Lymph nodes

hummingbyrd
hummingbyrd Member Posts: 950 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am 5 years out of lumpectomy with lymphadenectomy (27 lymph nodes first 13 were +) Now here's my question...da ta da LOL
Why do they do lymphadenectomy's?
hummingbyrd

Comments

  • tlmac
    tlmac Member Posts: 272 Member
    #2
    Hi hummingbyrd,
    I was told it was to see if my cancer had spread and this is the most common avenue. I was also told cancer isn't like checkers, it won't skip a node. If they can, they cut till they get clear nodes and hope for the best. The truth is, the only nodes they took were level one in my armpit. We have women on the board who were node negative, like me, but now Stage IV. That means it had to spread to lymph nodes near the breast or collar bone or through the blood stream. Just one of the unsettling realities of this disease.
    terri
  • hummingbyrd
    hummingbyrd Member Posts: 950 Member
    #3
    tlmac said:

    Hi hummingbyrd,
    I was told it was to see if my cancer had spread and this is the most common avenue. I was also told cancer isn't like checkers, it won't skip a node. If they can, they cut till they get clear nodes and hope for the best. The truth is, the only nodes they took were level one in my armpit. We have women on the board who were node negative, like me, but now Stage IV. That means it had to spread to lymph nodes near the breast or collar bone or through the blood stream. Just one of the unsettling realities of this disease.
    terri

    Precisely my dear Watson! ummmm I mean Terri!
    The "theory" is remove the lymph nodes to get "ahead" of the cancer and ergo "stop" the spread.
    Well, it just dawned on me about 8 months what a stupendously idiotic theory that is, because if it has spread to even one lymph node then microscopically it has already gone past others!
    It is already in the blood stream!
    So what we have here is a medical community taking out the very part of our body that fights infection and/or invasion of mutated "abnormal" cells and then bombards us with a chemotoxic agent and they wonder why cancer patients die?
    Imagine what your reaction would be IF you went to see your MD for strep throat and he says well you have strep throat and swollen lymph nodes so let's take out your lymph nodes and give you something that will destroy your immune system in order to kill the strep infection.
    You would think he was nuts!
    Now I say the same with cancer. They are erroneously removing swollen lymph nodes, yes they may contain cancer cells, but maybe that's because they are trying to do their job. Then they destroy what's left of our immune system with chemotherapy. Now I am a medical professional, and I have had cancer for 5 years, and this "revelation", so to speak, just dawned on me about 8 months ago. I am surprised that we are all so far down "inside the box" that no one has ever thought of this before. I know by the reaction I get from the docs that I talk to, I can see the light come on, that they haven't thought of this before now. We are so programmed to think "cut it out before it spreads". Well, I'm here to say, "It has already spread. Do not cut out the very part of the body that is fighting it from spreading more!"
    Anyway, that is my take on the situation now. So food for thought, run it past your MD's, tell your friends and family. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, no harm done. If I'm right we may have just taken a big stride in cancer or at the very least stopped this miserable condition called lymphedema. All I know is taking out the lymph nodes does NOT stop the metastasis and it DOES cause lymphedema.
    Something to think about in a condition where there is a world of room to improve.
    hummingbyrd
  • tlmac
    tlmac Member Posts: 272 Member
    #4
    hummingbyrd said:

    Precisely my dear Watson! ummmm I mean Terri!
    The "theory" is remove the lymph nodes to get "ahead" of the cancer and ergo "stop" the spread.
    Well, it just dawned on me about 8 months what a stupendously idiotic theory that is, because if it has spread to even one lymph node then microscopically it has already gone past others!
    It is already in the blood stream!
    So what we have here is a medical community taking out the very part of our body that fights infection and/or invasion of mutated "abnormal" cells and then bombards us with a chemotoxic agent and they wonder why cancer patients die?
    Imagine what your reaction would be IF you went to see your MD for strep throat and he says well you have strep throat and swollen lymph nodes so let's take out your lymph nodes and give you something that will destroy your immune system in order to kill the strep infection.
    You would think he was nuts!
    Now I say the same with cancer. They are erroneously removing swollen lymph nodes, yes they may contain cancer cells, but maybe that's because they are trying to do their job. Then they destroy what's left of our immune system with chemotherapy. Now I am a medical professional, and I have had cancer for 5 years, and this "revelation", so to speak, just dawned on me about 8 months ago. I am surprised that we are all so far down "inside the box" that no one has ever thought of this before. I know by the reaction I get from the docs that I talk to, I can see the light come on, that they haven't thought of this before now. We are so programmed to think "cut it out before it spreads". Well, I'm here to say, "It has already spread. Do not cut out the very part of the body that is fighting it from spreading more!"
    Anyway, that is my take on the situation now. So food for thought, run it past your MD's, tell your friends and family. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, no harm done. If I'm right we may have just taken a big stride in cancer or at the very least stopped this miserable condition called lymphedema. All I know is taking out the lymph nodes does NOT stop the metastasis and it DOES cause lymphedema.
    Something to think about in a condition where there is a world of room to improve.
    hummingbyrd

