Post surgery pathology questions/lymph nodes/onco testing

Tamaraf799

Hi there,

I just got my post surgery pathology reports and am a struggling to deal with results.

Background: E/P+ Her2- Stage 1. Surgery was BMX on June 5. Sentinal node biopsy took 8 nodes. Results today showed tumors in two nodes. I really didn't expect that. MRI and Ultrasound this month had shown clear nodes. I really thought I was going to be able to avoid chemo, but my surgeon said that with two nodes I have to do chemo. However, I heard from a few other women that Onco type testing in a situation like this wound up with them not needing chemo because of low scores on that. My surgeon said that since there was a presence in two nodes that they don't do the onco type testing. Anyone here with experience in this? I plan to insist on onco testing and hope they put it through in case that is a game changer. Would love to hear if any of you have had similar experience no matter the outcome for you. Just not sure how to navigate this.

As a single self employed mother of one homeschooling child the concept of going through chemo is really terrifying.

ElaineTherese

Tamaraf,

BC patients get chemo for a variety of reasons. For me, getting chemo was a no-brainer -- big tumor (5 cm), one node compromised, HER2+, and Grade 3 (reproducing rapidly). Also, I'm relatively young (46 at diagnosis), which isn't necessarily a good thing for cancer. I did not get the oncotype test because I am HER2+. Likewise, as Breastcancer.org's post on the oncotype test notes, women who have lymph node positive cancer are typically not eligible for the oncotype test, either.

As a veteran of five months of chemo, I will say that it is doable. It helps, though if you can draw on a support network to help out with childcare and the like. Best wishes to you!