Since you have two breasts, you want to make sure that the correct breast is being operated on. This may sound silly, but any time there's two of something (two legs, two arms, two breasts, etc.), it's a very real concern, and the hospital where you are having your surgery must have in place a system of checking and double-checking that will ensure that the correct body part gets operated on.

This is why you should anticipate being asked multiple times which breast is the breast being operated on. Also inquire before your surgery date whether your surgeon has a policy of marking with an ink pen which breast he will be operating on. (The surgeon will write his initials on your breast with a special marker used for this purpose.)

In some hospitals, including here at Johns Hopkins, the operating room staff takes a short time-out before beginning the operation, during which they compare one last time the initialed breast with the operative report, the clinic notes, and what the surgeon verbally says. You want to be assured going into surgery that the correct operation is being done on the correct breast.

So don't be annoyed when all those doctors, nurses and technicians ask you the same question over and over again. It's for your own protection.