    I receive a variety of newsletter type emails related to breast cancer and I wish I had saved one that came several months ago. It reported a study done on women who had successfully battled breast cancer 10-20 years before. Breast cancer cells had been found in their blood streams all those years later and yet they remained healthy. Doctors were studying them to see why some women develop stage IV disease and others, like the women in the study, remain healthy despite the presence of cancer cells. I have long believed that if we could boost the immune system sufficiently, it would kill the cancer. Unfortunately, the medical community is slow to change. They hold fast to their "gold standard" despite any suggestion it might not be the best course of action.
    terri
  • LorettaB
    LorettaB Member Posts: 51
    #5
    hummingbyrd said:

    Precisely my dear Watson! ummmm I mean Terri!
    The "theory" is remove the lymph nodes to get "ahead" of the cancer and ergo "stop" the spread.
    Well, it just dawned on me about 8 months what a stupendously idiotic theory that is, because if it has spread to even one lymph node then microscopically it has already gone past others!
    It is already in the blood stream!
    So what we have here is a medical community taking out the very part of our body that fights infection and/or invasion of mutated "abnormal" cells and then bombards us with a chemotoxic agent and they wonder why cancer patients die?
    Imagine what your reaction would be IF you went to see your MD for strep throat and he says well you have strep throat and swollen lymph nodes so let's take out your lymph nodes and give you something that will destroy your immune system in order to kill the strep infection.
    You would think he was nuts!
    Now I say the same with cancer. They are erroneously removing swollen lymph nodes, yes they may contain cancer cells, but maybe that's because they are trying to do their job. Then they destroy what's left of our immune system with chemotherapy. Now I am a medical professional, and I have had cancer for 5 years, and this "revelation", so to speak, just dawned on me about 8 months ago. I am surprised that we are all so far down "inside the box" that no one has ever thought of this before. I know by the reaction I get from the docs that I talk to, I can see the light come on, that they haven't thought of this before now. We are so programmed to think "cut it out before it spreads". Well, I'm here to say, "It has already spread. Do not cut out the very part of the body that is fighting it from spreading more!"
    Anyway, that is my take on the situation now. So food for thought, run it past your MD's, tell your friends and family. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, no harm done. If I'm right we may have just taken a big stride in cancer or at the very least stopped this miserable condition called lymphedema. All I know is taking out the lymph nodes does NOT stop the metastasis and it DOES cause lymphedema.
    Something to think about in a condition where there is a world of room to improve.
    hummingbyrd

    Hummingbyrd,

    Another great analysis! I love reading your posts. Keep it up! BTW, a friend told me about a clinic in Freeport, Bahamas that deals with boosting your immune system to fight cancer. I may check it out.

    Lo
  • hummingbyrd
    hummingbyrd Member Posts: 950 Member
    #6
    LorettaB said:

    Hummingbyrd,

    Another great analysis! I love reading your posts. Keep it up! BTW, a friend told me about a clinic in Freeport, Bahamas that deals with boosting your immune system to fight cancer. I may check it out.

    Lo

    Thank you both for your responses. Sometimes I start second guessing myself, but not this time. Non-the-less, it is nice to see a supportive response. You are absolutely right about the medical community Terri and their "gold standard". That is why I am coming to those of us in the "trenches". I am asking everyone who agrees to start spreading the word, post the message anywhere you can, tell anyone you think it might help. They can only ignore us for so long. If this is our battle in life, the big "C", then let's make it a good one. Have an impact, take the first "C" out of cancer and what have you got? You've got the "ancer" and I say the answer is leave the lymph nodes alone and boost, not destroy, the immune system!
    Loretta, I just went to a naturopath this past week. Best thing I ever done since the diagnosis. She was so upbeat and informative and she talked about healing my body not just trying to put this stuff in remission! Thank you again for your encouraging words. Needed them today for sure (teenager problems ya know).
    Ahhh, life goes on.
    hummingbyrd
  • pelona
    pelona Member Posts: 26
    #7
    I had breasr cancer in nov. 03 Had 6 months of chemo. They took out 19 nodes from my armpit one had cancer. Now the cancer is back 2 nodes on my neck and 2 on my chest. Started chemo on thursday. Do you know anything about abraxane. that is what I am taking for 3 months.After that a scan and if the cancer is still showing 3 more months of chemo. This time i had a pet scan and thats how the saw the cancer on my chest. God Bless You. Hilda

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