surgery next week question on lymph node removal

Prissy777

I have my surgery next week and my doctor was going to do a complete hysterectomy.    The one thing he is not doing is removing all of the lymph nodes.  Instead he is doing a sentinel lymph node biopsy. has anyone had that and is it accurate? or should I push for more lymph nodes to be removed? I read the sentinel lobe biopsy does not work as well in endometrial cancer does anyone know if that's true  I am a little worried  please help

AWK

The run up to my surgery was the most stressful part

Hi!  I had all of the lady parts and pelvic lymph nodes removed in my surgery in April 2013.  Going in the plan didn't include removal of the pelvic lymph nodes but once the surgeon got in there and found my cancer was more extensive than expected he removed them all.  We discussed it in advance as he was going to do needle biopsies but if there was more involvement we wanted to avoid another surgery.  And I wanted them all out if that was the case.  Good thing as in the end three of the lymph nodes were malignant, two were visibly suspicious at the surgery.  I also have a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer. My journey continues with treatments etc but I am doing well. Those early days dealing with the unknown were among the worst.

Keeping you in my prayers.  You can do this.  Stay strong.  Hugs.  Anne

Kaleena

Nodes and Such

It depends on the doctor how many lymph nodes they will take out.  With me the staging surgery they took out about 25.   At the second surgery they took 11.   Since you are getting a complete hysterectomy, ask if they are removing your omentum and your appendix.    They removed these from me at my staging surgery because my physician at the time indicated that these two places were a place of concern for recurrences.

while I am not sure what type of surgery you are having (traditional or DaVinci), it is not unusual for doctors to take samples and have them immediately biopsied while they are in there.   They have a quick test and of course if it is positive they will remove it immediately.   When the samples are negative, they still take the sample to the laboratory for further more in depth testing.  The doctors pick and choose which nodes to remove for testing.   That happened to me when they took out the 11 nodes.  One came back a week later with microscopic cells.   But since it was removed, I have been on a wait and see approach since then.  By the way, that was back in Feb of 2010.

My best to you on your upcoming surgery.

NoTimeForCancer

I would suggest you ask the

I would suggest you ask the doctor.  They are used to people reading things online and having questions, they may not like it but too bad, it is your body and your life.  If you approach it as you having concerns they will absolutely take the time for you. 

Every doctor does things differently.  I had no idea what my doctor took but when I went back for my post-surgery check up so I could be released to drive, the oncologist associated with my gyn onc's office looked at my report and said, "you have a hysterectomy plus" because of the number of lymph nodes taken. 

Give the office a call.  You want answers and they will understand.

bluesmama

I had sentinel lymph node mapping

Hi Prissy,

 

I had sentinel lymph node mapping done. They ended up taking 4 lymph nodes and all were negative. I was at Stage 1A/Grade 1 so the chances of lymph node spread was already unlikely and low.

Lymph nodes serve a very important function. IMHO, their removal (when applicable) should be done as conservatively as possible. What worked for me though may not work for others. It really depends on your case history.

The mapping is supposed to help the surgeon visually identify lymph nodes that could have been impacted by cancer. What you don't want is your surgeon to take too many out at random. My surgeon also took a look around the organs in the area too. He said if he felt something was unusual, he'd biopsy it or take it out if appropriate. Make sure you discuss this piece with your doctor as well.

Some videos below helped me decide. I was also treated at the below institution and have been very pleased with my recovery under their care. 

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/sentinel-lymph-node-mapping-gynecologic-0

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/sentinel-lymph-node-mapping-gynecologic

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/unique-cases-use-fluorescent-dye-sentinel-lymph-node-mapping

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/clinical-update/sln-detection-uterine-cervical-malignancies

 

Prissy777

bluesmama said:

I had sentinel lymph node mapping

Hi Prissy,

 

I had sentinel lymph node mapping done. They ended up taking 4 lymph nodes and all were negative. I was at Stage 1A/Grade 1 so the chances of lymph node spread was already unlikely and low.

Lymph nodes serve a very important function. IMHO, their removal (when applicable) should be done as conservatively as possible. What worked for me though may not work for others. It really depends on your case history.

The mapping is supposed to help the surgeon visually identify lymph nodes that could have been impacted by cancer. What you don't want is your surgeon to take too many out at random. My surgeon also took a look around the organs in the area too. He said if he felt something was unusual, he'd biopsy it or take it out if appropriate. Make sure you discuss this piece with your doctor as well.

Some videos below helped me decide. I was also treated at the below institution and have been very pleased with my recovery under their care. 

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/sentinel-lymph-node-mapping-gynecologic-0

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/sentinel-lymph-node-mapping-gynecologic

http://www.mskcc.org/videos/unique-cases-use-fluorescent-dye-sentinel-lymph-node-mapping

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/clinical-update/sln-detection-uterine-cervical-malignancies

 

Thank you so much everyone I

Thank you so much everyone I feel better now

Hopeful162

Prissy777 said:

Thank you so much everyone I

Thank you so much everyone I feel better now

Maybe you've already had your

Maybe you've already had your surgery by now, but I just thought I'd chime in to say that at least in my case with USPC, my surgeon removed all visible lymph nodes to be safe, as well as did a pelvic wash and removed a chunk of omentum for biopsy. Thirteen were removed, all negative, but I have had no ill effects, thank goodness. He told me that sentinel node removal is not very reliable in the abdomen but is more used for breast cancer.