looking for reassurance about the results of my node dissection.

Hi There ,

I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma Grade 3 last June. At that point they said that there was some nodal involvement but it was a lot to take in at the time. I think they said the cells were pre cancerous but I'm not sure.  They decided to put me on 8 rounds of fornightly chemo to shrink the tumour. The intention was to shrink it down and then perform a lumpectomy. They never said what Stage I was at. I googled it, as you do when you are scared, but the results didn't quite match. I'm thinking I was most likely stage 2, definitely not stage 3 and maybe stage 1.  By the time I started Chemo in July I could feel swelling under my armpit. After the first chemo session and before the next one, the swelling had gone. Every time I met my oncologist during Chemo has delighted with my progress. He said I appeared to be having a complete response. Half way through the chemo my tumour was no longer palpable and the oncologist remarked that the surgeon would need the titanium markers that had been inserted during my ultrasound/ biopsy in June, to find it.

After all this positivity, imagine my surprise when told Id need a mastectomy instead. My surgeon said Id had an excellent response to the chemo but that I have little dots of calcium in my breast that could turn cancerous and would always be a source of concern in the future. There are no calcium deposits in my other breast. So I had my mastectomy last week and the nodes were also taken for dissection.  My confidence is a little shaken, so I'm worried that my nodes will test positive for cancer and this will affect my chances of getting cancer again. Could it still lurk there when I had such an excellent response to the chemo?

I'm also worried about the possibility of going on Taxol. I have fibroids and it could make them worse on top of all the other side effects. I have only one breast left and I'm having that reduced from an F cup to a C cup when I have finished my radiation therapy etc. I wish they would say, your nodes are clear and there is no need for Tamoxofen. Has anyone been in the same boat as me? I realise that nearly every case is unique though.

Thanks

Siuin