Sentinel node never found

Sorry for your recent diagnosis, but I'm glad you found this site. It will be very helpful to you as you navigate your treatment.

A sentinel lymph node is simply the first one or two lymph nodes that cancer would typically spread to once it leaves the duct. So they're not a specific type of lymph node, rather they're just located in a position nearest to the tumor and in the clearest path of potential spreading. So if a number of lymph nodes were removed from your breast and armpit, the sentinel nodes would have been the ones *most likely* to have shown cancer. It seems like your closest nodes didn't show cancer, but perhaps the next ones did. I have heard this can happen because cancer doesn't always follow a prescribed system. Some women have clear lymph nodes, but end up with cancer elsewhere in their bodies because the cancer cells bypasses the lymph and went right into the blood stream. The fact that your nodes under your arm are clear is a great sign! You will likely need radiation to your breast since there were some cancerous nodes there.

Good luck, and let us know how you're doing!