She, too, decided to go the preventative route and had a double mastectomy. And let me tell you, I no longer felt alone. This community of women shared stories like mine. Loved ones lost to cancer. Surgeries both preventative and not. Thanks to this community, I felt empowered in my decision to move forward with preventative surgery.
May 18, , I said farewell to my breasts and underwent a nipple-sparing preventative double mastectomy. I called my dad the day after my surgery. He was back home starting up on chemo again as his cancer had returned. He said how proud he was that I had undergone the surgery. I gave him the news that pathology came back negative. He went into the ICU the next day and my mom flew back home a few days after that.
A week later, my dad was gone…. Consider a referral to a plastic surgeon before your breast cancer surgery. Your options may include reconstruction with a breast implant silicone or water or reconstruction using your own tissue. These operations can be performed at the time of your mastectomy or at a later date. Radiation therapy uses high-powered beams of energy, such as X-rays and protons, to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy is typically done using a large machine that aims the energy beams at your body external beam radiation.
But radiation can also be done by placing radioactive material inside your body brachytherapy.
Statins and Breast Cancer : An Overview of the Current Situation - Semantic Scholar
External beam radiation of the whole breast is commonly used after a lumpectomy. Breast brachytherapy may be an option after a lumpectomy if you have a low risk of cancer recurrence. Doctors may also recommend radiation therapy to the chest wall after a mastectomy for larger breast cancers or cancers that have spread to the lymph nodes.
Breast cancer radiation can last from three days to six weeks, depending on the treatment. A doctor who uses radiation to treat cancer radiation oncologist determines which treatment is best for you based on your situation, your cancer type and the location of your tumor. Side effects of radiation therapy include fatigue and a red, sunburn-like rash where the radiation is aimed.
Breast tissue may also appear swollen or more firm. Rarely, more-serious problems may occur, such as damage to the heart or lungs or, very rarely, second cancers in the treated area. Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy fast-growing cells, such as cancer cells. If your cancer has a high risk of returning or spreading to another part of your body, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy after surgery to decrease the chance that the cancer will recur. Chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery in women with larger breast tumors.
The goal is to shrink a tumor to a size that makes it easier to remove with surgery. Chemotherapy is also used in women whose cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy may be recommended to try to control the cancer and decrease any symptoms the cancer is causing. Chemotherapy side effects depend on the drugs you receive. Common side effects include hair loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and an increased risk of developing an infection.
Rare side effects can include premature menopause, infertility if premenopausal , damage to the heart and kidneys, nerve damage, and, very rarely, blood cell cancer. Hormone therapy — perhaps more properly termed hormone-blocking therapy — is often used to treat breast cancers that are sensitive to hormones.
Doctors sometimes refer to these cancers as estrogen receptor positive ER positive and progesterone receptor positive PR positive cancers. Hormone therapy can be used before or after surgery or other treatments to decrease the chance of your cancer returning.
Special situations: Breastfeeding after adoption or breast surgery
If the cancer has already spread, hormone therapy may shrink and control it. Hormone therapy side effects depend on your specific treatment, but may include hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. More serious side effects include a risk of bone thinning and blood clots. Targeted drug treatments attack specific abnormalities within cancer cells. As an example, several targeted therapy drugs focus on a protein that some breast cancer cells overproduce called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 HER2.
The protein helps breast cancer cells grow and survive. By targeting cells that make too much HER2, the drugs can damage cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. Targeted therapy drugs that focus on other abnormalities within cancer cells are available. And targeted therapy is an active area of cancer research.
Your cancer cells may be tested to see whether you might benefit from targeted therapy drugs. Some medications are used after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will return. Others are used in cases of advanced breast cancer to slow the growth of the tumor. Palliative care is specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care specialists work with you, your family and your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support that complements your ongoing care.
Scenario 1: full-time breastfeeding mum
Palliative care can be used while undergoing other aggressive treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. When palliative care is used along with all of the other appropriate treatments, people with cancer may feel better and live longer. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specially trained professionals. Palliative care teams aim to improve the quality of life for people with cancer and their families. This form of care is offered alongside curative or other treatments you may be receiving.
Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this disease. No alternative medicine treatments have been found to cure breast cancer. But complementary and alternative medicine therapies may help you cope with side effects of treatment when combined with your doctor's care. Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue during and after treatment that can continue for years.
When combined with your doctor's care, complementary and alternative medicine therapies may help relieve fatigue. A breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. And just when you're trying to cope with the shock and the fears about your future, you're asked to make important decisions about your treatment. Every person finds his or her own way of coping with a cancer diagnosis.
- Macht ist Kontrolle: Kelten und Religion (German Edition).
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- The Last Mirage (The Dark Archipelago Book 1)!
- Statins and Breast Cancer : An Overview of the Current Situation.
- Product details!
- Apache Moon (The Pecos Kid Book 3).
- Double or single? Manual or electric pump?.
Until you find what works for you, it might help to:. Learn enough about your breast cancer to make decisions about your care. If you'd like to know more about your breast cancer, ask your doctor for the details of your cancer — the type, stage and hormone receptor status. Ask for good sources of up-to-date information on your treatment options.
- Gioia di mamma (Italian Edition).
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- Defying the Gatekeeper.
Knowing more about your cancer and your options may help you feel more confident when making treatment decisions. Still, some women may not want to know the details of their cancer. If this is how you feel, let your doctor know that, too. Keep your friends and family close.
Your friends and family can provide a crucial support network for you during your cancer treatment. Once you and your baby have overcome your breastfeeding and lactation challenges, go back to scenarios 1 and 2 to determine whether it makes sense for you to switch to another pump. You cannot breastfeed or you are separated from your baby, maybe because your baby was born too early or is ill. You are both still in the hospital and you need help to establish your milk supply.
This is a critical time and your breast milk could make all the difference to your baby's well-being.
Breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery
Once you and your baby have both been discharged from the hospital and neither of you is experiencing any breastfeeding challenges, go back to scenarios 1 and 2 to determine whether it makes sense for you to switch to another breast pump. Symphony breast pump with initiation software and sterile single-use pumping kits — a hospital grade breast pump. The sterile single-use pumping kits protect the valuable expressed breast milk by minimising the risk of contamination.
Breastfeeding for moms Breastfeeding for professionals Healthcare Company Lang. Products Breast pumps Feeding Collecting Accessories Breast care Maternity and nursing wear Breast pumps Freestyle double electric pump Sonata Smart breast pump Pump In Style double electric pump Swing single electric pump Harmony single manual pump Symphony electric pump Freestyle exclusive bundle Find a store Breastfeeding for professionals. Find out about the other Medela business units: Breastfeeding for moms Breastfeeding for professionals Healthcare Company.
Every breastfeeding mom has a unique lifestyle and attitude towards breastfeeding. This is exactly why Medela makes a wide range of breast pumps, each one designed to suit a certain lifestyle or situation. Manual or electric pump?