Are There Side Effects Or Long-term Problems Associated With Removing Your Lymph Nodes?

There are side effects associated with having lymph nodes removed. Lymph node removal makes the surgery take longer and can also result in a higher risk of bleeding during surgery. In the short term after surgery,some women can develop lymphocysts, or fluid filled pockets where the lymph nodes used to be. These can be asymptomatic, but sometimes a woman will have symptoms and the lymphocysts will need to be drained.

In the long term, some women will develop lymphedema, or swelling in their feet and lower legs, following a lymph node dissection. This occurs in about 5% of women who have this procedure done and seems to be worse if post-operative radiation therapy is required. Treatments for lymphedema include compression stockings and massage; in severe cases a pump may be used.

This was a big worry to me. Once in the lymphatic sys-tem, would the cancer just be everywhere? How long would it take to show up somewhere else? There are no specific answers—each is an individual case. I was lucky to have a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist in Boston who referred me to Providence oncologists.

Between them all, I knew I had the best doctors to call on and that was/is a great comfort to me. Again, websites gave me a heads up on possible side effects and I could ask intelligent questions of my doctors and know what to look out for in the future.