Idc with positive lymph node

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Mab60
Mab60 Member Posts: 487
edited August 2015 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)



Hello. I am new to this site having just had a bmx in June. I had one positive lymph node from the 3 that were taken during surgery. Sill healing from the bmx so no treatment has begun. While I am happy for all of the people receiving good reports on their lymph nodes, I am a little anxious to connect with people that do have positive lymph nodes. Anyone out there??

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  • lulu2533
    lulu2533 Member Posts: 108
    edited July 2015

    Hey Mab60! You will find lots of ladies on here with pos nodes. I had 11. It sucks but you will see that there are lots of people here with alot of knowledge. You are def not alone!

    Do you have a treatment plan yet?

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  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 34,614
    edited July 2015

    Hi Mab60, welcome to BCO, it's a great club you never wanted to join.

    I'm five years out from a dx very similar to yours.  ((hugs)) and hope!

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  • Mab60
    Mab60 Member Posts: 487
    edited July 2015

    hi. No treatment plan yet. Developed necrosis on one of the breasts following the bmx on 0611. Headed back to surgery in the morning. Oncologist will not start anything until healed. I am on this site a lot. I find it very informative. But a little disheartening because it appears so few have positive nodes. Happy for them but felt a little alone. Glad to see I have some company. First appt with oncologist ordered onco test. Will have those results in about a week and a half. Will no doubt have some sort of plan at that point. I would like to stay connected with ya'll if that is ok. Can you add thread as a favorite?? Thanks so muc

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  • jojo2373
    jojo2373 Member Posts: 662
    edited July 2015

    Hi Mab, we had very similar diagnosis! I am 2.5 years out from treatment and doing well. Arimidex messes with me, but I can live with it. I had 2 positive nodes prior to chemo and after still had one - I did chemo before surgery. There are tons of women here with pos nodes that are 10+ years out!

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  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 34,614
    edited July 2015

    Mab60, good luck 2moro! I log-in sporadically but will save thread to faves & check in when here. ((hugs))

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  • littleblueflowers
    littleblueflowers Member Posts: 2,000
    edited July 2015

    Hey! Yup, positive lymph node here. Not to worried, because that's what chemo and rads are for! Big hugs!

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited July 2015

    Go all the way to the end of thread, should see "add to favorites". Click or tap that. Then will come up in favorite topics.

    I had a bunch of positive nodes, onehe couldn't get out. That got blasted with rads. I'm 2 1/2 years out.

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  • Mab60
    Mab60 Member Posts: 487
    edited July 2015

    thanks for all of the responses. What I have noticed in this short cancer window I have been in is how your priorities or concerns change. At one point the possibility of PT was high on my list until I had the bmx and then it became path report. Drains (I still have 2 of the initial 4) then became my biggest concern until lymph nodes trumped that. I am guessing chemo will over ride those issues very soon. It seems to be such a fluid situation early on. Hope to lose the 2 drains tomorrow. Not sure what he will do about the necrosis in the morning. I am still looking in the mirror in the morning saying to myself that I can't believe i am a cancer patient. Gee, I was just walking down life's highway and the diagnosis came out of nowhere. Guess that's how it goes for most. You are all an inspiration For a newbie!!

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  • sailorgirl15
    sailorgirl15 Member Posts: 114
    edited July 2015

    Mab60 I'm new too and glad I found your posts. I had a positive lymph node found in my biopsy and had a lumpectomy Monday. I'm waiting for the path report and keep hoping it was all a mistake and they don't find anything in the 4 nodes they removed. I keep seeing all who have chosen mastectomies and wonder if I should have done that. I am 62 and it seems the younger gals are doing the mastectomies. I guess we will always second guess ourselves even more than ever before, now that we are in this cancer boat. It is also amazing how, at one point in time, I can feel positive and not worried and then the pity party hits. Hearing from all of you wonderful ladies helps!

