Lymphangiogram
Wolverine191407-10-2003, 09:26 AMI was recently diagnosed with Testicular Cancer and after surgery need to go for radiation therapy. Since I had a Stage 1 Seminoma that has no appearance of spreading I need the radiation in case of microbial spread. My doctor told me to get a lymphangiogram but from what I read on the internet and what I have heard from most doctor's it is not commonly done anymore. I don't want to have to go through a procedure I do not need to. From what I took away from the process there is a chance that 5-10% of people's lymphnodes are not in the places that the doctors normally believe them to be and this test shows them definitively where they have to irradiate. Of course if my lymphnodes are in the normal place, which they are in patients 90-95% of the time, then the lymphangiogram was done for no reason. Most people use CT scans nowadays instead of lymphangiograms but there is a slight chance of error with the CT scan and a slight chance, if my nodes are out of the normal range, that they could miss irradiating one or two. If they miss them, then there is even a more remote chance, but still a chance, that the ones they missed had microbial cancer in it and it could come back to haunt me. It is not likely but still a chance. I guess I am wondering if I am being overly cautious or, since it is cancer we are dealing with, if I should do the lymphangiogram just for piece of mind. If anyone has experience in this or has had one please let me know. I need to make a decision in the next 2 days. ThanksTmNMrPeanut07-11-2003, 01:45 AMwhats the common spots for lymphnodes? i have like one around my coller bone and one on my neck i dunno when they gonna go down and im not sure if they are even lymph nodes but what ive been reading there always by your collarbone or your neck area am i wrong?Wolverine191407-11-2003, 09:53 AMThere are about 600 lymphnodes throughout your body. While they are in your neck area they are also under your arm, in your stomach, etc... I am just wondering if anyone had this lymphangiogram before. They try and find lymph ducts by putting dye between your toes, and then when they find the duct, they cut it open and itravenously put dye in that travels throughout your lymphatic system. You have to lay still on your back for 4-7 hours. Needless to say, if I don't have to go through this I would love not to.