting for the most aggressive option — mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction. And in some cases, women are asking that both breasts be removed, even if cancer has been detected in only one.

Me and My Foobs: What It’s Really Like Post-Mastectomy

First, I believe there’s a huge misconception among the general populous about what it means to have one’s breasts removed and replaced with artificial ones (if they are replaced at all). When speaking about my upcoming surgery, I had many well-meaning people say things like, “Well at least you get new boobs!” and, “Your husband must be so excited... has he picked ‘em out yet?” Yeah, well, it’s not quite like that. Not at all, in fact.

My mastectomy is 2 years old

What a concept, to remove ones breasts? I mean come on say what you want it is hard to say good bye to them. They are part of a women on so many aspects, we literally grew up with them...

My Medical Choice

I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.

The Wrong Approach to Breast Cancer

After a decades-long trend toward less invasive surgery, patients’ interest in removing the unaffected breast through a procedure called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (or C.P.M., as it’s known in the trade) is skyrocketing, and not just among women like me who have been through treatment before.

Why I’m Not Having a Preventive Mastectomy

My genetics suggest a high risk of cancer, like Angelina Jolie. But I’m not convinced that preventive surgery is a good idea.

Resources

BreastFree Blog

Living breast-free after mastectomy surgery— news, information, advice, and random thoughts.

Courage is my Strength

My Breast Reconstruction Story

Ticking Time Bombs

What would you do if you knew you were going to get cancer?