spread to lymph nodes, should I be more worried?

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Hi,

Just a question for you lovely ladies…
I have been told that 3 of my lymph nodes are prominent. Does that mean that it has more than likely to have spread there?
If my cancer has spread to lymph nodes then should we be more worried?
I still do not know the stage or anything. They found a 2cm lump which is cancer and another lump and I am waiting to find out if it is cancer. I am penciled in for a masectomy on friday :frowning:

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Hi Babychops,
Just a little note, I have grade 3 ILC and my nodes where affected 3 of 20 came back positive, I had WLE and node clearance at the same time, If it has affected the nodes you will def need chemo and they will give you a ct scan etc to check all ok, try not to panic too much I did until the surgeon calmed me down and tole me the lymph nodes are like filters they work to stop the cells going elsewhere so if the nodes are affected they did their job … Lots of us ladies have node involvement it dosent mean the prognosis is any worse just stronger treatment plan and chemo is involved where as if not and the grade is lower not invasice etc you may have radiotherapy and meds not the chemo, Good luck, by the way my tumour was thought to be 1cm and was actually 3cm in the end but still had WLE and not mx as im large breasted and surgeon decided it would be fine, all margins came back clear etc

Take care Janice xx

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Hi
I was totally paranoid about this. When I pitched up at the breast clinic and they suspected BCi asked right away it it had gone to my nodes and they said from the ultrasound that there was " no evidence". I was also told I had two tumors. Roll on a few weeks and after my MX and SNB my cancer was much larger and one node was affected out of 10. I will get chemo ( but not Tax- a bit owrried about that as I thought if you have nodes u get FEC-T as opposed to FEC only). Anyway, there is nothing i can do about this. I’m told they only consider a cancer to be node heavy if there are more than 4 involved x x x

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I know this is a worrying time and your head is ‘all over the place’ but don’t fret too much about the possibility of any positive nodes.

I’m a few weeks short of 4 years out and can remember being worried sick when they found 3 affected nodes. You do get more ‘vigorous’ treatment if the nodes are affected but I realised that that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Four years on and my life is better than ever. I appreciate little things that I didn’t before and life is good.

It’s a difficult time but you will come through the other side.

Mal

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Hi Ladies,

Thank you for replying to me.

Sorry but I dont understand all the abbreviations :frowning:

What is WLE, MX, SNB, FEC-T, FEC?

I am just all new to this and do not know much about breast cancer so would be great if someone could explain.

Also thanks for putting my mind at ease. xxx Kelly <3

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Hi

There is a glossary of abbreviations on here somewhere which might help you get the lingo.

WLE is wide local excision ( lumpectomy)
mx is mastectomy,
snb is sentinel node biopsy ( where they test the node (s) most likely to have cancer in them first- this help them decide if there need to take out more nodes),
Fec and fec t are types of chemo. The t part is taxotere ( sometimes called docetaxol) tax for short- this is often, but not always given to women who have nodes involved. A lot of it depends on how estrogen receptive you are too and what grade the cancer is.

I would give your breast care nurse a ring and talk things through.

Good luck. Dx

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Hi Kelly

Here’s the link to the ‘Glossary’ which Midge has mentioned:

share.breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/list-of-useful-words-and-terms-p388303.html#p388303

You are welcome to call our helpline for further support and information on 0808 800 6000 the lines are open weekdays 9-5 and 9-2 Sat, our team are here for you

Best wishes
Lucy

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thank you so much for your help.

i will read up on this <3

have a good day xxx kelly

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Even if it has spread to the nodes, the survival stats are still very good these days. I had a 2cm lump and spread to lymph nodes - and that was nearly 8 years ago and I am fine.
i wish you all the best with your results and treatment.
sarah

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Thank you Sarah that I very good for me to know.
Well done for fighting it and being so positive.
<3 kelly x x x

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Hi Kelly
my cancer had spread to 10/18 lymph nodes, my onc seems fairly upbeat. I had a mastectomy last March, followed by chemo & rads… not wonderful, but do-able. I’m back at work now, and doing well… take one day at a time… God bless … Jane