Has anyone had all pos lymph nodes AFTER chemo & mastectomy?

ChristineR66

I just had double mastectomy last week..cancer in the right breast only.  For some reason there were only 6 lymph nodes in my auxiallary disection and all 6 had remaining cancer cells in them.  The onc is going to retest to see if I might have been Her2 positive but otherwise they are telling me radiation is next.  I'm freaking out!  What about the other lymph nodes? Is radiation enough to treat the remaining cancer??  I just feel really alone right now ladies.   Super sad and scared right now.

Christine

fredntan

I had my chemotherapy after Sx.

But just wanted to tell you to breath. You are not alone.

dltnhm

I had my umx first, followed by chemo and then radiation. So I can't speak to having chemo first.



Makes sense they are looking at your Her2 again.



As for lymph nodes remaining ... A total lymph node removal is rarely done these days due to increased risk of lymphedema. So having remaining lymph nodes is not unusual. I would think radiation therapy would be a given considering your lymph nodes showing positive after neoadjuvant chemo. You might even have a different chemo but that is speculation on my part. I know of wen on BCO who had chemo, then mastectomy, then chemo followed by rads. So it does happen.



Hang in there.

Diana

TectonicShift

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Ihopeg

It's my understanding that Radiation zaps whatever is left in the nodes remaining. With me they removed so many, all but one cancer. They will do the targeted radiation and get those suckers!!!

ChristineR66

Thanks ladies...all of your posts have made me feel better already! 

Techtonic...they are telling me that the are cancer cells, not tumors.

TectonicShift

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mgdsmc

Christine

I understand the stress you are feeling. I had lumpectomy with node resection 6/10 were positive but my margins were clear. Had MRI prior to clearing margins found another tumor. I decided to do chemo first than double mx on 10/26/12. Having another MRI to see if any cancer is still there, mine were small but aggressive.

I know women who had chemo MRI than another round of chemo. Maybe you can ask for a MRI just to put your mind at ease.

sherry67

ChristineR66

I had 11/23 positive with chemo effect after neoadjuvant chemo than BMX with negative margins then more chemo and radiation plus the herceptin..I know it's tough I still have my days when I get an overwhelming feeling of fear..good luck there are many women here that will give much support

mary625

I had chemo before BMX and I still had positive nodes--10 out of 16. My onc said without chemo, there might have been 25. They were macromets with extracapsular extension. Then I had radiation. I have had a CT scan with contrast since then, and where on the first CT scan prior to chemo, I had lymph nodes lit up like a Christmas tree, they found nothing on the latest CT scan. I feel that they got them all between surgery and radiation. I don't know which one it was though. I understand what you're going through. I was in a complete state of shock after going through chemo and surgery when I got the news about the 10/16 nodes. I would be happy to talk to you about my experience with radiation, if you'd like.

ChristineR66

It seems like the majority of you have had at least one or so neg lymph nodes where all of mine were positive...the dye injection the doctors used for me did not really show the sentinel node (this is what the doc is saying) so she took up all the way to as far as she could go and sent that tissue to the lab. normally she said that the aux lymph nodes for women have approx 15-30 nodes...I had 6 all positive. I really wish I could turn my head off. If anyone wants to sent me a private note or write back in this thread I would really appreciate it....breathe, breathe...my new favorite word..lol.
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mary625

Christine--we are all with you and understand the fear of your situation. Would it help you to clear or turn off your head if you went for a second opinion and discussed the situation with another doctor? Maybe there is additional surgery as an option--I don't know, but I have seen that some women here go back for axillary lymph node dissection as a separate procedure after mastectomy or lumpectomy. Have you been to a major cancer center? Maybe you'd feel better to know what options are out there for you, even if it's a scan.

NancyD

If six nodes were all your BS could find, then you are among the women who have a small number of nodes. Everyone is different, and I don't think there's any correlation between number of nodes in a person and the incidence of metastesis. And since BC can spread through the vascular system as well as the lymphatic system, no cancer in the nodes isn't necessarily a clean bill of health, either.

If you haven't had a PET/CT scan, I would request one now as a baseline for future readings. I had one even before my chemo, another one before surgery, and then another before I went for reconstruction. I don't advocate frequent scans, but there are certain times in our treatment and post-treatment lives that it makes sense to check for a clean bill of health even if we are not having overt symptoms of mets.

ChristineR66

Hey sweet ladies...tomorrow is my visit with my oncologist to go over my new pathology report of the positive nodes as a result of the recent double mastectomy, as well as my first appointment with the head radiologist.  If you can think of any questions you feel I should ask them, please let me know.

Say a little prayer for me...feeling anxious...but nothing a little Xanax can't help..lol 

Hugs, Christine

ChristineR66

Hello my sweet friends...okay...so here is the latest. I saw my oncologist today and have discovered that although the chemo I was taking DID help, unfortunately, it did not get rid of all the cancer PLUS there still is a possibility that I am HER2+. The HER2 test results take longer to come back and we are still waiting on the results. Irregardless, because my cancer is still not illiminated and now it turns out it was actually in 8 out of 9 lymph nodes (remember, this is AFTER already doing chemo the first time AND having the mastectomy) I am going to be starting another 6-12 mos of a NEW chemo drug(s). I'm still healing from my mastectomy but will start chemo end of next week. The doctors and I are equally pissed off at my cancer and it's ability to hide out and be sneaky. But our main goal is to get it all GONE so that I will NEVER have to go thru this again.

Anonymous

Christine:  We're all pulling for you to kick this cancer's you-know-what !!  Let us know where this goes.  ((((Hugs))))

Shelly

Mayeve

Hi cristine

I hope you are fine and having a more positive outcome with your chemo.

I have just had double mastectomy and am brca2+. Just got lab results and have 8/21 nodes involved and ki-67 at 70%, I am also her2+. When I thought things couldn't get any worse they did and I am completely demotivated!

Just thought I'd share that with you guys!



Thanks

Tonia 41

Momine

Tonia, sorry about your results. My post-op path report was pretty depressing too. It took me a couple of days to regroup. Her2+ is both good and bad, the good being that you can access another targeted drug to deal with it.

lika

It is all pretty scary some days, isn't it.  I had 2 protocols of chemo, followed by surgery and now undergoing radiation.  My drs found 1 + lymph node during Dx process.  Surgery showed 1 + sentinel node (assumed to be the one found in Dx) our of the 4 removed.  Rather than doing an axillary dissection, I'm doing radiation.  I guess the decision has good evidence behind it and 2 radiation oncologists have agreed it's better than the risks associated with an axillary dissection   My concern though is I've only had 4 rad Rxs and I'm already a little pink and swollen :-\  Hang in there Christine!

Kay_G

I had AC chemo followed by taxotere and herceptin then surgery. I was stage 2a after the neoadjuvant chemo, still had two tumors, larger one was still over 1 cm and two positive lymph nodes. Surgery was August 2011, and I am doing well. I take tamoxifen, eat healthy, exercise and try not to stress over things. I even took a course on reducing stress through mindfulness. I've done as much as I can and honestly don't worry about recurrence. It took a while to get to this point, but I actually think I am not the same person I was before BC, I'm a better person health wise and emotionally. I think with time it gets easier for all of us.

Shari0707

Kay g that sounds great.. What kind of surgery did u have? Did u have mastectomy or lumpectomy? Did u have radiation? I am doing neoadjuvant chemo too... And just a little stressed about surgery and radiation decisions...... I am so worried about recurrence but I am also in the thick of treatment as well.

Good news to hear...

Do you know how many lymph nodes u had positive before?