Three years ago, gynecologist Kate Killoran, MD, of Camden, Maine, was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her tumor size warranted a mastectomy. Because she tested negative for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations that greatly increase a women’s risk of developing breast cancer, she was surprised when her surgical oncologist and plastic surgeon suggested that she have a bilateral mastectomy. They presented it as a practical option rather than a therapeutic one.
“The reconstructed side stays up forever and the natural side sags over time… they suggested that was the reason I do it,” said Killoran, who blogs about her cancer and women’s health issues. “I thought about it, and I [decided], ‘I can’t cut off a normal breast.’”