Lymph nodes

[juliebtaurus]

HI I was diagnosed with bc on the 19th march and had a wide excision lumpectomy on the 3oth march with full node clearance as my surgeon said they looked swollen and suspicious up to third layer ( i was devastated) but at my review appt 7th April my surgeon told me the lump was 2.6 cm ER + PR+ still awaiting HER status as borderline and had to go for FISH staining to another hospital but all my lymph nodes were clear ( fantastic news).However i am starting chemo 6xFEC on Thursday 6th May followed by RADS and tamoxifen .Iam really apprehensive about chemo and its side -effects and just hope you ladies can give me some practical advice on what got you through .Any help please ? JULIE xx

[Midge]

Thanks Eileen. I too think that people should be more aware of the danger of buses- more warning posters, leaflets etc : ) . Happy Birthday for Tuesday. Dx

[eileen765]

Hi Midge. I had mx in december 2006, 4/14 nodes, with vascular invasion. her 2 positive... had 3 fec and 3 tax 15 rads and 18 months on herceptin. I was convined my time was up. I am still convinCed it is when it comes back not if. Every ache and pain is the dreaded bc. I hbave learned to live with it and am happy happy happy. I am going to be 60 next Tueseday and never thought I'd get my pension and bus pass. I still think I'd better hide under the bed just in cae....you know them buses that folk are always on about....the ones that one might be daft enough to step in front of. When i was going through treatment I was ready to pull anyones head off who said that it could be a bus rather than bc. As I have previousley stated I will not be run over by a bus ...personally I give ,em a wide berth knowing how dangerous they are lol. Hope this post cheers you up take care xxxxe eILEEN

[Midge]

It really does show that there are so many different factors and everyones cancer is unique to them. Goodluck with yout treatments everyone. Dx

[Guest user]

Hi midge

I was diagnosed with stage 2 BC in Nov 2006, had mx and 3 lymph nodes out in Dec 2006, 2 nodes had cancer so went on to have full clearance. A further 33 nodes were taken but were all clear. I had 8 epi/cmf chemo and because I was er positive I am now on Tamoxifen. I feel quite well now apart from some weight gain and general aches. I blame the Tamoxifen but I think a lot has to do with the menopause. I am 52 and I think the BC came at an awkward age (not that there ever is a good age) as I would have been having menopausal side effects anyway. The Chemo pushed me into an early menopause which I dont think helped. Hope your treatment goes well.

Take care

Carolyn x

[libby_2010]

Hi Ladies only just seen this thread can I join in? I have found this so interesting to see how this all varies for us. I was found to have a Grade 1, 12mm lump on over 50s screening then at the recall ultasound showed 1 axillary node. The surgeon thought this was very rare and I was sent for a bone scan, CT scan and MRI scan.The latter showed a definite axillary node ( the BCN said they all thought it would come back as inflammatory node) so now have had 6 xchemo, having MRI tomorrow am. then back to joint appt with onc and surgeon on 6/5.Will be having WLE and radiotherapy definitely but may/may not need 3x more chemos this grade 1 lump is so stubborn ( but no one can feel it) Sorry should have added that the MRI scan also showed multi-focal bits around the main tumour inc. size to 2 cm which also put the tumour into both lower quadrants, hence the need to shrink it. What a b..... all this LOL Jackie

[mizzy]

hi midge
i had 2 x wle, node clearance 7/21 involved with vascular invasion grade 3 tumor her2 positive, i also had bone/chest scan before treatment, i had 3 x fec 3 x tax 25 rads and 18 herceptin in that order finishing xmas eve 08 and so far so good, i was really scared about the lymph nodes at first but hopefully with all the treatment any strays have been zapped... 'mnc' i so agree with you about taxotere although a lady i used to sit with found it quite easy.
good luck to all Mizzy xx

[Janice]

The first time I had bc was back in 1985, no node involvement just had lumpectomy and rads. I had a recurrence in 2005 and immediately had a bone scan, CT scan and ultrasound along with x rays. I had a second recurrence last year and had node involvement, again I had bone scan and CT scan along with x rays. I think when it comes back it could mean it has spread and that is when all the scans are done.

Mine was on the opposite side last time and I was concerned about how it had got from one side to the other without affecting in between. My son in law made me smile he said its like a train stopping at lots of stations but people don't always get off.

I don't mind having the scans its waiting for the results that's scary.

Take care.

Jan

[elinda45]

Hi Midge

I had 9/17 nodes with cancer and had a full clearance. As I understand it there are 3 layers of nodes and the cancer was in the first two. Interestingly I had no vascular involvement.

