Are micromets just in nodes?

Beth the term "mets" is short for metastasis which means the spread of disease.  When we speak of cancer metastasis it is the spread of cancer cells.  Micro-metastasis or micromets means a very small or miniscule number of cancer cells has spread from the original tumor and traveled somewhere else in the body. 

Since you had 17 positive nodes your cancer has traveled from the tumor site to your lymph nodes.  Were all 17 of your positive lymph nodes found only to have  micromets? Or did your pathology report describe the sizes of cancer growth found in the lymph nodes that were removed? The cancerous lymphnodes in your axilla have been removed, but we have lymphnodes and lymph vessels throughout our whole bodies.  I suspect that what your doctor is concerned about is small numbers of cancer cells (micromets) spreading elsewhere in your body.

Our lymphatic system is similar to the circulatory system in that it covers our entire bodies from head to toe.  Once a cancer cell enters either the blood system or the lymphatic system, it has the ability to move throughout the body.  With 17 positive lymph nodes there is an increased risk of distant spread to other parts of the body.  I had 23 positive nodes myself so I know why the doctor is wanting you to have treatments that will treat your whole body, not just the tumor site or axillary nodes. 

What treatments did your doctor mention?  Chemo? Hormonal meds?  Surgery and radiation alone can only treat the local area of disease near the original tumor site and associated nodes.  Chemo and hormonal meds treat the whole body looking for any cancer cells that may have already spread elsewhere, so small they cannot yet be detected...thus called micromets...but if left untreated they may eventually grow into a new tumor site in another part of the body.

The lymph nodes are the highway that takes cancer cells to the rest of our body. Cancer can also go through the lymphatic system (Blood supply). Having cancer in the nodes and Lymphatic invasion means the cancer is capable of setting up shop elsewhere and this is not good, as there is no cure when it gets to this stage. Chemo is supposed to get rid of these extra cells and will hopefully put us into lifelong remission or give us more time here on earth. Linda has said it better!