Have just had a wide excision & sentinel biopsy & got my results today which shows a .33mm micrometastase in one of the two nodes removed. Told its my call if I have full axillary clearance or not…tough choice. Anyone had a similar call to deal with?
hi PT - I had one node involved but he drcided to do clearance at first surgery - I was glad for peace of mind really but we’re all different - I spose its an indication that there is a bit of a rough cell or two so I’d say get rid - appaerntly some peeps have radiotherapy to the axilla instead of clearance - not sure if they mentioned that?? Mary x
I had isolated tumour cells in my sentinel node and opted for full clearance. All of the other nodes were negative. I went into this thing wanting treatment to be as aggressive as possible and I have no regrets.
It was painful surgery - took a long time to recover. The mastectomy was a breeze in comparison. I have a compression sleeve from the lymphoedema clinic to wear as a precaution when I am doing anything strenuous or when I fly. So far I have no sign of arm lymphoedema but a bit of swelling in the armpit. I do have restricted movement in my right arm and am working on improving that.
Good luck with your decision - it is a tough one.
hi there i had sentinal node biopsy and they found involvement i 1/4 that they took. I have to now decide whether to have full clearance or go for radiotherapy on the area. I wouldlike the reasurance of the clearance but after the SNB recovery is slow so with everything else planned for me i still cant decide which to go for. Any advice would be much appreciated.
While im here any advice on cording would be much appreciated too as i seem to be having pains down my arm and the back of my hand but cant find much info on this SA
Hi mary hope your enjoying the sun, going for a fitting for my new boob tomorrow, not looking forward to that
Luv Pauline xxx
I was offered sentinel node biopsy but after reading about it decided I wasn’t happy with the level of accuracy (93% accuracy was the figure I found) so I asked the surgeon to do a full axillary node clearance when I had the WLE done.
They found a couple of positive nodes and afterwards the surgeon said he was very pleased that I had gone for full clearance straightaway. His words were ‘if I had missed those positive ones…’.
Apart from a seroma, which was uncomfortable but went away eventually after being drained a few times, the recovery really wasn’t bad at all. I started doing the exercises the first day after surgery and continued them for many months.
Good luck with your decision.
Anthi x
I micromets in first 2 nodes and had full clearance in January. It was pretty straight forward with no problems at all to date.
funny enough any pain I had after the wle and clearance was in the breast area when I had an infection, armpit area always felt odd like I had a loo roll stuffed there or something but no real pain…my cons said he didn’t do the snb either as he had been doing the ops for a long while and felt more confident doing them the usual way…mary x
Hi PT
At the time of surgery my surgeon said ‘if he found any trace of cancer he would have to go back in for a full clearance’. 2 micromets were found in the sentinel node. However I didn’t go on to have a full clearance but instead had rads to the axilla. The decision was made by the surgeon and not by me. I didn’t question the surgeon at the time - wasn’t in any fit state to do so and by the time I did get my head round things it was too late anyway. Was treated at a centre of excellence. I don’t seem to have any problems with my arm (surgery was in May 2006). Love xxx
Hi PT,
I had micrometastases in 1 out of the 9 lymph nodes they took whilst doing my mx (wasn’t offered SNB), no mention was made to me of full clearance or rads but was offered chemo based on that. Was told had I not had the micromets then probably wouldn’t have been offered chemo (presumably because tumour was grade 1 and 1.8 cm. I have issues with my shoulder following the 9 lymph nodes they took - its numb and I struggle with sleeping on it. No other side effects as yet but personally I don’t think I would have gone for clearance as my job is quite strenuous and I wouldn’t want the increased risk of lymphodema - I am happy that the chemo would have killed off any other stray cells outside the 9 nodes taken.
Good luck with your decision, x
Hi PT, Like you I was unsure of having the full axillary clerance. First time round my sentinel node was affected but the other four were clear. My surgeon explained that the cancer cells could have gone in a straight line from the sentinel node, bypassing lymph nodes nearby, and affected lymph nodes further away. I was very nervous about losing arm movement and having the the risk of lymphoedema following the full strip.
I went for the full strip and had a drain in for a week. The good news was I got home on day 3 after op with my drain still in. Altho the arm was a bit more painful second time round I still didn’t need any pain killers. Three weeks on the arm feels fine and and no stiffer than first time round. I just keep doing the exercises.
Good luck with your decision.
Edinburghperson
thankyou all for your comments, have been to see a leading breast cancer specialist in London for a 2nd opinion & he has advised me definately not to have further surgery so I am happy to go along with that. Waiting to see if I need chemo as well as radio but very happy not to be having further surgery.