Surprise! Positive Lymph Nodes

Eliz1973

Well, my lymph node from my mx was positive. This was a blow... A huge surprise for the surgeon and the family. Tuesday I will have an auxiliary node surgery. This is supposed to be the last surgery before I see my oncologist....

Any suggestions what to expect at this point?

Thanks,

Elizabeth

Nancy2581

Hi Elizabeth - my diagnosis was similar to your's, but I didn't have to do an auxiliary node dissection. I did ask about it and they said if the cancer in my node was 5 mm or bigger they would have done it (it was 2.8mm). They told me they would radiate the area which they did . I've seen other ladies here with similar diagnosis (Poppy comes to mind) who also didn't have an auxiliary node dissection. Do you know how many lymph nodes they will remove?

Nancy

ElaineTherese

I had all my Levels 1 and 2 lymph nodes removed (20 total!). I'm not really sure how that differs from just having a sentinel node removed. I do know that the surgeon had to cut across some nerves to remove all of them, and that my armpit still feels sort-of numb nearly a year after my surgery. Because the removal of multiple lymph nodes increases your chance of developing lymphedema, my surgeon, radiation oncologist, and medical oncologist have kept a close eye on my right arm. I did end up getting the area radiated as well. Best wishes!

coraleliz

If you had a lumpectomy, you would most likely go to RADs without further lymph nodes being removed.

But since you had a MX, some doctors will proceed & take the additional nodes.

There was disagreement in my team as to whether I should get the ALND when I was diagnosed. In the end, I had RADs instead of the ALND. I was hoping to avoid RADs by having the MX. My BS & RO believed that the ALND would give me a 30+% chance of lymphedema & RADs would give me less than 10%. I ultimately was treated like a lumpectomy patient.

One thing to keep in mind, is that if you had reconstruction or plan to in the future, RADs may cause problems for you.

This question has come up before on the boards. If you ask you BS why (s)he thinks the ALND is necessary instead of RADs, I'd love to know their answer. Despite it being to late for me.

This brings back the frustration I felt when I was in you shoes.

Nancy2581

thanks for explaining that coraleliz!

Eliz1973

Hi Nancy,

They are removing "that branch," they said 20 ish.

Thank you,

Elizabeth

Eliz1973

ALND was completed. Results are 3/10. We were hoping for 0, but could be worse....

Circling back to why they did an ALND; because the SN was positive. Huge shock. Since it was such a surprise, the surgeon and I wanted to know how many lymph nodes were, in fact, compromised.

Waiting to see oncologist.

Elizabeth

ElaineTherese

Elizabeth,

Sorry to hear about the 3/10. You're right; at least there weren't more. Good luck with your MO appointment! My first MO appointment was a blur; you might want to bring someone to take notes.

Nancy2581

I'm sorry Elizabeth about the nodes. As Elaine mentioned try to bring somebody with you for your first onc meeting. I was in shock and don't remember anything after the word cancer. My sister-in-law went with me and she remembers everything. Hang in there. Stupid cancer

Nancy

crazystupidbreastcancer

Sorry to hear that you have positive lymph nodes. I know it sounds scary, but you're in good hands. The same thing happened to me. Tumor was 1.2 cm and 2 out of 11 lymph nodes were positive. I did have a double mastectomy and an axillary node dissection. Then after my tissue expanders were filled, I did 36 rounds of radiation. My skin handled it much better than my plastic surgeon expected. Hang in there. Take it one step at a time.

Kiks1

Elizabeth,

Sorry to hear the news but hope you are recovering well. When do you see oncologist?

Regina

Maureen1

(((Elizabeth))) Positive nodes were quite a shock to me as well...similar pathology to yours, I had lumpectomy and axillary node dissection that showed 3/11 positive. My surgeon said to look at it as "those nodes did their job, they gave their lives to trap the cancer"...I had a port put in to keep from damaging my veins and did dose dense ACT chemo for 12 weeks but opted out of radiation after consulting 2 RO. After chemo I did decide to go ahead with BMX for several reasons and have been on Tamoxifen since then, hoping that keeps the beast away. Hang in there...I hope you have a plan soon, having a plan and a team around you helps, take care (((Hugs))) Maureen

badger

hi Elizabeth, sorry you're here but welcome to BCO. My dx was a series of surprises too.

Initial screening mammo found *surprise* area of concern. Subsequent diagnostic mammo found *surprise* clustered microcalcifications. Stereotactic biopsy found *surprise* breast cancer cells. Surgical biopsy found *surprise* invasive ductal carcinoma. Sentinel node biopsy done with bilateral mx found *surprise* micromets in 1/4 sentinel nodes (surgeon took 2 from each side). Pathology found *surprise* 2.5 cm tumor (approx. an inch in diameter).

So over the course of a few months I went from DCIS to IDC stage I to stage II to stage IIB.

Being newly dx is such a scary time. Best wishes and gentle ((hugs)) from six years out.

Suzanne50

I found my whole BC diagnosis shocking. It was one shock/surprise after another. I had 3/12 positive nodes and a 8 mm tumor. My tumor was surrounded by DCIS cells so I went from a lumpectomy to mastectomy within 2 weeks. All shocking and upsetting. But now 6 months later, I am doing well. You will be ok too - you just have to put one brave foot in front of the other (it's hard to do!!) and take a lot of deep breaths.