I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who has undergone a mastectomy and sentinal node biopsy at the same time and then went in for another operation.
From what I have read most people seem to have nodes removed at the same time as the mastectomy or total clearance. I dont understand how they decide who to do this to? Sorry if Im being thick- I just cant get my head round how they know before the op if the lymph nodes are affected or not. The lady who shared the same ward as me with same type of cancer (HER2 positive) had total clearance.
Any experiencies on this one would be most appreciated- I will find out on monday if the nodes are affected too.
Whilst you wait for the other forum users to reply with their experiences you may find it helpful to give the BCC helpline a call. Here you are able to talk through any thing you are unsure about with one of our trained members of staff. The number is free phone 0808 800 6000 and the line is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturdays 9am to 2pm.
Hi YCM1980
Dont know what happened earlier, however here I go again
I have had a double mastectomy and a sentinal node biopsy (SNB) three weeks ago. I went in for the mx on 2 Oct but prior to having op I went to get an SNB whereby they inject the tumour with a radioactive dye, I then went back to my hospital room and waited for approx 1 hour for the dye to take effect. After an hour I went to X-ray where they X-rayed my breast and marked me up in the area where the node was. (X marks the spot). I then went for the op. As I understand it, the dye marks the nodes that have been affected. Hope this helps.
Angela x
Hi Angela
Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems to make sense what they did to you so that they could clear it out from all areas at once. I think I’ll just need to wait until Monday to get a bit more info on my situation- I suppose its different for every individual.
Yvonne x
You might end up having more than one operation on your nodes if you have sentinel node biopsy. The biopsy is done where they think you probably don’t have positive lymph nodes ie. they are likely not to have any cancer cells in them. However, in a proportion of cases there is cancer in them. If there is, they opt to clear the rest out, after getting the biopsy results.
Hi Yvonne, following on from Mole, I had a snb with mastectomy and after the biopsy results cancer was in one node out of four taken, so six weeks later (sometimes less I believe, but it was over Xmas) I had full clearance. I believe that about 25% of ladies need further surgery. As mole says, they only offer snb to ladies who they don’t think cancer has spread, ie. no lump under arm and nothing on ultrasound.
Liz
A couple of weeks ago I had lumpectomy and SNB, I went back for results last Wednesday , they removed the breast tumour with clear margins but 2 out of the 5 lymph nodes were cancerous so I’m back in to hospital on 19th Nov for full clearance. My sons will be 18 and 20 and I’ll probably still be in hospital for their birthdays on 20th and 23rd.