Glad I had a lumpectomy
I was given a choice, and I'm glad I went with the lumpectomy. It was such an easy surgery, and I was up and around the next day. You really can't even tell I had surgery on that breast. I was torn because I'd prepared myself for a mastectomy, their original recommendation. But after more tests, they decided I could go either way. My breast surgeon said that if I were her sister, she'd tell me to go with the lumpectomy. I met with a plastic surgeon who said if it were his wife, he'd tell her to get a mastectomy. I am not much of a worrier by nature, so I decided to go with the lesser approach. Also, the plastic surgeon said I didn't have enough belly fat for him to work with, so my implants would be pretty obvious. He also described how I would need to lay low after reconstruction, and I'm just not suited for that--it's hard for me to sit still and hard for me to let people wait on me. The trade-off for all that is that I did have to have 20 rounds of radiation. The radiation itself was a piece of cake (it's quick and easy and I had no fatigue) but I did develop fibrosis from the radiation. (It got better with physical therapy, but it was still something to have to go through.) Hope that helps.