Feeling scared

FormerMember over 4 years ago

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I went with my husband for the results of my second biopsy ( I was diagnosed with DCIS low grade three weeks ago) and the surgeon said it was positive so she s recommending a therapeutic mammoplasty which we d briefly discussed at the last appointment. She also said that she ll take out the sentinel node plus one or two others at the same time which she hadn’t mentioned at the last appointment and possible radiotherapy if I needed it ( which wasn’t mentioned either) . So I m worried she thinks it’s spread. But if my DCIS is low grade and hasn’t got the ability at the moment to spread why is she checking the lymph nodes? I guess it’s a good thing to be cautious but it frightened me a bit. . Also I asked for the other one to be matched in size at the same time and she said she ll try but may not be able to do it at the same time depending on her schedule. I know the other side will be cosmetic to match the reduced one but I m scared I ll have to go around lopsided for months or years.. has anyone had just the one side treated and made smaller and how long did you have to wait for the other side to be reduced to match? I didn’t have the support of a breast care nurse as they were very short staffed that day so there were so many unanswered questions.thanks for reading this

-Ana- over 4 years ago

Hi, as I was told, the lymph nodes, which are pea sized glands in the armpit, are arranged in a chain. They act like exit doors from the breast so if the cancer or DCIS is going to escape, that’s the route they take. Removing the 5th and 6th nodes closes the door for any cancers developing in the breast escaping (not 100% but the vast majority of the time). If any cancer has already escaped the breast, checking the lymph nodes is also a belts and braces check. Of course DCIS is technically a pre cancer but scans and biopsies are never perfect - not to scare you but my DCIS turned out to be invasive cancer instead, when they operated, so they are never certain until after it’s removed and pathology can test it. My surgeon tells me that removing the 5th and 6th sentinel nodes has pushed the survival rates if breast cancer right up - more than almost anything else they do as treatment. It’s not a big op and greatly increases your safety, so most consider it worth it. Hope this explanation helps even though I’m not a doctor or nurse or anything.

FormerMember over 4 years ago in reply to -Ana-

Hi thanks for the explanation and sorry your DCIS turned out to be invasive but it sounds like the belt and braces approach worked for you. I guess I m worried about what the nodes will show but it’s better than not knowing at all !

-Ana- over 4 years ago in reply to FormerMember

I’m in good hands - having a mastectomy soon to sort the invasive cancer. But as for knowing v not knowing, my surgeon said the most dangerous cancer of all is the one you don’t know about. If they find it they can treat it - especially if it’s caught relatively early. Of course we all get a little terrified waiting fir those results, but I try to cross one bridge at a time. Here’s hoping we both have clear lymph nodes

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