I'm not the same as your case but I wanted to commend you for asking these hard questions rather than rushing in. What does your doctor say about 1 out of 6 nodes being positive? Is s/he confident that the other nodes that were not sampled would be negative or at least a high probability of being clear? I have mixed emotions about losing my lymph nodes, but I had no choice. I had several positive cancer nodes turn up upon surgical removal (axillary dissection), and also did radiation to the area because I had extranodal extension. Things I would consider include your age and how aggressive your cancer is (Grade 1, 2 or 3). On the plus side, I can tell you that 3 months out of extensive rads (60 gy), my lymph node count has bounced back to the same level it was post surgery and I am over 60. IMO, if you are fit, normal weight, exercise, and younger, you will have a very low risk of lymphedema doing rads to the axilla. I think surgical removal is the bigger risk.