My mom found out a couple of weeks ago that she had breast cancer idc she had breast cancer sergery and they tested her lymph nodes and she got the results back today and found out she still has cancer due to it moving to her lymph nodes so what will happen know? I am so scared with it in her lymph nodes how bad is that?
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6/17/09 10:48pm
Hi Jamie - Luckily (sounds funny to say "luckily" about cancer, but...) she has IDC, which is the most common type of breast cancer. The doctors have LOTS of experience treating it, so she'll get top-notch care based on many years of good, tested data.
What will happen now is, if she hasn't had her major surgery to remove the tumor, she'll probably have that soon. At that time, they may test more lymph nodes, to see just how far it's spread. When she gets her pathology report back (if she hasn't already), the oncologist - the doctor who'll direct her treatment - will look at her particular cancer, and figure out what's the best treatment. Probably chemo, followed by long-term hormone therapy, if her cancer is the kind that responds to hormone therapy.
So yes, she's going to have lots of treatment. And to tell the truth, it'll be challenging. But we women are very strong; and we're often strong for our kids, because we love you and don't want to leave you. So please be understanding as she goes through this; know that she's doing her best, and wants to protect you from seeing her sick. At the same time, I'm sure you want to help her. So just be there, and love her; you'll go through this together, your whole family will. And hopefully you'll come out of it stronger, and closer than ever. Good luck to you - PJH
6/18/09 9:21am
Having a mastectomy that includes removing a few lymph nodes to see if the cancer has left the breast is the usual treatment for your mom's kind of cancer. The only way to know for sure if the cancer has spread is to have the kind of surgery she had.
Of course, it would have been nice if they had found no cancer in her lymph nodes, but plenty of people have her experience and get well. I had cancer in 16 of my lymph nodes when I had my surgery 11 years ago, and I'm fine now.
What usually happens next when there is cancer in the lymph nodes it to start chemotherapy once she has healed from the surgery. Chemo will kill any cancer cells that remain after the surgery. People vary in how they respond to chemo. She may feel pretty good (but a little sad about losing her hair), or she may feel very tired, and maybe even nauseated.
She will probably be worried about you and how you are coping with all of this, so one way you can help her is to tell her how you are feeing and to ask her questions about anything you don't understand. You may need to pick up a few extra chores around the house, but you also need to still enjoy your life and do the things you usually do for fun.
It's important to understand that even though your mom has a very serious illness, there is every reason to believe that she will get well.
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By jamie— Last Modified: 12/27/10, First Published: 06/17/09
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she had surgery to remove one of her brests to get ride of the tumer and thats when they took a sample of her lymph nodes to see if it got in there and we just found out that it has. sence they have already cut into the cancer isnt that a bad thing? will she have to have surgey again to get the cancer out of her lymph nodes? how will they find out how much further it has spread? Idont understand why they had to cut into her before they new if it was in her lymph nodes or not.