SLNB and Lymphedema - my biggest concern right now

You can get lymphedema even without sentinel node biopsy. The trauma of tissue injury from surgery is enough to do it in some (hopefully very few) cases. Sounds like you will avoid radiation which is another risk factor.

If more than in situ disease is found upon complete pathology, you'll wish SLNB had been done. Once mastectomy has taken place, there is no way to do the dye/tracer injection in order to locate the particular node(s) of interest.

I had a small ductal tumor not seen on mammogram or ultrasound. It showed up on the MRI that was done in order to fully evaluate the lobular lesion. The few cells which escaped set me up for a full axillary dissection and chemo. Now I have metastatic disease. My experience with LE pales in comparison to this challenge. You and your doctor probably want to get as much info as possible so don't worry about something that might never occur.

I had many of the same fears for my first SLNB. Unfortunately there are no guarantees with this disease, I did end up with lymphedema.

However, even after a mastectomy it doesn't have to be all or nothing. When I had my recurrence they wanted to do an ALND, and I asked my surgeons to take as few nodes as possible. They were able to do that, and now I'm missing 12 nodes total. My lymphedema is mild, but I think it'd probably be worse if they'd taken 20 or 30 nodes.

Hopefully you'll never be in that situation, but I just wanted to say that you can ask your surgeon to do as little as possible, and don't be afraid to make your preferences known.

My biopsy showed DCIS with possible (20% chance) invasive. After surgery, the path report showed multiple DCIS spots and small (.5cm) invasive tumor - grade 2. I had breast reduction/breast lift in lieu of mastectomy - clear margins. Before surgery, I told the surgeon I wanted a sentinel node biopsy done during surgery. He agreed, but then he talked me out of it five minutes before they wheeled me back, when no family member was in there to help me fight. Once I found out I did have invasive, I really regretted letting him talk me out of it. I had the SLNB done a month later; it was difficult to do because so much was rearranged during surgery. All nodes came back negative; they removed 4. I regret not having it done with my original surgery, so I could've recovered from all that surgery at once, instead of having two recoveries. I have not yet had any issues with lymphedema; I've flown once - wore my sleeve. My oncotype came back at 27, and I am having chemo. I am sooooo relieved that I got the SLNB done, for my peace of mind, even though it didn't change treatment plan.

Hi there, Lindenelle! We want to welcome you to our community here at BCO. We hope you find this to be a supportive place!

We totally hear you on your fears and concerns about lymphedema. This is definitely something you should discuss with your surgeon before your surgery, and perhaps seek out the input of a lymphedema specialist who can help you come up with a plan. Hopefully, you can (with the guidance of a supportive medical team) come up with a treatment plan that you can start immediately after your surgery, to minimize your chances of developing severe lymphedema.

The Mods

Hi Lindenelle, I have subclinical lymphedema due to multiple surgeries/radiation. I have not tried ketoprofen, but my PT did suggest eating an anti-inflammatory diet. I was also told to wear compression on a daily basis to help keep things moving. I do think both these things helped me, but everyone has a different situation. My lymphedema is in the normal range now and is pretty much undetectable, although I do still fear it getting worse one day.

Also, talk to your surgeon about how many lymph nodes they will want to remove. You don't necessarily have to remove a large number of lymph nodes, even though it is your second surgery on that side. When I went back in for subsequent surgeries I asked my surgeons to err on the side of removing fewer lymph nodes. My surgeon did take my preferences into account.

You may want to check out this thread about surgery to fix lymphedema too. https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/64/topics...

I hope that helps, and I'm wishing you the best.