I had a bone scan and CT scan prior to treatment. This was because the surgeon could actually feel enlarged lymph nodes in my arm pit. In my hospital they prioritise cancer patients and I had the scans done quickly - I know it was less then 2 weeks. You could ring the BC nurse to talk it through.

hope it all goes well
Elinda x

[Midge]

Thanks everyone- am going to try not to get too hung up on this as I have along wait to find out if there are any more. I spoke to the helpline earlier and she said to think about in terms of the doc's just having more information to determine the treatment you need. Knowledge is power. Dx

[mnc]

Hi

I had mastectomy December 09. I had a grade 3 tumour ER and PR positive and HER2Positive plus had one lymph node positive out of SNB and because of that one cancerous node I had all the lymph nodes removed and they found one more.

I am having my fifth chemo on Friday and had my first Herceptin last week. Will have radiiotherapy at end of June and Tamoxifen next year.

Herceptin was a doddle. FEC was fine too but Taxotere is another story.

Good luck.

[katinthemiddle]

Hiya

I had 2cm tumour, mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy which came back cancerous, so took out remainder of nodes which thankfully were all clear. I was never offered any scans and I'm not sure if it was because of only one node involved or whether different hospitals do things differently. I'm now on Chemo then tamoxifen for 5 years.

Krissy x

[Midge]

Thats ok melly i didn't make myself very clear.

Finty I thought they were in branches, so that although the 2 that are clear shouldn't have( hopefully ) any behind them, the 1 that is infected could have carried it to the branches behind it iykwim. But am def not an expert on this.

Any further info greatly appreciated. dx

[Guest user]

Hi midge, sorry I misunderstood your post, I thought you had already had clearance. xx

[finty]

Hi Midge - I think that it is very unlikely they will find more nodes involved. My understanding is that they are in strands, and they couldn't get to the next one without infecting the first few. If I am wrong I am sure someone will be along soon to tell me.

[Midge]

Finty- I suppose my worry is that when they do the clearance they will find more than 1 node.

melly2- it is just over 2 weeks to the clearance then about 10 days for the results. My negative brain rounded that up to a month.

Thanks dx

[Guest user]

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[Guest user]

I was never offered any scans.The hospital I was under only did scans if 4 or more nodes were involved or blood tests showed anything.My liver function test was abnormal so I did have CT scan which showed fatty liver (nice).I would ask why your results are taking so long I think a month is a long time to wait,I had mine within 2 weeks.

best wishes Melxx

[finty]

Hi Midge

I know everyone hopes for no node involvement, and I understand how disappointed you are, but only one node is still a very good prognosis.
You could even argue (and please don't take this the wrong way) it's the best of both possible worlds - for a tiny extra risk you get masses more treatment that's going to maximise your chances of no recurrance.

Good luck x

[Midge]

Hi ladies
FabForty maybe the grade of cancer means they would rather go for chemo asap then do the clearance later. For me chemo is delayed by the op- but I'm only guessing that is the reason.

melly2- I have vascular invasion too. The BCN said that is how the cells travelled to the node in the first place. They had to get there sommehow so I suppose that makes sense.

Thanks dx

[Guest user]

Hi midge,I had grade 2 1.7cm and had 1 node involved and vascular invasion.I had chemo rads and am now taking tamoxifen.I finished treatment 2 years ago and all is well as far as I know.Good luck with your results and treatment.

best wishes Mel xx

[Guest user]

Hi, I had mx in feb and sentinel node biopsy - grade 3, and 2 nodes removed, one had traces of cancer. CT & MRI scans were done before my op & were all clear.

I'm now having 6 cycles of chemo and will have full node clearance op in August.

The doc said it is just belt & braces really to avoid recurrence.

It seems treatments are given in different orders at different hospitals doesn't it?

[Midge]

Thanks ladies for the quick response. dx

[Guest user]

Hello,
I had 2 lymph nodes affected,and I nagged and pestered to get ct scan done straight away.I had been told I would have to wait and mine was grade 3 and 6 cm tumour(more aggressive and larger than they expected)My nagging paid off and I had a clear scan and the rest of the lymphs from the full clearance were clear as well.This really made me feel better.I am in the middle of chemo at the moment and my onc says I now have a good prognosis.Hope you get things done as quickly as you want.

[marial]

Hi There Midge,
I had no node involvement either time, but a friend did. Had one out of three, so they took the rest out, and they were all negative. She is now starting rads, but apparently won't need chemo, as her margins were fine too. Hope this gives you some hope.
Good luck, take care of your self
Love Maria

[Midge]

Got my results yesterday and am a bit gutted. I kind of feel that I am always going to be on the wrong end of the statistics. Only 10% of women with small cancers at grade 2 have node involvement but I am one of them. They took 3 at the SNB but 1 had cancer in it. The other results were quite positive- it was smaller than the thought, the margins were well clear, it is still grade 2 and I will get herceptin.

it is not that I was hung up about having chemo- that was always on the cards but. I just feel that it is now out there and it will be a month before I get the results to find out how many. I have asked for the bone scans etc now instead of after the clearance results but I don't know if the consultant has agreed.

Would be grateful to know how many of you also have node involvment and how you are doing. debx