Nodes palpable?

Options
Dukip
Dukip Member Posts: 40
edited June 2016 in Stage III Breast Cancer

Hi all,

I hope you do not mind me posting in the stage 3 forum. I had three positive nodes and feel much more at home on this section. Please feel free to tell me to go away if you wish (and I will).

I wonder how many of you had palpable nodes at diagnosis?

Mine were not palpable and the ultrasound was also clear. So I was considered 'clinically node negative'. But the sentinel node came back full of cancer which led to a later ALND which revealed another two - also full of cancer.

The reason for asking is that since November I have developed a really painful opposite armpit, it has just got worse and worse and now the pain radiates down as far as my forearm. My GP has referred me for nerve testing, which I have on Monday, but every time I go to the GP, they palpate my armpit and tell me I'm fine. Am I worrying for nothing?

Were your positive nodes identified before surgery?

Many thanks in advance.

XX

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • GraceB1
    GraceB1 Member Posts: 213
    edited June 2016

    Mine (3 by PET scan) were not palpable before before I started chemo. You usually have more cancerous lymphs than the PET shows. The MO thought I probably had 5 with cancer. At the time of surgery only 2 remained but one had burst out of the lymph node. I didn't have any radiating pain in my arm. I don't think I could rest without more testing.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • lkc
    lkc Member Posts: 1,203
    edited June 2016

    I would get this checked out by an oncologist.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    So would I, but I have to see my GP about things that concern me (in UK).

    If the nerve test come back clear then I am going to push for MRI or other scan.

    Thanks for replying.


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TectonicShift
    TectonicShift Member Posts: 752
    edited July 2020

    .

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Hi Tectonic, thanks for replying. It is actually very scary that we can have positive nodes that don't show up even on imaging.

    I wish I wasn't so paranoid - screw you cancer . . . . . .

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited June 2016

    Hi Dukip!

    I had one compromised node and it wasn't palpable. It showed up on ultrasound, MRI, and PET scan. A fine needle biopsy confirmed that it was cancerous. After chemo, all my nodes were clear on MRI and PET scan. That was confirmed through ALND, when my surgeon took all 20 of my Levels 1 and 2 nodes.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Hi Elaine,

    That's interesting that yours showed up on ultrasound, none of mine did. Trying to get an MRI here in the UK is like getting milk from a stone. So far I have seen a GP 5 times, since November, and now only been referred for nerve testing even though it is just getting worse and worse.

    I wish you all well and thanks for responding.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Sam2U
    Sam2U Member Posts: 233
    edited June 2016

    I had 2 positive nodes, neither were palpable and neither showed up on the u/s or MRI. One had extracapsular extension.

    I wonder if the pain in the other arm is some sort of back-up of the lymphatic system? I can have radiating pain down my forearm from the lymphedema.



    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Hi Sam,

    I wondered that too, I hope it is something simple like that too, but just not sure why the pain would keep getting worse.

    Like I said, I have a paranoid brain and just always seem to think the worst.



    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YATCOMW
    YATCOMW Member Posts: 664
    edited June 2016

    I did not have palpable nodes.....and nothing was seen on a sonogram.....I was told to go home as I was fine.

    I insisted on a biopsy .........fast forward...... I was found to have 17 nodes positive and an 8cm tumor.

    As already mentioned..... I would see an oncologist.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Hi Yatcomw,

    Thanks for the response. I will push for a scan (not US).

    XX

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ErenTo
    ErenTo Member Posts: 343
    edited June 2016

    Dukip, I had one palpable node at my diagnostic mammogram. I couldn't feel it myself, but my surgeon did and she said it's very subtle. She asked me if I would let the intern touch it and I was fine with it in the name of science and learning! It was biopsied along with breast and confirmed positive prior to surgery. Somehow I knew I was going to end up with more than that one positive node and I did. I think they all showed in imaging (ultrasound, MRI, CT, etc.)

    Did you have chemo? Did you have a port? I didn't have a port and my veins are damaged from chemo and I occasionally get inflammation in non-cancer arm and armpit area.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited June 2016

    It's so hard to NOT slap a "cancer" label on every sign or symptom that comes up, after you've first been told you have breast cancer. Every backache, headache, toothache. I once bumped my head on the hatch door of my little car, and when a lump swelled up on my scalp, I immediately thought, it's cancer.

    I don't think a painful armpit, with pain radiating down your arm, would be breast cancer, but I'm not an oncologist. I've just never heard of it presenting that way. At the same time, listening to your body is important, and you need an answer. Keep pushing until you get one.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Sbelizabeth - I know you are probably right, thank you.

    XX

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lucca06
    Lucca06 Member Posts: 69
    edited June 2016

    Dukip, I am also in the UK & had a scare which sounds quite similar on my non-cancer side about 6 months after finishing my treatment. I had a very sore armpit and my armpit felt lumpy. After their initial concerns it turned out that I had a small piece of breast tissue extending into my armpit (v common apparently) and the hormone changes from the Tamoxifen were making it sore & bumpy. A few months later I had an oophorectomy and switched to Aromasin and it hasn't recurred. Do get it checked but lots of random things it could be.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dukip
    Dukip Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2016

    Hi Lucca, thanks for taking the time to give me some reassurance. I didn't even think of breast pain . . .Doh!


    XX

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SSInUK
    SSInUK Member Posts: 245
    edited June 2016

    Dukip

    I am in the UK too. I suggest - first, if your GP is not both sympathetic and vigilant after a 3cm node positive cancer - change your GP. In the words of my Onc friend their job is to have a 'very low threshold' for investigating symptoms. Mine is led my my concerns and will order whatever is needed to address these. This will not be the only scary thing unfortunately and you will need a GP wholly on board. Second, if that change is too hard to bring about quickly, phone your breast nurses and/or your Onc secretary or email your Onc (a bit of detective work will find you a direct email). You must at least be on Open Access follow up? That means you can call the nurses if you're worried. Either way I would be v surprised if they would not see you. And an ultrasound would be quick easy and cheap. They are generally - and should be - kind and understanding. You are their job! Be persistent - it's v v.unlikely to be cancer but - contra lateral lymph node spread is theoretically possible. Wishing you courage and reassurance

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories