Sentinel node not identified

Irony

Hi All! I had a BMX for LT IDC on Sept 19, 2016. My pathology news was great. No cancer was found in either breast. The entire Left intraductal carcinoma was removed during the initial ultrasound biopsy. It was about 5 mm.

I opted for BMX due to a history of heart surgery and did not want radiation to my left side due to the possibility of more heart surgery in the future.

My issue: My surgeon was unable to locate my sentinel node the day of surgery. She removed some axillary tissue but no nodes were there either. Has this happened to anyone else?

My breast surgeon is completely unfazed by this because of the mastectomy results. But I'm uncomfortabe with the fact that they did not check any nodes.

I meet with an oncologist today. I was just wondering if anyone went through anything similar?

IndyMom

I had my surgery on Oct 20th. My surgeon was not able to identify the sentinel nodes either. The dye never made it to the nodes. She removed a bunch of nodes. About 15 or so.

Irony

indymom, my surgeon said it was rare to not find the sentinel node but it does happen. They removed some if my axillary tissue, but didn't test any nodes. My cancer was very small. Also, it appears that my entire cancer was removed during my ultrasound biopsy. They didn't find any residual cancer. She also said that is rare, but happens.

I hope your nodes are negative!