Has anyone had swelling in radiated armpit during radiation?

Posted by marshgirl24 @marshgirl24, 4 days ago

Hi, I am finishing the 2nd week of three weeks of radiation. Right breast, no nodes were taken, stage 1b, lobular. Of course I'm concerned that this might be the start of lymphedema, although they did not take out any nodes. My tumor/area was .6 cm x .4 cm. Originally I was going to have one week of radiation but because of the lobular diagnosis it was increased. Has anyone had this type pf swelling during radiation and did it go down? Thank you!

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anjalima | @anjalima | 3 days ago

I did not have swelling but my understanding is that lymphedema is mostly caused by node removal … and chance can then be increased 1-2% with radiation. Anything is possible but I would check in with radiation oncologist for an accurate diagnosis.

marshgirl24 | @marshgirl24 | 2 days ago

Yes, my doctor told me today that it’s very rare for a patient who did not have nodes removed to develop lymphedema. Fingers crossed!

texas5 | @texas5 | 2 days ago

Hello!
Just wondering why you had no nodes removed as I had the same situation no nodes removed.

marshgirl24 | @marshgirl24 | 2 days ago

I think it might have been because of my age, 78. At the time I read a lot about nodes and possible complications following removal and I think one article did say that they no longer think it wise to inflict that possibility on older women. (I hope they're right.) They used ultrasound and found no malignant nodes. And then the breast MRI, also finding nothing. My original malignant area (lobular) was .6 cm x .4 cm. Any clinical people, feel free to chime in.