Confused

Hi Hut

Is it the same surgeon who is doing your surgery tomorrow that's requested a FNA? If so perhaps you could ask him tomorrow when he comes for a pre-surgery chat with you.

I noticed as well that you've put in your profile that having had the radioactive dye 2 nodes have been identified. Are they in a different place to where the nodes that were identified on your CT scan are? If so, this might be why both the SLNB and FNA are going ahead, but I'm only guessing.

The best people to ask would be your hospital team tomorrow before you have the surgery.

I hope everything goes well and I'll be thinking of you.

x

Hi Hut, I’d like to echo @latchbrooks comments about asking your team and that we’d be guessing.

I hope you will get an opportunity to ask the surgeon or nurse tomorrow to set your mind at rest, my initial reaction on reading this was that your team are being thorough. I wasn't sure if your question was why having had a CT scan showing enlarged nodes do you need further investigation or wether your question was why do you need both?

I’ve not had a SLNB as my diagnosis was with no known primary but with many enlarged lymph nodes showing up on a CT scan, I then had a further CT scan to guide a needle biopsy to check the largest enlarged node to verify what it was. Not all enlarged nodes are cancer and they needed for me to verify if cancer what type. I few years later prior to surgery to remove a node that was showing as enlarged on a CT scan, I had an ultrasound guided needle biopsy again to check if melanoma before that surgery could happen. 

Your profile said that 3 areas were showing up as enlarged but only 2 lit up prior to tomorrow’s SLNB, so I was wondering if the FNA is for the third area to be sure. Only your team can tell you for sure what their thinking is. Prior to my op the surgeon seemed to rush through the paperwork but still asked if I had any questions, but the specialist nurses also sit in on the multidisciplinary meeting so if the surgeon doesn’t have time to give your question a full reply the nurses should be able to get a reply for you. 

I’m wishing you lots of luck for tomorrow’s WLE and SNLB, that it goes to time and that you have things to keep you occupied as you wait. For my op I was the last of a morning session, my op was 1pm but I had to be there at 7am. I think it’s good to get in a head space of it’s great to move forward with all the investigations so that things happen to deal with what’s happening. 

Hi, 

Just an update. I had the SLNB and WLE 2 weeks ago. 2 lymph nodes were removed, they weren't the ones which were enlarged on CT scans. I went for FNA today on nodes which were enlarged on CT scans, which was both sides of neck, occipital lobe and right armpit, but radiographer couldn't find any swollen nodes. He did say the lump on the side of my neck was a small cyst like nodule and nothing to be worried about. He did question why I was there after I had already had SLNB.