Question--------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi again, Mr. Cusumano
I wrote you awhile back concerning my wife having Lymphedema along with nerve damage. After doing reseach and discussing with you, I'm convinced she has had a total dissection of the Axilla lymph nodes. Yet, she has been ignored on wanting to find this out. She just recently was sent for a MRI to look for lymph nodes (They shot a dye in her). She has yet to hear from her doctor so we pulled the MRI report.
Impression: Negative MRI of right Axilla for Focal masses.
On clinical history wrote, A benign cyst and benign lymph nodes were resected. (here i don't understand, here they write nodeS...Yet it was suppose to be a intrammamary (sp) node)
So our frustrations are she has had many mri that said no masses...this was not what she went for but only to look at lymph nodes.
My question is, I have the mri images on CDROM. Is there any place on the internet that you know of where i can send these images and have someone read them to see if a total dissection was done or not?
Thanks again for any help...
Answer -
Hi Mike,
I don't know of such a place. What I would suggest is that you (actually your wife needs to do this) go to the medical records department at the hospital where the surgery took place. Ask for a copy of the operative report--she is entitled to see the medical records. The operative report will tell you what you want to know. The other option is to ask for a copy of the same report from your doctor. He is obligated to supply you with a copy of any of your medical records.
From what you say, I'd be willing to bet that she DID have a radical axillary dissection.
Mr. Cusumano,
Last time i promise...I'm gonna owe you a Christmas present at this rate. : )
It's a really long story to get into. We have all medical records, pathology report and so on. Path report states 4 fragments which total what amounts to near 5 inch long 3 inch wide fatty tissue was removed from axilla. Only one dominant node (I find this tough to buy knowing my wifes condition).
Is there a book or website that you know of that would show me a image of a normal axilla and one that's had a total dissection, so i could compare?
Thanks once again, Mr.Cusumano
AnswerHi Mike,
The Path report showing one dominant node doesn't mean that there weren't other smaller nodes. Usually these aren't reported if they show no evidence of abnormality. During my training at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, part of my Path rotation was spent hunting for nodes in axillary tissue. Unless the operating surgeon wanted a node COUNT, only suspicious or abnormal nodes were mentioned(in this case the dominant node).
I really don't know of any site that would show you a before and after photo. You might try WebMD and put in a query there. One other possibility would be to do a Google Search for the AFIP (Armed Forces Institiute of Pathology). I don't know that they even HAVE a site but if they do, I'd be surprised if they didn't have something akin to your request. I'm sorry that I don't have more info to share.
