New Primary 8 years later

OG56

Well you all know how I feel, scared, angry etc You can see in my signature my original diagnosis. This time it is again in my right breast only ILC grade 3 with K1-67 of 28% I am scheduled for surgery nov. 16 th. I am curious can they test a sentinal node twice?? ILC is sneaky but the malignant area appears small on MRI and MAMMO with no lymph node involvement. I just don't know what to expect, the Onc, really scared me with all the negative possibilities!!! and my BS said "everything failed,arimedex and radiation " So glad I have BCO women here for support. Oh I am having BMX

Linda

Molly50

I am so sorry you are dealing with this again. Please don't let your MO and BS discourage you. Maybe it's time for a second opinion. There are other treatments out there and you won't know everything until your final pathology. I will be praying for you.

BethL

Linda-sorry. This sucks!! September last year I heard the word cancer for the second time too. Ten years previously I had it, lumpectomy, radiation and tamoxifen. I had Bmx last December. My fix said she wasn't sure the sentinel Node would map because I had a node biopsy previously. I gave her the ok to do a total dissection if needed but thankfully it did map and the only took 3 more nodes. You're not alone , and don't be discouraged by your docs. I was a "tamoxifen failure". So what? Just means they need to come up with a better plan. Like Molly said....get a second opinion if you need to. Hugs

KBeee

It means a couple cells were left behind and not killed by radiation and the arimidex held them at bay for 8 years; it kept it from spreading elsewhere. I would not call that a failure. The arimidex is meant to stop distant recurrence, not local recurrence, and it appears to have done that. There are tons of drugs out there. They can do the surgery, do whatever tests are necessary to see if chemo is needed, then plug forward. It totally sucks to have to face this beast again; sorry you have to go through this. Also sorry that your doctor was so out of line in his statement; the docs don't always think before they speak, and don't realize the impact of their words. Once you have a plan in place, it'll be easier. This time of uncertainty is the hardest. Keep us posted.

ChiSandy

I thought an SNB required removal of the node(s) for biopsy—I had 4 removed, only 2 of them sentinels, all 4 negative. Once they’re out, they’re out—they can’t be biopsied a second time because they’re out of your body forever. For a new primary or local recurrence, the SNB is done on the first remaining node(s) to light up, plus any inseparable hangers-on.

Meow13

I wouldn't call your treatment a failure either. Sorry to hear you have to go through this again. How long were you on arimidex?

NancyHB

Linda, so sorry you find yourself here again. I hate the word "failure" and we can't always know how we ended up back here again. But there are treatments and while it stinks to have to go through it again, I'd rather be dealing with a local recurrence rather than a distant recurrence.

Sandy, I had a second SNB with my recent recurrence. My surgeon indicated that after radiation and surgery, a second SNB (n the same affected side) isn't always possible, that they dye can't travel through the channels. However, like BethL, my surgeon was able to perform an SNB and removed only four nodes. If they hadn't mapped, I would have lost them all.

OG56

Thank you so much for your input and support. The left breast biopsy was B9!! Next is surgery so we will see how it goes Dr. stated he will check one to four nodes,

KBeee

Hoping surgery goes well