Did I say "Progress?" I meant to say "Snag #2."

So Jill's aunt had a bilateral mastectomy awhile back which means she had both breasts removed. She emailed me the other day and implored me to go see the surgeons at SIU because they can do surgery with minimal scarring. Since I already had my surgery date and was relatively sure that I was going to get a mastectomy at that point, I shrugged it off not really caring about scars later.

Then I went to that Young Survivors Coalition message board that Julie told me about and started reading all of these women's stories. The more I read, the more I thought that a bilateral mastectomy would be better for me in the long run than a single. First of all I won't have my genetic test results until who knows when because the doc office is currently fighting with my insurance company over its medical necessity. Secondly my reconstructed breast will never match my natural breast. Third, if I'm going to have to have another mastectomy later becuase of positive genetic testing or just more bc, then I'd have to go through surgery and therapy all over again and the odds get higher and higher as I get older.

So I called my surgeon and asked him about a bilateral. AFter some discussion he said he wouldn't do it. To him it's unnecessary at this time, it's extra recovery time, it's a huge paper trail, the insurance won't pay if it's not medically necessary, blah blah blah.

So I went back to the bulletin board and told all of these women who have had them what he had to say. All of them told me to find a doctor who shared my point of view. A lot of them seem to have had bilaterals because they chose to and their doctors did it for them with no question. While they say recover is longer, they're happier they did it and it's over with. Meanwhile the gals that answered that had a single mast all told me what I feared. That their natural breast did not match the new one. One gal even said she was just anxious to have it done and at the time didn't know enough to stand up for herself and fight for what she wanted which was a bilateral.

To make a long story short (TOO LATE!), I phoned those doctors at SIU that Jill's aunt had recommended and I'm going to see one of them tomorrow morning for a 2nd opinion. I need to ask this doc about scars afterward and if she performs bilaterals w/o as preventative for cosmetic reasons if nothing else.

I'll update once I get back from that consult.