I’m starting Rads in April and have been told that as my lymph nodes were affected (7 out of 21 were cancerous), they want to zap my neck as well as my boob as a precautionary measure. I wasn’t worried before but I’m now getting scared for the first time in ages.
I’m just about to finish CHemo ( 3 Fec and 3 Tax) and had a mastectomy and full reconstruction back in October.
A friend of mine who went through it a year earlier was never told to have rads in the lymph nodes on the neck (and she now has mets in the bones) so I’m wondering why they want to do it on me; do they know/ suspect something that’s bad or am I just being paranoid?
Anyone been through something similar???
Hey
I started rads last Thursday & I’m having the lymph nodes in my neck zapped too.
I had 17/30 nodes infected & ct scan & bone scan before surgery showed no further spread. My surgeon & onc both said they like to zap the next set of nodes as an extra insurance policy!
I wouldn’t worry too much about it & just look at it as your onc team being very thorough!
Hope this helps.
Good luck with the rest of your treatment.
Hxx
i think this is very much a case of what each consultant thinks is the best thing to do. Originally I was going to have Rads in one hospital and was going to have rads on neck. I then had Rads at another hospital with a different Onc and he said he didn’t want to zap the neck even though I had 9 out of 17 lymph nodes involved. He went throug my notes and explained his rationale to me so I felt fine about it. I would ask your Onc to explain in more detail about it to you.
take care
Elinda x
I had my neck zapped too. 5/14 nodes positive. I believe it is quite common if there are more than 3 positive nodes, which increases the risk of distant recurrences. I didn’t want mine done really but my onc said why risk not doing it having put yourself through all this chemo.
From what I have read if your level 2 nodes are clear there is only a small risk of a recurrence in the supraclavicular, but it is a risk all the same.
As others have said, each rad onc has their own opinion. Makes it hard for us to make a decision.
I hope you come to a decision that you are comfortable with.
All the best
Macc
Hello,
My oncologist has recommended that I also have radiotherapy on my neck lymph nodes because 27 out of 28 lymph nodes under my arm had cancer. I haven’t started my chemo yet (3 FEC and 3 Tax) so have got quite a few weeks to think about it. My main concern is that it will further increase the risk of lymphodema as the neck lymph nodes are the main ones for my arm. I’m going to do some research but the problem is that I don’t think anyone knows for sure whether it’s the right thing to do.
Good luck to everyone else on here.
Gill x
Hi
Yes, I also had rads to my neck as well,was presented as part and parcel of my overall treatmen, but I’d ask for clarification of anything I felt I needed to.
C
I keep submitting posts too early with dreadful typos!
Was also going to say that my rads onc liked her stats, gave me all the long term risks to read, but my biggest concern was getting the best chance of keeping cancer at bay, and I had faith in her so I went with her recommendations.
Good luck to everyone making these tough choices
C x
Gill
I had 33 rads 3 years ago in my breast and neck and I have had no problems with my arm at all ( I had 9 lymph nodes infected) Unfortunately my BC has returned in some places, but not in any lymph nodes in my neck area.
Take care and keep the skin moisturised!
Nicky
I had rads to chest, neck and armpit. I had 2/5 nodes but 7cm spread (Lobular) and the Onc seemed concerned at the low number of nodes removed although the Surgeon swore he raked around for ages looking to see if there were any more. Weird, isn’t it, that we all have such differing number of nodes?
I read somewhere that is you have 3 or more nodes involved they will do rads to neck or chest wall. I had 2 nodes, I didn’t have the extra rads. Having said that I would be having whatever was offered, in order to fight this. I don’t want to leave anything to chance, and then regret it later. Good luck to everyone starting rads soon, finished my 2 months ago just before easter.
Yes, I’ve got one more of my 15 sessions to go, and they have zapped my breast tissue (I had MX) from two angles and also zapped my neck, as I had 20/23 nodes. I was told that they removed all the nodes that they could find, but there may be some lurking up by the collarbone so they like to zap them just to be sure.
Am about to post about how well I feel, as I was expecting to feel tired or sore but am bouncing about!!!