Going private for preventative mastectomy

[MistyMalone]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with the BRCA2 gene several years ago and have always known I wanted a preventative mastectomy; women in my family tend to get breast cancer in their early 30s and I am now approaching my late twenties. I've been through the process of genetic counselling and breast clinic referrals on the NHS, but had quite a poor experience with the consultant I was given, and the waiting lists are 2+ years. I'm quite concerned given my age, and have had multiple scares in the past few months which have turned out to be benign. and so my partner and I are now investigating private options - we've found it very difficult to get any estimates of prices without going for an initial consultation, which is already over £200 often, so we're a bit overwhelmed with which hospital to choose. I've decided I'm not interested in a reconstruction at this time as well, so that might also impact things.

Does anyone have a guess at how much something like this might cost?
Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask this - it's my first time posting on here!!

Had you a guesstimate in mind?

Given how much things my DM and DH have cost on self pay I would guess £15-20k.

Bearing in mind that if there are any complications it may end up being more than the initial quote.

I was quoted around £20,000 from the same surgeon that ended up doing my op on the NHS for free- many of them work in both the nhs and private practice. That was with reconstruction though, without would likely be a fair bit cheaper as it's a much simpler operation.

I was on the waiting list for a long time but all turned out fine in the end. It might be cheaper to pay for private MRIs to give you peace of mind until you're entitled to them yearly at age 30 on the NHS.

Most consultants and surgeons work for the NHS and in the private sector

The only difference is the waiting time and cost

Of course it's far nicer as well in private surroundings but if you're lucky you can have NHS surgery in a private hospital at times

OP also look at the bios of all the consultants online before you choose one. I had an unpleasant gynae experience last year with a private consultant.

I went away for a while and looked at other gynae online and found one whose face looked friendly! It was a good call and I am now having surgery with someone I trust and who I feel does care for the outcome as much as me.