Micromet in Sentinal Node: Anyone else?

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  • bdavis
    bdavis Member Posts: 6,201
    edited December 2013

    Glad to hear you were cancer free... I too had the "all clear" until one week later and was told I had .38mm micromet. I asked for a full dissection, and the MO said no... My BS said no... They said it was the standard of care for my case. I did get 6tx of TC, and then opted for a BMX over radiation. I had 4 doctors tell me if I had the MX then I didn't need rads. I guess they felt with my 1.9cm well contained tumor and .38mm micromet that BMX and 6 rounds of chemo was more than sufficient. Hope so.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited January 2014

    bdavis -- It seems like they are just figuring out what to do with micrometastases in sentinel nodes and the research is not yet clear!  Both my MO and my surgeon were pretty confident the rest of my nodes would be clear but my MO wanted to do radiation or the ALND just to be safe.  Luckily I have not had reconstruction or my surgeon wouldn't have done the ALND.  I read a lot of journal articles about this situation and I believe you and your doctors made a good choice! 

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  • bdavis
    bdavis Member Posts: 6,201
    edited January 2014

    I think the MO said that the risk of LE to do the dissection to remove nodes that he was confident were clear didn't make sense to him... They ran a calculated test and I had like a 1-4% chance (depending who you asked) on there being more positive nodes. And I believe that was before chemo.

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  • Quasi
    Quasi Member Posts: 44
    edited January 2014

    I certainly relate to the dilemma you were facing, regardless of how you look at it, it is a bad situation. My situation was clear from the start, I had lymph node involvement and had 12 nodes removed. Research shows that radiation is also an option in tne case of lymph node involvement. I do not know how they make that decsion (ALND vs RADS ) but for anyone reading this if you do decide to have ALND please check into reverse arm mapping it is meant to decrease your risk of lymph edema. ALND is not easy and you could have all kinds of issues including neurological issues not just those related to lymphedema.

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  • annabananas
    annabananas Member Posts: 23
    edited February 2014

    Just saw your posting probably too late. Axillary Lymph Node Dissection is becoming more outmoded due to sentinel node biopsy. It is usually reserved for patienst with 3 or more sentinel nodes with cancer. I had 3 sentinel lymph nodes positive for cancer, so I underwent a level 1 and level 2 axillary node dissection. I had good results with negative axillary lymph nodes but it is becoming less popular due to its association with lymphedema, and nerve damage, which can be a lifelong risk. There is a lot of information on the web from evidence based source regarding this controversy. 

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  • ahdjdbcjdjdbkf
    ahdjdbcjdjdbkf Member Posts: 645
    edited May 2015

    My lymphedema sadly turned into a literal nightmare from hell. The mental duress is unmanageable and I hate all the suggestions that don't help one thing. I once was an incredibly happy person who loved her life. Those days are long gone.

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  • sugiesmama
    sugiesmama Member Posts: 8
    edited June 2015

    Mariasnow -- I'm so sorry. I had ALND too... not for breast cancer, but for melanoma, and also had horrible complications. The struggle is real and there are many people out there who can relate when you're going through hell. Stick with these boards!

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  • SuC
    SuC Member Posts: 55
    edited June 2015

    micro mets appear to be different to mets - more an example of the lymph nodes doing the job they are meant to do and stopping the cancer. I didn't have chemo or radio for my micromet - just tamoxifen. I had seven nodes out in total, just one micromet. Risks are close to having no mets.

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