Sentinel Node Mapping

I too was not prepared for this surgery properly. I suffered permanent nerve damage from the doctor cutting the nerves and not being able to repair. It has been 8 yes or so and I still have no feeling in part of my arm, chest and shoulder plus my arm is much weaker and I have constant pain. I did have therapy more than once but was told because of the damage it would likely not get much better. I have also gotten bad Burns with infections because I could not feel the heat that i was putting on the area to try to relieve the pain.

I am curious about the standard protocal for number of nodes to remove when the test is negative. If i remember correctly, my doctor removed 10-15, which seemed unnecessary to me. I do let patients know that while the sentinel node procedure is done through a very small incision (usually 1/2 inch or smaller), it can be the most painful part of the surgery. The lymph nodes are tucked deep in the underarm, below the pectoralis (chest wall) muscle - in order to get to them (especially through a small incision), some retraction on the muscle during surgery is needed.

I always give patients a booklet on exercises prior to surgery (there's a good little one put out by the American Cancer Society) and recommend that they start doing the exercises before surgery - it's good to get your body used to the stretches and other exercises before you're having any discomfort. And I encourage an early return to activity - initially the stretching exercises, followed by more regular exercise. Some patients do require physical therapy and we try to identify this sooner rather than later.