I understand fear: the anxiety surrounding mammograms, the “waiting for the other shoe to drop” as the months and years after your diagnosis pass. And it’s certainly any woman’s choice to have her breasts removed. But I hope the increasing number of women choosing double mastectomies understand just how much “safer” it’s making them. And I hope, going in, that they’ve fully considered the long-term consequences of mastectomy: the loss of a breast, or the replacement of a natural breast with one that has little feeling. The possibility of shoulder issues. The tingling, numbness, and tightness that never goes away, for so many of us. Mastectomy, even with reconstruction, changes your body permanently.

The consequences of removing both your breasts should be weighed against your fear. And that fear, uncomfortable though it is… is it based on real evidence, or is it an emotional over-reaction? You know the woodworker’s mantra: “Measure twice, cut once.” Replace “measure” with “think,” and that’s my advice for those of you considering cutting off a healthy breast.

Feb. 26, 2010: Extra Mastectomies Don't Benefit Majority, Study Says