After The Second Opinion

What can I say? I went to the appointment for the 2nd opinion with Mary Wilde, MD, the Director of Scripps Polster Breast Care Center in San Diego, CA. My friend, Vincentia Schroeter, offered to go with me and I accepted her offer. We discussed ahead of time what questions I wanted to be sure to ask and she wrote them down.

Of course the most important question was,

"Given the mammograms, the Mammotest and the pathology report, do you recommend a lumpectomy with radiation or a mastectomy?"

Because the cancer sites are small, but are so far apart in the left breast, she answered that she recommended a mastectomy. It was rather a shock to me when I heard her say those words. Although the other surgeon, Elaine Tanaka, MD., had also said that, as had the Radiology Oncologist, I realized that I had secretly hoped that she might recommend either a lumpectomy or that there was no cancer at all. Ah, Denial...such a lovely defense mechanism! I hadn't realized that I was even in denial! Until I began to cry.

What she actually recommended was a "skin-saving mastectomy with reconstruction." I learned that the breast consists of 3 layers, the skin (which is made of skin cells, not breast cells), the fatty layers underneith, then the breast cells (which contain the cancer cells in DCIS). Under that is the pectoral muscles. The nipple and areola are part of the breast cells and can contain cancer cells, so they must go, too. That's the part I hate. But more later...