Today many women suffering with breast cancer are given opportunity to make a choice of total removal of a breast called mastectomy and breast conserving surgery called lumpectomy which is followed by radiation.
For women with only one site of cancer in their breast, and a tumor under four centimetres that was removed with clear margins (no cancer cells in the tissue surrounding the tumor).
There are women who feels that mastectomy serves them better and that they have a little more control because they don’t have to worry as much about local recurrence.
There are also women who have a choice to prefer the less invasive lumpectomy.
Choice depends on the following factors:
- whether or not radiation therapy is as good an opinion for you compared to mastectomy.
- whether you are interested in reconstructive surgery.
- how important keeping your breast is to you.
- how much you think that removing the entire breast would help you worry less about the possibility of the breast cancer coming back.
The place where you live may also play a role in your decision.
Research shows that women of United States are more likely to have mastectomy than women in other countries.
Choice of surgeon also influences which treatment option you are offered. If you feel strongly about one opinion over the other, ask your surgeon how mastectomies are done and what is the reason for doing it?
Always seek second opinion to get more complete and balanced understanding of your options.
Shankar Mahanti for http://www.yourfreehealthreport.com/
Copyright 2006 yourfreehealthreport.com/symptoms
