@A MyBCTeam Member - I've noticed from your posts that you seem to really advocate not having mastectomies and encourage women to go for breast conserving options. My take from that is that you are struggling with the loss of your breasts. Not all of us struggle after losing breasts and many welcome the freedom being breast-less offers us. We are the majority but under-represented in this forum because most of us don't have the issues faced by multiple reconstruction surgeries.
I had IDC x2 and DCIS and would never have chosen only a lumpectomy and radiation, though it was suggested when the initial diagnosis was just a small IDC tumor. Radiation is time consuming and debilitating - it is radiation after all and can damage healthy tissue as well as lungs and heart.
I think articles like the one you mentioned do women a disservice because it does not go into the risks associated with radiation or the stress of constant surveillance.

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A MyBCTea...

@A MyBCTeam Member, yes, my mom died of breast cancer wwhen she was 45 years old. She had a 95% survival chance with a small tumor of IDC and choose lumpectomy and radiation. However it never felt right and she had pain. When she had a mastectomy 10 months later another tumor was bigger, chemo didn't work and she died 7 months later. No way I was going for lumpectomy and my doctor fully agreed. I had abnormalities in 5 areas of my right breast that all would have to be biopsied and before surgery had a 30% chance that there was IDC in the breast. You're not correct that lumpectomy plus radiation is not recommended for DCIS.
Just reading the stories here from women on tamoxifen and hearing from a fiend who can't even open a bottle of wine herself (she has DSIC and choose lumpectomy plus radiation) is clear to me that 5 years of tamoxifen is not such a walk in the park as a radiologist wanted me to believe.

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A MyBCTea...

As a breast cancer survivor whose cancer was caught early initially had lumpectomy without clear margins. I elected for prophylactic bilateral mastectomy and immediate reconstruction. I do not regret my decision. Pre-cancerous tissue can not be detected on mammography only MRI. My mission was to reduce my chances as much as possible. I know several women who had lumpectomy and had recurrence of breast cancer approximately four years later. I recommend having the Oncotype DX Assay test done and having a MRI of both breast. If there are any abnormalities on the MRI its most likely pre-cancerous tissue. This is a personal decision, trust your gut feeling; trust your female intuition!

I remember a time not that so long ago that the only treatment for BC was a radical DBMX. Women went in for a biopsy and woke up with DBMX. There was not choices. Now look at all the information that is out there. Isn't is great that each one of us has options, that we can choose the best course of treatment for us.Yes, do your research know the short term and long term risks for each type of treatment. Scientific data gives a general view of the population of best treatments and out comes; however, each of us have unique variable that make us one of a kind. Yes, ask questions and research, but in the end you have to decide what course of treatment is best for you, what can you live with, what is your fears and is the choice of treatment going to help minimize those fears. That is important. I am grateful I chose the course of treatment for me. I went against best treatment practice and am glad that I did. I saved my life. The doctors did what I wanted and what I felt was best for me! I know me better then any doctor or data!

I had stage 1 DCIS. I also had lumpy, cystic, dense breast tissue. I had a double because I didn't want to panic with every bump or cyst. It was more for my peace of mind than anything.