Mets Concern

Ok so this is what I've always understood from my pathology report.  My breast surgeon told me that during the mastectomy done on March 18 2009 there were cancer cells found in the SN. So he was going to go back and do axillary node dissection which was done in another surgery a few weeks later.  He removed 17 more nodes which found another positive for cancer.  On the pathology report from the axillary node surgery 4/7/2009 it reads:

Left Axilla, Left Axillary Node Dissection: - Metastatic Carcinoma present in one of seventeen (1/17) Lymph Nodes (seen on Pankeratin Stain Performed on Block 1C-1).  The tumor is Present as a Handful of scattered Keratin Positive Cells Present in the Subcapsular Sinus of one of the Lymph Nodes - No Extranodal Extension of Tumor is Identified. Note: Taken in conjunction with the prior positive sentinal lymph node, the  patient has a totoal of Two positive nodes out of  a total of eighteen nodes.

So after reading this report I always believed the positive lymph nodes are considered metasticized from the primary tumor and that once lymph nodes are positive there is always a chance of distant mets even after removing metastatic carcinoma in the lymph nodes.  So when I filled out the diagnosis part of the profile I checked of mets in lymph nodes. 

This is all really overhelming because I was diagnosed on January 13, 2008 with IDC, Mastectomy was done in March 18 2009, and the Axillary node dissection was done in April 6 2009, so the final path report was April 7, 2009.  Wow, after pulling this report out again I'm seeing it differently now.  So even though the path report says  "Metastatic Carcinoma in lymph nodes present" I've never considered that I have mets, but now since reading this again I'm even more concerned about the rib pain

Thanks all,  I'll just keep aware of the pain and check with my onc if it continues more than a week.  I guess like many here the fear of progression is always present. 

Momine~~I had forgotten...my RO told me the same thing about the chance for fractured ribs in the future.



Paula

It really sux that anytime we get hit with an ache or new pain, our minds automatically run to "is it mets?" Right before I started chemo I started having pain in my left hip. I would read in bed until I fell asleep, and within 30 minutes of nodding off, I woke up with a horrible burning pain in that hip. I started keeping a tube of aspercreme on the nightstand. When the pain hit I'd rub the cream on it and it would go away within minutes. I figured if something as simple as aspercreme could alleviate it for up to 24 hours it must not be mets. It finally (after a few weeks) stopped hurting at all, but it was scary.



Before starting rads my onc put me through a series of scans looking for bone mets to the shoulder & lower right spine. I kept telling her, I have had bursitis in that shoulder, and have degenerative disc disease. The scans were iffy until they did a pet scan which was clean. She still had a bone surgeon look at everything to see if I needed a bone biopsy. He saw no abnormalities.



Now, everytime I see my onc, she looks at me with concern and asks if I'm sure there's no pain, and tells me we have to keep an eye on it. She's redoing all the scans at the 6 month mark in December.



I have great attitude ( I think ) and great faith in God "My Healer," but everytime she asks me these questions it gets the worries stirred up again.



It's like she's thinking, "It's not IF, it's WHEN!"



Paula

SAMayoFL - what type of scan found your mets to the pelvis?  I'm mildly freaked out about injuring my "bad" hip over 2 weeks ago.  Actually I didn't feel any pain at the time because I was just pruning some volunteer trees, but for 2 weeks my hip has ached.  I need to know what type of scan/test found your mets.  I have come to the conclusion that some docs have a pretty unconcerned attitude while others are hell bent on talking the worst scenario. 

Shelly

GrammyR - what was your treatment at time of DX, i.e., lumpectomy, mastectomy, chemo, rads?  Was your onc telling you that BC always returns or are you just believing it-? I hope not. 

Rowan47 - I had the same question for my onc about others not being node positive and yet, are stage 4.  She explained it is possible to not have any cancer in nodes and have mets -- cancer will travel via bloodstream.  Keep positive though and if you are in doubt, ask your onc.