Pathology results back and confused

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DallasCowboysFan
DallasCowboysFan Member Posts: 9
edited October 2017 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hi. I was diagnosed with stage 3b, triple negative bc. I was told it was highly aggressive. I at first let it go because i thought it was a cyst. I had this tumor for well over a year, and then it ulcerated on my skin. They did a mastectomy, and said the tumor took up over 75% of my breast. Pathology is back and out of 12 lymph nodes zero are affected and no vascular invasion, which is wonderful news, but what are the chances of that? Seems odd to me, and my sister that is a nurse said that any kind of highly aggressive cancer, especially triple neg and that size is next to impossible not to be in one or both of those, and the surgeon seemed confused. What do you make of this? Have you ever heard of that? Wondering if maybe this was actually a benign tumor that i let go so far that it was hard to tell what it actually was :(

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited October 2017

    I would request a second opinion on the pathology. Also be sure to get full copies of your reports. I’m sorry you find yourself here. I hope you get some more answers soon.

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  • kcat2013
    kcat2013 Member Posts: 391
    edited October 2017

    I think a second opinion on the pathology is warranted. There were some discordant things in my original surgery path so my surgeon ordered a second look at the pathology from another provider. But it is possible that you have a large tumor but no lymph involvement, I hope that is the case!



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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited October 2017

    Well, if they know it's triple negative, then you know it's not benign. Did both your biopsy pathology and surgical pathology match?

    Maybe you just got really lucky with no lymph involvement. I surprised everyone with my smallish hormone positive tumor already spread to one lymph node. I had favorable pathology but for some reason the cells decided to travel. I guess what I'm trying to say is anything is possible and cancer doesn't have to play by the rules.

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  • DallasCowboysFan
    DallasCowboysFan Member Posts: 9
    edited October 2017

    That is another thing i do not understand. With no lymph node involvement, and no vascular invasion, they act like my survival is very unfavorable, im guessing since it was large. I didn't want to know any statistics, so i am just going by how they act, and it's not good. I was surprised also since i know many people that have had tumors that were mm or like 1 cm and were in a few lymph nodes. And as far as them both matching, i am not sure. I just got a copy of the final pathology report.

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  • DallasCowboysFan
    DallasCowboysFan Member Posts: 9
    edited October 2017

    My surgeon said he had them check the lymph nodes twice because he was so shocked that nothing was in them. I was beyond shocked as well

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  • beach2beach
    beach2beach Member Posts: 996
    edited October 2017

    a second opinion is never a bad idea. By the way I read it you did not have any chemo before surgery? Are you scheduled for chemo or any other type of treatment? Small or large doesn't always mean better or worse. Many triple negative survivors out there. Have you posted on that thread? Maybe another triple neg survivor has had something similar. Very glad your nodes were negative.

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