Very Worried! First Post Op Scan Showed one cancerous paratrachial Lymph Node

ShellyMac

Hi all.

I am so thankful to have all of you "out there" who know what I am going through. I am hoping some of you have a situation similar to mine and can some advice and maybe peace of mind.

I was diagnosed with EC last Sept., underwent 5 rounds of chemo and 5 weeks of radiation in Nov., and had a MIE in January. My prognosis after surgery was excellent as the tumor was dead and all lymph nodes were negative. I am a 47 year old female although I was 46 at the time. My first Post operative scan showed a hot lymph which proved to be cancerous after a biopsy.

My surgeon, Raphael Bueno, of Brigham & Women's Hosp. In Boston, feels confident that he can remove the node with another less invasive surgery. This time a Head and Neck cancer specialist will be in the OR with Dr. Bueno, whonis a very highly regarded Thoracic surgeon. Dr. Bueno's prognosis is very positive as it is one node and it appears to be very contained. The Surgery will be followed by more chemo and radiation but I am scared!

I am wondering if any of you have had similar experiences so soon after the MIE.

Thank you and God Bless you all!!

Shelly

beowulf88

Congrats on the excellent
Congrats on the excellent results. With all the sadness on this site it is good to see someone that has good news that we can all feel good about.
Good luck and thanks, Bill

Unknown

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Joel C

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good
Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good memory, my situation is/was very similar to yours. In fact like you I even had my surgery at Brigham’s. My surgeon for both the MIE and paratrachical node removal was Dr. Scott Swanson a colleague of Dr. Bueno. After much debate between my medical & radiation oncologist’s and surgeon we decided on surgery to remove the node followed by six rounds of EOX chemo. Radiation was not offered because with the node removed there would be nothing to radiate. The surgery went fine but due to an allergic reaction I was only able to tolerate two rounds of the chemo. The surgery was in October 2011 and follow up scans 2/12 and 5/12 were clean. If you have any question please do not hesitate to ask.

Good luck,
Joel

TerryV

Joel C said:

Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good
Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good memory, my situation is/was very similar to yours. In fact like you I even had my surgery at Brigham’s. My surgeon for both the MIE and paratrachical node removal was Dr. Scott Swanson a colleague of Dr. Bueno. After much debate between my medical & radiation oncologist’s and surgeon we decided on surgery to remove the node followed by six rounds of EOX chemo. Radiation was not offered because with the node removed there would be nothing to radiate. The surgery went fine but due to an allergic reaction I was only able to tolerate two rounds of the chemo. The surgery was in October 2011 and follow up scans 2/12 and 5/12 were clean. If you have any question please do not hesitate to ask.

Good luck,
Joel

It's good to see you, Joel!
So glad to hear that your follow-up scans have been clean! I was wondering how you have been. I recall your concerns about facing more treatment after the original surgery. Pleased to see that it has worked out well.

Hugs to you and the family!

Terry
PROUD wife to Nick, age 49
lost battle to FEC, 06/19/12

ShellyMac

Joel C said:

Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good
Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good memory, my situation is/was very similar to yours. In fact like you I even had my surgery at Brigham’s. My surgeon for both the MIE and paratrachical node removal was Dr. Scott Swanson a colleague of Dr. Bueno. After much debate between my medical & radiation oncologist’s and surgeon we decided on surgery to remove the node followed by six rounds of EOX chemo. Radiation was not offered because with the node removed there would be nothing to radiate. The surgery went fine but due to an allergic reaction I was only able to tolerate two rounds of the chemo. The surgery was in October 2011 and follow up scans 2/12 and 5/12 were clean. If you have any question please do not hesitate to ask.

Good luck,
Joel

Thank you Sherri and Joel
Thank you Sherri and Joel for your replies. At this time it looks like the surgery will take place the last week of this month. When Dr. Bueno called me he did sound eager to act on thisnasnsoon as possible. As for post op chemo/rad, he was going to discuss that plan with my oncologist who is local. (I live on the New Hampshire seacoast so Bostonis an hour commute for us.). As I mentioned he will be bringing Head and Neck cancer specialist, Dr. Inninno, also of Brigham, into the OR so that does give me hope. we will be meeting with Dr. inninno next week.

How long were you hospitalized after surgery to remove the node? Dr. Bueno assures me this surgery is nowhere as severe as the MIE.......did you find that to be true? I have just truly begun to feel like myself again and I am not looking forward to more post surgical recovery but if it saves my life it is certainly worth it! He is optimistic and I am trying to be as well.

I am so happy that your scans have come back clean and I pray for you and your family that that continues to be the case. Any more advice or input would be appreciated.

Thanks to you Sherri for your continued dedication to this site. You are a wealth of knowledge and you have helped so many people.

God Bless!

Shelly

AngieD

ShellyMac said:

Thank you Sherri and Joel
Thank you Sherri and Joel for your replies. At this time it looks like the surgery will take place the last week of this month. When Dr. Bueno called me he did sound eager to act on thisnasnsoon as possible. As for post op chemo/rad, he was going to discuss that plan with my oncologist who is local. (I live on the New Hampshire seacoast so Bostonis an hour commute for us.). As I mentioned he will be bringing Head and Neck cancer specialist, Dr. Inninno, also of Brigham, into the OR so that does give me hope. we will be meeting with Dr. inninno next week.

