Lymph nodes again
Lymph nodes again Does anyone know how its decided how many lymph nodes to take out to check, everyone seems different.
When I had bc many years ago I was told that they were clear, don’t know how many were taken.
This time I’ve been told that 0/3 were positive, good news but how do they know others are not effected.
Some of you seem to have dozens checked, I wonder how many we actually have.
If this is a silly question just ignore me.
Jan
Lymph Nodes Hi Jan
I to have very often wondered about this because everyone seems to be different. I had 18 taken out of which 2 was infected which is why I had to have chemo.
Sorry cannot help you more.
Janet
Everyone has a different amount I was told that I had 13 removed, one contained cancer. I was also told that everyone varies on the amount of lymph nodes they have, it could be between 3 and 30. So it depends on the individual on how many they remove. They usually take them all if the cancer is present in one or more they remove them all.
I also read that new lymph nodes can grow back after time, but don’t quote me on that.
Because mine had spread to one lymph node I had chemo and radio.
I hope this helps.
Karen x
Total axillary removal vs SNB SNB was not available at my hospital 3 yrs ago when I was dx.
I had a lumpectomy and “sample node removal”. They removed 8, 2 of which were cancerous, so I went back a month later for total axillary removal - another one was cancerous. As far as I know from the pathology report, I had 18 nodes in total removed, 3 were affected. I have had no recurrence problems since then. From what little I have read about SNB, a lot of which I don’t understand technically, I am glad I had all my nodes removed and trust they got out all the cancer. I am happy with my decision, although the post-op period was difficult in not being able to use my arm.
Go with whatever feels right for you - we are all different in how we approach and deal with the various options we have.
Liz.
My understanding is that the main nodes are in a lump of fatty tissue which is removed so the surgeon doesnot know how many have been removed. The number of nodes vary enormously. My surgeon told me about 20 were removed but my path report showed that 6 out of 14 were positive.
Kelley