I am sorry you find yourself here! Especially so young!
This is such a personal decision. We can share our experiences, but we are all different.
I was diagnosed with TNBC in 2018, stage 1, grade 3, ki-67 85%, at the age of 54. Had chemo, surgery and radiation. Fortunately , I had pathological complete response to chemo. The chemo killed my cancer!
Deciding on what surgery was agonizing! I wanted bilateral mastectomies and reconstruction. My surgeon said that I did not need that, told me to do some research, get a second opinion, and I still wanted that she would do it. My second opinion said the same thing. I always had larger breasts and had always wanted a reduction. So that is what I did. Once I made the decision, I had to let it go. Did I make the right choice, I hope so. I am happy with the outcome, and have no evidence of cancer almost 7 years out of treatment.

This is such a personal decision, only you know what is best for you. Something I learned years after my surgery, surveillance imaging is harder with implants and a DIEP. Screening mammograms are not done with DIEP because it is abdominal tissue not breast tissue. Imaging would be done if a lump is felt or there are breast concerns.

Wishing you well!

@A MyBCTeam Member I really appreciate your reply on this subject. I noticed you mentioned your service dog 🐕‍🦺.
In August of 2025 my house burned and everything was lost. I have a lot of other trauma issues so I had a service dog myself who was certified.
I am new here and to all of this and if I may ask, since getting a dog and having it properly trained has had many changes in the laws governing such, how and where did you get your service dog and what are the current. Requirements of obtaining one? Was it a lengthy and expensive process? I have letters stating i need one but am clueless as to how and where to go about finding one for myself now? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Have a blessed day. 🎀🌷💛🎀

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A MyBCTea...

A little bit about my background.....I've had breast cancer twice and I've had endometrial cancer 4 times. I've had chemo twice and have had radiation 5 times. I've had surgery 15 times, consisting of 22 procedures, since my initial diagnosis with breast cancer in 2017. I've had a double mastectomy with implant reconstruction which was totally botched by the reconstructive surgeon. I then had DIEP surgery later on to repair the damage done by the original reconstructive surgeon.

With the double mastectomy/DIEP option you are going to have a recovery period of a few months until you are feeling fairly functional physically, but you should be through the worst of it within 6-8 weeks if you don't have any complications. There's a really good chance you won't require radiation with the double mastectomy. With the lumpectomy and reduction you will need to recover from the surgery for at least 6 weeks, providing there are no recovery complications, until your body will be healed enough to start radiation. Odds are good you would require at least 4 weeks/20 sessions of radiation. I've found at about week 3 of radiation I start to get really tired and don't have much energy to do anything. After radiation I've been exhausted and wiped out for 2-3 months after radiation has been completed. I just have myself and my service dog to take care of. I can't imagine having 3 young children to care for while recovering from cancer treatment. Hopefully you have a good support network in place to help out with the kids, housework, meal prep, etc. so you will be able to have the down time and rest needed to recover from your various procedures/treatments.

You are young, you have 3 small children, and you have an aggressive form of cancer. Rather than asking what is your best option from a recovery standpoint you may want to consider asking your oncologist what is your best option from a cancer recurrence and long term survival standpoint. Ask your oncolgist what your 5 year recurrence and your 5 year survival odds would be with lumpectomy and radiation versus the double mastectomy and factor those odds into your decision making process. Good luck with whichever option you choose. I wish you all the best for a quick, complete, and permanent recovery ❤️

@A MyBCTeam Member...........Hi Rose. That's really terrible news that you lost your home, I'm so sorry to hear that and can't even imagine how hard that must be. Please check on your profile for a detailed response about service dogs along with some helpful links.

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A MyBCTea...

I only had one problem with one of my implants and had a surgery to replace it which was super simple. One implant was defective so needed replaced other than that I am very happy with a small C cup as I was a DD. My shoulder's and back feel so much better. I'm not sure how much fat you have on your stomach but I had only enough for a A cup or small B. I wanted at least a small C and couldn't get this with Diep. You are so young and to be honest if you have enough stomach tissue and the down time I personally would have done Diep. Recover is very long and much more complicated than implants. Good luck and God Bless in whatever decision you make.