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  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 34,614
    edited July 2015

    hi, checking in quick. Saw my onc for 6-month follow-up appt Tues and all is well.

    Mab60 how did it go Monday? ((hugs))

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  • Mab60
    Mab60 Member Posts: 487
    edited July 2015

    hi badger!! Dealt with the necrosis issue on Monday. All bandaged so cannot see anything. Next week is my BIG week. I go Tuesday for second appt with oncologist to get onco score and I guess her recommendations going forward. On Wednesday going to second oncologist for second opinion. Nervous but anxious to see my plan going forward. Supposed to return to work 2 weeks from today. I am out a total of 6 weeks. So glad you followed up with me. Will keep you posted.

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  • CatsRus
    CatsRus Member Posts: 310
    edited July 2015

    I had 1 positive node of 2 taken at UMX. I had ALND and another 9 were taken, thankfully all negative. Surgeon suggested lumpectomy but I requested MX. I just wanted it gone and I didn't want to do rads. I have my last chemo next week...yeah!

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  • Mab60
    Mab60 Member Posts: 487
    edited July 2015

    wow. Last chemo. That has got to be a great feeling. Can't wait till I am the one providing encouraging words to some newbie like me,,,,

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  • Nancy2581
    Nancy2581 Member Posts: 1,234
    edited July 2015

    Hi Mab - I had one positive lymph node out of three. I am a year out now. I did chemo, rads and now on tamoxifen. There are a lot of women with positive nodes. Yeah, I was jealous of those that didn't have lymph node involvement, but I'm over it. I'm actually glad I did chemo (though I hated it at the time). Though there are no guarantees chemo has given me piece of mind. Now if my damn hair wouldn't hurry up and grow back. . . lol. Hang in there - hugs to you.

    Nancy

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  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 34,614
    edited July 2015

    Mab60 glad you're doing OK. Yes pls let us know how it goes next week.

    It should be a bit easier once you have a treatment plan in place. ((hugs))

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    hi there

    I am new to this forum. I was DX with IDC- had a bilateral mastectomy in May with a sentinel node biopsy (positive)- axillary node dissection 6 nodes removed all negative. I'm 43 years old and had an Oncotype score of 18. Initially my onc recommended chemo ACT - is there anyone out there with a similar DX who has opted for radiation with strong hormonal therapy (tamoxifen and ovarian suppression) as treatment. My Oncotype report showed no increase with adding chemo. Any help is appreciated!!!

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  • CassieCat
    CassieCat Member Posts: 1,257
    edited July 2015

    Mab, I was also diagnosed with IDC - 2 lesions in the left breast and one lymph node. All of the imaging and pathology reports came back clean after chemo and surgery, and I've had 7 weeks of radiation too. Hoping for clear mammogram scans next month, which will be a year since this all started for me.

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  • hummingbirdlover
    hummingbirdlover Member Posts: 421
    edited July 2015

    4pink101:  I had a similiar DX to yours except my Oncotype was 17 and chemo was not recommended.  The risk was deemed greater than the reward and chemo only subtracted about 2% to my recurrence risk number.  I think 17 is the last number on the "low risk" scale and 18 is the first number on the "middle - grey area" scale.  But, really, one number makes that much difference?  I did not have to have radiation either and have been on tamoxifen for 8 months now.  

    Mab: Welcome and like the others have said, there are many who post here who had 1 or more node involved.   

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  • Mab60
    Mab60 Member Posts: 487
    edited July 2015

    thanks for all the replies. My onco score in next week. I ended up back in surgery a little over a week ago for necrosis following the bmx. So waiting for that to heal. That one little lymph node can really cause some worries, right? I should know a lot more next week relative to treatment for me.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2015

    Hi 4pink101, Here is a link to some information on oncotype testing on our website. It may shed some additional light for you. Welcome to the community. Keep us posted on what you decide to do. The Mods

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  • Hopeful82014
    Hopeful82014 Member Posts: 3,480
    edited July 2015

    For those who are node positive it may help to know that there is an on-going clinical trial (RX Ponder, I believe) that randomizes node positives with an Oncotype score of 25 or lower to chemo followed by endocrine therapy OR endocrine therapy only. You may want to discuss the implications of that trial with your MO.

