Lymph nodes

Lynette

I have finished all of my treatments but am now anxious about recurence. I had one positive sentinal node and all of the others were clear. Does this mean in theory that the node could have caught all of the stray cells from the tumor? I know than cells can leak via the blood stream etc but if only one node was positive (the sentinal one) then surely it has done its job? Thank in advance.

lexislove

The job of the lymph nodes is to "catch" and hold on to anything. Is it possible that some cells may have leaked? Yes...but that is why you have done chemo,rads? and your anti hormone medication.

It is very good that you only had 1 node involved, the more nodes involved, the higher chance that some cells have escaped and may cause a metastasis later on down the road.

You have done all necessary treatment to beat this thing and I think your prognosis is good! Congrats on finishing...go celebrate!

Lynette

Thank you so much for your reply. Words of comfort work wonders. Thank you and all the best to you.

nelia48

Lynette, I know how hard it is NOT to worry!  I think at some level, we all do.  But as lexilove has said, we've done all that chemo and radiation, etc., and we just have to trust that it did it's job.  I'm sticking with the Arimidex, because I know it will continue to work for me.  I had 5 out of 15 nodes positive.  But that was the whole purpose of all that chemo -- to get anything anywhere in our bodies that had cancer cells!

It's so hard to "go on with your life" isn't it?????  Somehow, I just want a "booster chemo" or something that will make me feel like I'm still fighting!

Seabee

Just looking at your deta--a large tumor, but Grade 1 (and therefore slow-growing), with only one sentinel node involved--it seems unlikely to spread. But ruminating on this may not be the best way to spend your time.

 Cancer seems to do this to us. A person who survives an automobile accident rarely spends time trying to calculate how likely it is to happen to him again, even though there is a statistical chance that it will. A cancer survivor, on the other hand, finds it difficult not to obsess on the possibility of recurrence.

reen

Obsesser here.  I know it's not healthy, but how do you stop thinking about it?  As much as I love reading on this site, sometimes I think it makes me worry more.

Gitane

I'm with nella and the rest of you.  I, too, wanted a "booster" or something.  I am doing something by taking my meds and taking care of myself (diet, rest). There are no guarantees and that's what we all want!

kim40

I think everyone feels the same way.  Say what you want, you go on the best way we know how but the thought is always lurking around in our head.  I just started radiation yesterday and on Herceptin for a year.  Once the Herceptin is over, I know  I will have a sigh of relief knowing that going back and forth to the hospital is over, but I know myself well enough to know that it will take a long time to be able to trust my body again - if ever.  I don't want to lose out on life, and I feel that cancer has already taken over my life and it will forever.  The days will get easier, but the worry will still be there in the long run.  I am doing what I can to prevent it with chemo, rads, tamoxifin, herceptin, but l also would love to have a "chemo booster" even though, for me, was the toughest part of this journey.

Seabee

Reen asks a good question. I'm not sure how one stops thinking about it, I do know that it's counterproductive to think too much about it. If we spent  time worrying about all the possible disasters that might happen, we'd get very little accomplished. That's why we don't spend much time worrying about when we'll be in the next traffic accident, or when the next earthquake or tornado will strike. But BC is different, perhaps becuase we're constantly reminded of it by those daily pills, frequent mammos and follow-ups, etc.

Still, looking back over the past eleven months, I can recall a number of times when  I haven't thought about it at all, usually when I was concentrating totally on something else, particularly something that I enjoyed doing.

BC may change our priorities, but we don't have to let it monopolize our lives.

reen

Or how about every ache and pain you get.  I know that's part of getting older, but how do you not think, "could this be more cancer?"  My poor husband.  He's my sounding board. 

Cathy123

Reen,

I know what you mean, every time something doesn't feel "normal" I ask myself, "is it cancer?".  My surgery is scheduled for Friday, bi-lateral with immediate DIEP reconstruction and ooph.  Hopefully, when its all over, I can say, "the cancer is gone".

Seabee

In my case I've had arthrhitis long enough that I credit it for most of my aches and pains, but husbands can be helpful in sorting these things out. 

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to be sure the cancer is gone. Instead, we're told that the best we can hope for is to stay in remission until we die of something else. I'm afraid oncology is a rather gloomy, anxiety-inducing science.