Lymph biopsy prior to surgery

Mjmama21

Hello! I’m new to the community and to my diagnosis, and I am in a waiting period for a biopsy of my lymph node (following mammogram, US, biopsy, and MRI results.) I was curious if anyone had encountered this and how it turned out for them. I am very concerned it has spread to this lymph node as I can feel soreness in that area while the rest of the breast has healed up post biopsy; however my doctor didn’t exactly say that yet. I thought I was more in the early stages, but really haven’t been given that info yet.Any advice?

LivinLife

Hi Mjmama! Can you let us know what your diagnosis is (IDC, ILC, etc.)? Do you know the grade, ER/PR%'s, etc. Did you decide to have mastectomy or uncertain about surgery choice yet? I had a BMX and so it is common to undergo sentinel node biopsy if one is having mastectomy. Otherwise it's nearly impossible to find the sentinel node later - from what I understand. It sounds like you are much earlier in the process than that though. Sounds like they want to see whether there is cancer in that node before making a decision for surgery? If that's the case hopefully others will come along who experienced that path.... can share their experience....

Mjmama21

I don’t know any of the staging info yet. I know that it is invasive ductal carcinoma. The mass itself was 16mm x13mm x 14mm. There are also calcifications near the mass resulting in a 8 cm area that would need to be removed. I am leaning toward mastectomy mainly due to the numbers and chance of reoccurrence. Also I really didn’t want to do radiation or chemo unless absolutely necessary. Now my surgeon is saying that he would like to try treatment before surgery due to the proximity to my muscle wall. I’m beside myself as this seems to be going from treatable and not so scary to incredible uncertainty. Cancer really sucks. Thanks for your response! Sorry couldn’t really provide much more info.

LivinLife

This part is soooo very hard as you gather more information about cancer type, etc. and work with your team on a plan you're comfortable with... You may want to jump onto the IDC forums/threads if you haven't already done so. There you will find more information and support for folks dealing with IDC specifically. Obviously the other forums and threads may offer additional info and support, esp. the treatment (including surgery) related forums.

RatherBeSailing

MjMamma -

My lymph nodes were enlarged after biopsy. Since my original ultrasound had been performed at another facility, my surgeon ordered a followup ultrasound. It showed that, although enlarged, the architecture was normal and not suggestive of cancer infiltration. Later, the biopsy confirmed there was no cancer.

That doesn't mean, of course, that my situation and yours are the same. I think if you're worried you should express your concerns to your surgeon. There is no way we have the information and experience to know what's going on, and your surgeon likely doesn't realize how much it is bothering you. But you don't need the stress of worrying about the unknown, when there may be an explanation.

Wishing you all the best!

Faboogie

Hi Mjmama21,

I am in the same boat - mammogram, 1st US and pathology all indicated no lymph node involvement. However, my MRI last Friday showed an enlarged lymph node and another tiny mass in my other breast. Had another ultrasound this morning and referred for more biopsies for both (lymph node & right breast). My surgeon who provided me my MRI results yesterday didn't seem too worried as she said it was only slightly larger than the others which could have been caused by anything, not just the cancer. The only thing that is keeping me from worrying too much is the fact that they are being thorough. But the waiting does suck and is the worst part of it all. To my understanding, although there is "possible" lymph node involvement, it is still considered "early" and very treatable.

Keep your head up and sending good vibes your way!