    I had one just barely positive node node left after neoadjuvant A/I and an Oncotype of 20. My MO told me it would have had to be 18 or lower for her not to recommend chemo but 2 others told me that under 25 they felt the benefit of chemo would be minimal (1-3% in my case). In the end I did not feel that my MO made a solid case for chemo and I opted to continue on directly to radiation, accepting that additional nodal radiation was the trade off.

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  • CatsRus
    CatsRus Member Posts: 310
    edited July 2015


    I had similar results. UMX and 2 sentinel nodes taken, one was positive. Then I had ALND with another 9 nodes taken, all negative. No oncotype done (I'm in Canada and it was never mentioned). MO recommended chemo - I was told 17% chance of recurrence with hormone therapy (Femara) but would go down to 11% (+/- 1%)with TC chemo (4 treatments every 3 weeks). With ACT (6 treatments) recurrence rate would be 10% (+/- 1%). I opted for TC and I have last one tomorrow. SE have been manageable but I miss having hair! I start Femara in two weeks.

    Good luck, decision making is the hardest part.

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    is there anyone out there who is PREmenopausal with stage 2 node positive IDC who had the Oncotype test even though it specifies "post menopausal" for node positive to be eligible? I am 43 and had a positive sentinel node all other 6 nodes negative.. Oncotype score 18

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  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited July 2015

    4pink101- I had 2 positive nodes associated with a 1.4cm tumor(stage 2). I was premenopausal at the time, perhaps menopausal now. My oncotype came back "4". I asked for the oncotype test 3 times before my MO agreed to order it. He still recommended chemo for me, but it wasn't a strong recommendation. He's not a fan of that test(or at least not at that time) for node positive patients. My choice was no chemo. I considered the Rxsponder trial mentioned above, too much time past between my surgery & when I finally got my test done. I've been struggling on Tamoxifen with SEs, but really want to get to the 5year mark.

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    coraleliz- thx for your reply. Did you have radiation therapy as well or was your treatment MX with hormonal therapy? I saw another MO who strongly recommended chemo however with the test showing it does not improve recurrence rates it's very hard for me to proceed that way. I'm scared,confused and I just don't know what to do from here.

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    Catsrus- yours sounds very similar to mine. Are you premenopausal or post? Does your treatment plan also consist of radiation or no? I have to make a decision soon (they are pushing me to move quickly) but I just don't know what to do??

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    hi Mab60! Your story sounds a lot like mine. Let me know how your appointment goes Tuesday. I'll be praying your appt goes well and your oncotype score is low!! I'll be very curious to hear what they recommend for your treatment plan going forward. Do u mind me asking if your PRE or Post menopausal? I'm so grateful for these discussion boards- I've felt so alone and overwhelmed and these help.


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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    badger if you don't mind me asking you mentioned you were 5 years out- what did you do for treatment

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  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited July 2015

    4pink101-I ended up getting radiation. It was an option I was given instead of having additional lymph nodes removed. I took a long time to make "decisions". It drove DH crazy. I didn't feel any pressure to "rush". Actually, I think I fell of their radar at one point.

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  • 4pink101
    4pink101 Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2015

    Thx for your reply! So you had MX with radiation and hormonal therapy? They want to do radiation up to my collarbone. You mentioned you've been struggling with the SE from Tamoxifen .. What have you found most difficult?

    I had immediate reconstruction am and concerned what radiation administered so soon after SDC will do to the outcome.

    I never want this cancer to come back but I'm 43 and want to be able to look in the mirror without crying every day too. I'm having a hard time deciding where to go from here.

    So grateful for these forums!!

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