Is there hope for Lymph Node involvment?

barb39

HI;

 i had a .5 tumor in 2000 .I then had a steriotacic lymph node surgery that came back with 10 of 13 lymph nodes positive. I was totally blown away and lost. I went thru chemo, radiaiation and hercepton therapy,  i HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS SINCE. i'M AMAZED!  I keep celebrating at every chsnce I get. I have five kids and I feel great  all the time.I don;t like whan I have to go to my oncologistt each year but I get thru it with a few tranquilisors. what bothered me in the beginning was that I had a very small tumor that had already produced 10 lymph nodes. but, it didn't go any farther after 9years. so go figure!  give me a comment!!

MED

Hello,

I have posted my question on 2 other forums before I read this one. This is so new to me and even going on this site to talk with others sends my anxiety thru the roof. I was diagnsoed with invasive ductal carcinoma stage 1 in January 09. Had an extensive lumpectomy with clear margins in March. Had 1 positive node out of 17. I had the oncoDx Test done with a result of 18. Based on this test my onc said chemo would be of no benefit to me. I just started radiation yesterday and started Tamoxifen about a week ago. Is there anyone else who had 1 positive node but did not do chemo??

Thanks

MED

lexislove

barb39....

Congrats on 9 years cancer free!!!  Another Herceptin miracle story!

reen

MED, I had 2 positive nodes and did get chemo and radiation.  I thought it was standard to get chemo if nodes were involved.

LeggyJ

One positive node, chemo. and radiation.  My first 6mo. mammo. is on the 26th. 

Marple

One pos node?  Holy cow...........I'm thinking lots of us are hoping.............it's ok.

Deb-from-Ohio

I  started out with DCIS and IDC, 3cm tumor in breast and lymp node involvement, went through 4 every other week A/C's, 12 weekly taxol and by the time surgery came around I had a miniscule amount in one node. Had a lumpectomy, moving onto radiation the 26th. OOPS forgot I am now cancer free!

Gitane

MED, I'm thinking your doctor chose no chemo because your tumor was small, grade 1, and the OncotypeDX score was in the low range.  Is that correct? Did you get a second opinion?

LeggyJ

My onc. is young, very smart, cute, and highly thought of at my hospital, and I have a lot of faith in him. When anyone, at hospital asked who my doctor was, they all said I was lucky to have him.

MED

Hi Gitane,

Yes that was his thinking exactly. I did not get a second opinion but now I hope I made the correct decision. I have already started radiation.

MED

MED

Hi LeggyJ

Just wondering if you had the OncoDx Test done prior to chemo??

Best Wishes

MED

cp418

I had one out of 18 positive April 2006. Lumpectomy, chemo rads, Tamox, ooph, Femara and now Zometa. 

LeggyJ

Hi MED,

No, I didn't have the OncoDXtest.  The lymph node involvement was so small,(1mm) that my surgeon and onc. thought the cancer may have been knocked loose, when I had a core tissue biopsy.  My onc. said taking out more nodes, when they had to go back in for clearer margins, wasn't necessary, since he already decided to do chemo. (8TAC) and rads5wks(breast/nodes).

Oh, and 5 years of tamoxofene...

jdash

well do not worry OF COURSE you have a great chance at being a long term survivor and you will!   i had so many posititve nodes that I will not know how many because I had my chemo before my surgery -  when surgery was done I had a pathologic complete response to my neoadjunct chemotherapy-  no cancer found in any tissue removed in my breast or in the lymph nodes removed-  shows that the chemo as much as we hate it works!   keep the faith and you will be fine!  i hope i have given you alot of hope with my story   its been 3 years NED for me

reen

jdash, Thanks for you input.  Is that you in your profile picture?  You sure look great!

faithandprayers

I was Dx on 3/6/09 and had surgery on 4/17/09  I have 2/16 nodes--Stage IIB and YES it's scary till you read how so many women survive and it gives you hope.  I start chemo. on the 28th and I'm also nervous about that, I'm so ready to get it all over with!!  I'm still having swelling after surgery and I found 2 lumps like a marble under my scar, very sore. Has anyone had anything like this?  They are sending me for a PET scan before I start chemo.

pepesmom

I had 6 positive nodes, even after the surgeon told me post -op that the SDN was all clear. What a surprise that was when I got my final pathology. Scared me to death. At first I had a hard time coming to terms with it; however after almost four years and all clear scans I'm learning acceptance and strong faith.  There are many, many women with positive nodes who were diagnosed years ago and going strong, we don't hear about them. 

Time is a great healer - it will get better.

 Take care.

