| If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, it may | | | | breast cancer, where prophylactic removal is more |
| have been suggested you have a single mastectomy | | | | common. |
| in the other breast or a double mastectomy, but is | | | | This trend is disheartening. Especially because there is |
| this the best approach? I was diagnosed more than a | | | | absolutely no data, or no evidence that mastectomy |
| decade ago with infiltrating intraductal breast cancer | | | | or removing one or both breasts in a breast cancer |
| and I turned down all conventional treatment including | | | | patient, improved survival rates or helped them live |
| chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and chose an | | | | longer. It appears that many women are doing this in |
| alternative route. No single or double mastectomy | | | | panic mode. A cancer diagnosis creates panic and |
| either. And I'm still in excellent health today. | | | | fear. |
| The trend is alarming as more and more women are | | | | The statistics show that there is only a 10 percent to |
| removing healthy breasts because they are panicked, | | | | 15 percent chance of developing cancer in the other |
| are in fear of breast cancer returning or migrating to | | | | breast in the upcoming 20 years following the |
| the other breast. | | | | diagnosis. In addition, because one has already been |
| I'll discuss a recent study showing why mastectomy | | | | diagnosed with it, breast cancer would likely be |
| is not saving lives in a moment. However, what is | | | | caught very early. So why remove a healthy breast? |
| alarming to me is that there is still breast tissue left in | | | | I chose not to have any chemotherapy, radiation or |
| the chest wall and by removing healthy breasts there | | | | surgery. They wanted to remove some of my lymph |
| is still tissue that could already contain cancer cells or | | | | nodes and give me aggressive chemo and radiation. |
| be available to them. | | | | In addition, this was to be followed by five years of |
| There is very little evidence that proves that women | | | | the drug Tamoxifen. |
| live longer or survival rates increase by removing their | | | | I turned it all down! Of course I immediately changed |
| breasts after a diagnosis of breast cancer. A recent | | | | my lifestyle and radically changed my diet. And I felt |
| study of statistics published in a national medical | | | | healthier in the month and months and years to |
| journal read by doctors found that 5000 women in | | | | follow and ever since then - more than ten years |
| one state, between 1995 and 2005, who had cancer | | | | ago. If you've had a breast cancer diagnosis and are |
| in one of their breasts, chose to have the other | | | | considering mastectomy either single or double, |
| breast removed. These women already had breast | | | | please do plenty of research before you commit. |
| cancer. They were not women who tested positive | | | | Based on the studies, research and data today there |
| for the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene mutation type of | | | | doesn't seem to be a good reason to do it. |