@cookercooker Thank you for coming back and sharing what your oncologist told you. Did you find this information helpful for you and for your ongoing care?

I learned from my gyn/oncologist, my surgeon, in 2019 when I had a radical hysterectomy that sentinel lymph node removal at the time of my hysterectomy was relatively new at that time. Sentinel node removal has been done for breast cancer for many years. My surgeon told me that as recently as 2018 gyn oncology surgeons at Mayo Clinic were removing an entire section of pelvic lymph nodes on both sides that were examined for cancer along with all the other organs and tissue removed during the hysterectomy.

My sentinel nodes that were removed in 2019 showed no signs of cancer. These sentinel nodes, by the way, are sent immediately to pathology during surgery while you are still asleep and on the table. The pathologist quickly examines these sentinel nodes and then gets back to the surgeon. If cancer is found then the internal pelvic lymph glands are removed.