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I had a mastectomy on 3/28/08 which did indicate clear margins. A sentinal node tested negative for cancer cells. Pathology also indicates I am ER and PR positive; HER-2 negative.
On Friday, 4/7 I will have a bone scan and CT of the chest and abdomen; on 4/14, an MRI of the brain for staging before I meet with an Oncologist to decide if further treatment is needed.
I have one practical concern. I still have a drainage tube. When I saw the surgeon yesterday, I was told to keep lumpy areas at each end of the mastectomy incision draining,,,like How? I do massage these areas toward the center of the incision but they do not go away.
My other concern is that I wonder if a single negative sentinel node was enough to be sure there is no node involvement.
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Want to leave a comment? Login or Register now!Prior to undergoing a sentinel lymph node biopsy, you are injected with a radioactive dye. The surgeon will wait for this dye to travel to the tumor area.
This is effective in two ways:
The surgeon can visibly see where the dye is going...If they notice blue dye traveling to one or more lymph nodes, they will remove those involved.
Secondly, the surgeon will use what is called a Geiger counter. This is a handheld device that the surgeon uses to scan over the axilla area. It will make a beeping sound if it picks up radioactive activity...meaning that the dye has traveled to the lymph node...and might be active with cancer.
A surgeon may remove one, two, etc...or all nodes depending on these factors.
When pathology reviews the removed nodes, they are able to detect whether or not cancer is actually present.
Does this make sense?
By the way, from what you have shared about your pathology, it seems like you will have a prognostically good outcome.
Regarding your drain...keep it in place as long as you are having more than 30cc's of drainage a day. If it is draining and you remove the drain...where will it go after that? It will back up in the tissue and might need to be drained with a needle later.
(not as common)!!!
Hope that this helps Marti!
Good luck on your tests!!
AliceLet me be techncial for a second.... Prior to undergoing a sentinel lymph node biopsy, you are injected with a radioactive dye. The surgeon will wait for this dye to travel to the tumor area. This is effective in two ways: The surgeon can visibly see where the dye is going...If they notice blue dye traveling to one or more lymph nodes, they will remove those involved. Secondly, the surgeon will use what is called a Geiger counter. This is a handheld device that the surgeon uses to scan over the axilla area. It will make a beeping sound if it picks up radioactive activity...meaning that the dye has traveled to the lymph node...and might be active with cancer. A surgeon may remove one, two, etc...or all nodes depending on these factors. When pathology reviews the removed nodes, they are able to detect whether or not cancer is actually present. Does this make sense? By the way, from what you have shared about your pathology, it seems like you will have a prognostically good outcome. Regarding your drain...keep it in place as long as you are having more than 30cc's of drainage a day. If it is draining and you remove the drain...where will it go after that? It will back up in the tissue and might need to be drained with a needle later. (not as common)!!! Hope that this helps Marti! Good luck on your tests!! Alice
Having gone through Chemo, these are all tests that need to be run prior to starting treatment. This will also give the oncologist more info on how to proceed with treatment.
I had MRM left side only on 12/03/07, prior to surgery the surgeon felt the nodes under my arms and the nodes across the collar. At that time he decided to take out all of the nodes under my left arm. I ended up with 27 removed and out of the 27, 14 of them had cancer. I also had my drain tube in for what seemed like a long time. Basically as long as you are still having a lot of drainage, it will stay in. Having gone through Chemo, these are all tests that need to be run prior to starting treatment. This will also give the oncologist more info on how to proceed with treatment.
LauraI had no nodes....double mast...drainage in for 21 days....ER and PR positive, HER 2-NEG....my onc told me the risks of chemo outweighed the benefits...so I take Tamoxefen only. NO CHEMO. Why Can't they stage you now...How big and what kind of Cancer did you have? Was it lobular or ductal and was in invasive or in situ. Chances are you are very early stage if it hasn't gone to the nodes...that is a good thing. Let me know...I might be able to give you more info. I am surprised your doc is making you go through all the other CT and bone scan stuff. Laura