Just an update. Mom went in for an axillary dissection and had a good number of nodes removed under the same arm as the original surgery.
The surgeon stated that there seemed to be more than just a few nodes involved and most likely positive. Seemed ironic that she tolerated this second surgery so well, after not having the chance to have the procedure she needed in the first place.
So, in essence, she has NOW had the surgery that could potentially erradicated the entire tumor involvement had it been done the first time around. I cannot emphasize enough, that when you ASK for aggressive treatment, you need some assurance from your doctor that they will follow through with it. The biggest single mistake, was that the surgeon ASSUMED incorrectly, that the original tumor would be ER+ and would be manageable with estrogen blockers. The surgeon actually stated later, that the decision not to do a sentinel node biopsy the first time around was a mistake. Hardly any consolation to my Mom. Now we go down the road to try to get Herceptin and maybe even lapatinib, as she still cannot tolerate any standard chemotherapies. I will keep you posted if anyone cares to hear the follow-up reports.
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