Since you have gotten two different opinions, check with your insurance- often when this is the case, they will cover a third opinion. Piece of mind is priceless! Keeping you in prayers!

I’m sorry you’ve had such a nightmare of a time. I would give your body a break in 2026, too. You deserve it.

Hi Beth....HER2 positive cancer is more aggressive. My mom was triple positive. I was fortunate to be hormone positive and HER2 negative. Since my mom and great grandmother both had breast cancer I decided to go aggressive and have a double mastectomy since I didn't want to risk it showing up in my other breast. A lumpectomy was not an option for me because there were tumors in 3 out of 4 quadrants on the breast with cancer. Since you didn't have clear margins, you are HER2 positive and they found more cancer that chemo didn't kill for peace of mind you may want to opt for the double mastectomy. If it will ease your mind you should seek out a 3rd opinion as well.

Regarding reconstruction, I have had 12 reconstruction surgeries. I had expander implants installed with the double mastectomy. My doctor was an idiot and butchered me. After 4 surgeries I ended up with an expander implant on the left side and a mangled looking pit on the right side, which was the one with cancer, that also included some detached muscles so I was unable to make certain movements with my right arm. After much research I opted to go with DIEP surgery. Only one side took and I had to get an expander implant which was eventually switched out to a gel implant and the muscles that were left detached were reattached, although there was quite a bit of atrophy and I lost a lot of range of motion.

Then my cancer came back after 7.5 years on the right side. They scraped out what remained of breast tissue, removed some muscle that the cancer was growing in, and removed 2 lymph nodes from the breast and 16 from my right armpit. Once again I am left with a reconstructed breast on the left side and a pit on the right side. My reconstruction options are slim now and would most likely involve a latimus dorsi flap surgery, but that takes a muscle from your back which is brought around to your front and used in the reconstruction. I don't really want to lose any more mobility as I've already lost well over 50% of my range of motion on both sides. I also worry that if the cancer comes back, which my oncologist says is a 30% risk if I take AIs for the rest of my life and CDK inhibitor for 3 years or 50% risk if I don't take the drugs, any reconstruction I would have done would be destroyed again.

If I could go back in time and do it all over again I would opt to go flat. I'm still healing now after spending the last year having 3 surgeries, chemo, and radiation. I'm giving my body a break in 2026 since I am wiped out, but I will assess things over the next year or two and will most likely opt to go flat in the long run. Good luck to you with whatever decision you make ❤️