CB

DX 9/23/05, IDC/ILC, 1.2cm, Stage IIIa, 6/14, ER/PR+,HER2-

reen

Keep these posts coming.  It's so encouraging to read them.

dyaneb123

Hey there. I'm new to this site. Great info.And all the success stories are very comforting.I only had cancer in the sentinel node but the waiting to find out was the worst. Good luck Tabb.

diana50

i believe there is tons of hope for node positive.  i am 10 (fully encased..full of cancer)/12 and 7 years out. my friend is 10 years out.  my surgeon told me that he was pretty sure there were more then 10.....

treatments really are good now; there is hope for all of us.

 diana50

jacee

i'm hating this disease more with each hour!! Just had lump w/snb on May 28. Two nodes removed. One from axillary, one from internal mammary nodes. Just got call from BS that were both were positive and she didn't get clear margins. I have so many questions. I felt my diagnosis was so good, (<1cm, grade 1, ) Now it's in the nodes. Having the internal mammary nodes involved is a little more complicated as they are so hard to get to. How do you know whether to go in for reexcision, or now that there's node involvement do a mx? Do they automatically remove more nodes now that the 2 they took out are pos? How many?

I meet with BS tomorrow and of course will ask all these questions, but thought you all could help in the meantime.  I wasn't prepared for the news today.

Thanks to you all in advance..you've already lifted me out of the pit so many times already and I know you understand the value in knowing you're not walking alone.

Joni 

cyalata

Reen, I also asked my radiologist about treating the node area; they told me that they treat the breast all the way up around the collar bone because those are the secondary lymph nodes it would go to.  I had 4/12 positive nodes & most likely it stopped there but if it went anywhere else the collar bone area would be the next area it would go to.  Ask your radiologist about it.  Gail 

nelia48

Hi, Joni!

I know how hard this must be for you, but you are not alone, believe me. My tumor was about 10 cm after waiting 7 yearrs before going for treatment.  I had chemo first, which shrunk the tumor down to 1 cm.  I had 5 out of 15 positive nodes when they did the mastectomy.  Finished radiation on April 15, and my PET scan recently showed no spread.  I can't call myself a success story yet, as not too much time has passed, but I do believe that the chemo did it's job like it was supposed to.  My oncologist was just amazed at how much it shrunk the tumor.  So I'm hoping to be around for a very long time!!!!!

reen

Thanks Gail.  I'll do that.

 Joni, sorry this is happening to you.  I had 44 lymph nodes removed, but mine was all done at the initial surgery.  My nodes were check and showed up positive at the time of surgery.  I'm not sure why they didn't do that with you. 

Can someone explain what internal mammary nodes are?

jacee

reen, 

 The internal mammary nodes are a strand of nodes that run along the breastbone and ribs I believe. Right down the center of the chest.Actually below the breastbone . They aren't very easy to access. I'm wondering if they would even be removed with a mx.  I think there is only a small percentage of sentinel nodes that are IMN's. This is getting kinda frightening as I think of all the possibilities. 

nelia48

Jacee, I had a mastectomy in January, and the Dr. refers to it as a "toilet mastectomy".  I did a google search on that, and I really can't seem to find a definition that I understand completely.  I asked the guy what he meant by that, and he said that I was "scraped clean."  And from the horrible, deformed looking indent on my chest, I would have to say all he left was my ribs.   So maybe he got those internal mammery glands with that?  I hope so.  Since my tumor was to the chest wall, I hope everything that could have ever caused a problem is now gone!

samedaynurseJan

My cousin is leaving for Hawaii on Friday to celebrate 15 years of NED......she had her first surgery 15 years ago with 9 positive nodes (and all the appropriate treatment) then 6 years ago she had a second primary in the other breast with no nodes.....she just had her 15 year bone scan, MRI , blood tests EVERYTHING TEST and she is negative negative negative and enjoying life.....she is my role model and my inspiration since Im still new on this road

jan

Caya

I have two friends who are both 13 years out - one had 12 positive nodes, the other had 20.  Both doing fine.

hlya

Yeah, Tami is right, lots of long term survivors don't access internet as they are already 60's 70's or even 80's.



My mum has 2 x co-workers who got BC more than 10 years ago but they are already at 70's and never access internet! One of the lady was dx NOT at early stage (my mum said she was not at early stage) but the outcome is the same as another lady who caught bc at early stage. both of them are doing well.

LizM

Diagnosed in 2005 (will be 4 years in October).  2.1 cm tumor and 1 positive node, grade 1.  Had surgery, chemo and opted for radiation to the chest wall, supraclavical and yes to the auxilla.  Was treated at Johns Hopkins and they agreed to radiate the auxilla due to one positive node.  Had an oophorectomy after rads and have been on Femara.  So far so good.