Auxiliary Clearance

Thanks so much Ladies I greatly appreciate all your info & thanks so much for sharing it with me:)
i was diagnosed with a Her2 positive breast Cancer with lymph node involvement in December 2017 currently coming of chemo & during that time have started Herceptin which I will continue to have till Jan 2019
an MRI in Feb showed no cancer & just had ultrasound for surgery (13th June) & still no cancer evident so I’m extremely lucky & thankfully treatment agreed with me.
my surgeon suggested a lumpectomy to my right breast & gave the option of patial or full auxiliary clearance hence my question

Hi @stujai - no need to be sorry - only Team Chirpy over here! :wink:
So far so good with no side effects - it's only 5 weeks today though. I was back at work 2 weeks after my double mastectomy and axillary clearance and also driving - but I only started driving my usual car, which is a manual Tarago about a week ago - for the first couple of weeks I drove an auto because I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable changing gears with my left arm. Having no issues with anything at this stage, I can't extended my left arm 100% completely straight up but nearly there. I can easily wash my hair, reach up to get things from shelves and carry my laptop, shopping bags (not really heavy ones) etc. I guess also because it's my left arm and I'm right-handed it made no difference to tasks like chopping veges, which I was doing the day I came home from hospital - 9 days after surgery.
In a couple of weeks I'm going for an L- Dex Measurement. An L-Dex device measures extracellular fluid to detect signs of lymphedema. It determines whether or not you're building up excess fluid. My Breast Care Nurse took a baseline L-Dex reading before my surgery and subsequent readings will see whether or not there's a significant increase in fluid. I'll also ask about lymphatic massage to minimise the risk of lymphedema in the future.
They couldn't use my left arm to take my blood pressure in hospital and they don't like to take blood or give chemo in the limb that has had a full axillary clearance because it increases the risk of cellulitis, which then can lead to lymphedema.

Hope that helps! Please ask anything an all. xxxx
 

Hey @stujai,

I had a full aux clearance.  24 nodes out 5 positive for BC.  It's a weird sensation at the start, well actually because there wasn't any sensation at all for a while.   Totally numb which does make shaving under your arms a bit hazardous at the start.  It was also quite numb down the back of that arm as well. The sensation does come back and it starts like little electric shocks when the nerves start firing up.

Do all the exercises they give you and more if you're up to it. They are so important to stop fluid build up and help with things like cording and to regain movement.
The physio will run through everything with you.  I had a bit of cording at the beginning but it sorted out quickly.  The scar is next to invisible.

I have had no problems with lymphodema or anything else and had close to full strength back from a month or so after surgery. 

All the best

xoxoxo

hello 
thanks for responding & sorry to hear about your journey 
I’m mainly after your experience after having the Auxiliary Clearance as in side effects, how you are coping day to day etc?
Thanks so much 
 

Hi @stujai - what options have they given you? Are you about to have surgery? My surgeon didn't give me a choice. He told me that during my double mastectomy he would take out my sentinal nodes and send them off to pathology mid-surgery, If even one of them came back as positive for cancer cells, he would do a full axillary clearance as he doesn't like to take any chances. As it turned out, 2/4 sentinal nodes on my left side came back positive and so, as promised, he took all my axillary nodes on that side. The final pathology found that 2/9 axillary nodes taken, were positive for cancer cells. I was very happy with his way of thinking, and his decision.