How long were you hospitalized after surgery to remove the node? Dr. Bueno assures me this surgery is nowhere as severe as the MIE.......did you find that to be true? I have just truly begun to feel like myself again and I am not looking forward to more post surgical recovery but if it saves my life it is certainly worth it! He is optimistic and I am trying to be as well.

I am so happy that your scans have come back clean and I pray for you and your family that that continues to be the case. Any more advice or input would be appreciated.

Thanks to you Sherri for your continued dedication to this site. You are a wealth of knowledge and you have helped so many people.

God Bless!

Shelly

Great to hear from you, Joel!!
I've been wondering and hoping all was going well with you. Congratulations on clean scans!!! Keep them coming.
Angie

paul61

Joel C said:

Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good
Hi Shelly,
Bailey has a good memory, my situation is/was very similar to yours. In fact like you I even had my surgery at Brigham’s. My surgeon for both the MIE and paratrachical node removal was Dr. Scott Swanson a colleague of Dr. Bueno. After much debate between my medical & radiation oncologist’s and surgeon we decided on surgery to remove the node followed by six rounds of EOX chemo. Radiation was not offered because with the node removed there would be nothing to radiate. The surgery went fine but due to an allergic reaction I was only able to tolerate two rounds of the chemo. The surgery was in October 2011 and follow up scans 2/12 and 5/12 were clean. If you have any question please do not hesitate to ask.

Good luck,
Joel

So nice to hear things are going well
Joel,

It is great to hear from you and wonderful to hear that your are getting clean scans!!!

May there be many more!!!

Best Regards,

Paul Adams,
Grand Blanc, Michigan

Joel C

paul61 said:

So nice to hear things are going well
Joel,

It is great to hear from you and wonderful to hear that your are getting clean scans!!!

May there be many more!!!

Best Regards,

Paul Adams,
Grand Blanc, Michigan

Thank you!

Thank you to my friends for the warm hello, I really appreciate that. I’m happy for all that are doing well and pray this continues, for the people that things are not going so well my heart breaks. I know I don’t post very often but I check the site every day to check on you guys. I sometimes think the site is more a place of despair than hope and don’t want to add to the despair. I’m back to work part time and just taking things one day at time. My next CT scan is mid-September so we’ll see what happens then. Regardless of what the scan shows I don’t plan on any additional treatment and will just make the most of what is dealt to me.

Shelly,
I had the para-tracheal node removed on a Thursday and was out of Brigham’s by Saturday evening. They wanted me to stick around because my right lung was resisting re-inflating after the second time being collapsed for surgery in less than a year. When I told them that I was walking out with or without their approval they finally signed me out. From that point on the recovery went well although I still have pain in my right rib cage. I sent you a PM and if you have any questions or just need someone to talk to please don’t hesitate to ask.

Terry,
I’m so very sorry about Nick’s passing. When you posted that Nick passed it really shook me. Nick passed on 6/19, on my birthday and made his passing even more poignant for me. When I think of you I think of my wife and children and worry about how they will do without me around to help out. I know the world goes on and have faith that they will move forward and be fine. I hope you and your family are well

Best regards,
Joel

TerryV

Joel C said:

Thank you!

Thank you to my friends for the warm hello, I really appreciate that. I’m happy for all that are doing well and pray this continues, for the people that things are not going so well my heart breaks. I know I don’t post very often but I check the site every day to check on you guys. I sometimes think the site is more a place of despair than hope and don’t want to add to the despair. I’m back to work part time and just taking things one day at time. My next CT scan is mid-September so we’ll see what happens then. Regardless of what the scan shows I don’t plan on any additional treatment and will just make the most of what is dealt to me.

Shelly,
I had the para-tracheal node removed on a Thursday and was out of Brigham’s by Saturday evening. They wanted me to stick around because my right lung was resisting re-inflating after the second time being collapsed for surgery in less than a year. When I told them that I was walking out with or without their approval they finally signed me out. From that point on the recovery went well although I still have pain in my right rib cage. I sent you a PM and if you have any questions or just need someone to talk to please don’t hesitate to ask.

Terry,
I’m so very sorry about Nick’s passing. When you posted that Nick passed it really shook me. Nick passed on 6/19, on my birthday and made his passing even more poignant for me. When I think of you I think of my wife and children and worry about how they will do without me around to help out. I know the world goes on and have faith that they will move forward and be fine. I hope you and your family are well

Best regards,
Joel

Thank you for the kind words....
There is life after loss, but it comes hard. We are adapting slowly and will someday be fine again. Sleep and meals aren't the same without Nick, that's for sure.

You know, Joel - it's not necessarily the helping out that is missed the most. It's the small things. For me, I miss holding Nick's hand or the feel of his chin stubble on my cheek, the sound of his laughter. For my 10 y.o. son, he wants to know who will watch war and John Wayne movies with him, who will fish with him. For my 12 y.o. daughter, she is missing having a "balancing" parent in the house Preteen years are fun - NOT. Truly, she misses Nick interacting with her - teaching her archery, or crafting with her. So I guess we all miss the same thing - TIME with Nick. Give generously of your time - it's the most precious thing we all have.

I will keep positive thoughts and prayers in place for your September scan. I hope that one - and all others in the future - are good news.

With love & hugs!

Terry
PROUD wife to Nick
lost battle to FEC, 06/19/12