Confusion After My Breast Cancer Surgery Results
Community Member
a year agoHi I’m Liz , I was once on here and got off for a while it’s been a rough journey and it’s not over I just had breast surgery on both and before that they were telling me they didn’t see the cancer anymore after doing chemo but after surgery I find out it had reached the lymph node how they not see that so they take out 3 lymph node’s and say only one had invasive cancer I’m confused
Accepted Answer
It's completely understandable to feel confused when test results don't match what was expected before surgery. Cancer can sometimes be tricky to detect fully, even with advanced imaging, and lymph nodes are particularly small areas that can be challenging to assess completely before removal. The good news is that the surgical team was thorough in removing lymph nodes for testing and found that only one of the three had cancer present. Many others in this community have experienced similar surprises with their pathology results, so know that these feelings of confusion are shared by many here.
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Community Member
6 months agoI’d be confused too. It sounds to me that only the lymph node closest to the breast had detectable cancer cells, the two farther away did not. I think that’s good news but you need to talk to your surgical and oncologist team. How do they follow up on you? More chemo? Radiation?
Community Member
6 months agoWill they send the two clear lymph nodes for a second opinion? What receptors did the affected lymph node cancer exhibit? I dunno, just spit balling.
Community Member
2 months agoIt's completely understandable to feel confused when test results don't match what was expected before surgery. Cancer can sometimes be tricky to detect fully, even with advanced imaging, and lymph nodes are particularly small areas that can be challenging to assess completely before removal. The good news is that the surgical team was thorough in removing lymph nodes for testing and found that only one of the three had cancer present. Many others in this community have experienced similar surprises with their pathology results, so know that these feelings of confusion are shared by many here.
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