Longterm Comfort with Mastectomies
Posted 5/4/2011
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This is a report from Health Day about a really interesting study from the Mayo Clinic. Longterm breast cancer survivors, twenty years post surgery, were asked about their decision to have prophylactic mastectomies. All those years later, the majority were satisfied with their choice and felt that the reduced anxiety was worth the loss. This fits with my observation that virtually all women,no matter what their decision about surgery, end up feeling comfortable with the choice. Even those women who have been the most tortured and distressed at the time find a way to make peace with their flat chest or reconstructed breast or lumpectomy scars. Whether this is because we are mostly resilient or because of response shift (meaning that we psychologically adjust to new circumstances) or because we are intuitive and know what is right for us, I don't know. But I see it over and over and over.
Here is the introduction and then a link to read more:
Most Cancer Survivors Would Sacrifice Healthy Breast Again: Study
20 years after double mastectomy, 97% say they would make same decision
By Ellin Holohan
RIDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) -- Despite concerns regarding appearance, few breast cancer survivors who opted for a double mastectomy as a precautionary measure regretted their decision decades later, a new study finds.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., questioned hundreds of women who sacrificed a healthy breast in the hope of avoiding another cancer. Twenty years after their surgery, 97 percent said they would make the same decision again.
"The real question is, how did they feel in the long run?" said researcher Dr. Judy C. Boughey, breast surgeon and associate professor of surgery. "I want my patients to do what they will be happy with in 10 or 20 years."
Previous research found that women who had undergone prophylactic double mastectomy were satisfied with their decision soon after the surgery. This new research shows that those who were "comfortable with that decision still are many years after," said Boughey.
http://tinyurl.com/6keuclj
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