Women’s health centre

Before having your mastectomy, you will be able to talk to a nurse about how the mastectomy may affect you physically and emotionally. They can give you practical advice on the bras and prostheses (bra inserts) that are available.

Chemotherapy and hormone therapy

Before your operation, you may be advised to have chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs) or hormone therapy (drugs to stop the hormones in your body that encourage breast cancer). For some women, these treatments can be used to reduce the size of the tumour and, therefore, the amount of breast tissue that needs to be removed. This means the appearance of the breast will be better after surgery, and may mean a mastectomy can be avoided.

Preparing for surgery

You may have some tests to check that the cancer hasn't spread and will have a general check-up to make sure you're fit for the operation.

Usually, you will go into hospital the day before surgery and will be asked not to eat or drink for a few hours before the operation.

A nurse will check your temperature, blood pressure and heartbeat.