Hi all,
Anyone had any iliac lymph node enlargement showing on CT or MRI that ended up being just a reactive lymph node or benign.
Its my first time posting here, although i was following this forum since my husband( 49 years old) was first diagnosed with Rectal Cancer(April 2018). Since then, he had 28 sessions of radiation along with oral Xeloda, in August had surgery to remove his entire rectum(no bag thank God). Recovered well ,except some major bathroom issues.
According to pathology report, was staged as stage 2 (T3N0M0), moderate to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, 0 of 15 lymph nodes, no perineural or lymhovascular invasion identified, clean margins, pre surgery chemo response rate 3( his tumor shrunk from 6 cm to 2.2). Both his surgeon and oncologist were very optimistic and would mention that his chances of being cured is great. We were so happy and excited and could not believe that we almost beat this disease. Got his port placed and was ready for his 5FU until we got his CT scan result early this month which showed indeterminate hepatic lesion and enlarged 9 mm common iliac lymph node. He then got an mRI for better view which showed clean liver but the enlarged iliac lymph node is still there.
Our Oncologist is not sure if its a metastases or just reactive lymph node after surgery and will most likely perform biopsy. He said this is very uncommon and will discuss my husband'ss case during the board meeting to get the opinion of other doctors.
We are in a total shock as we would never expect such drastic turn. I am worried and can't stop crying. We have young kids, girls 8 and 14 and i can't imagine our lives without him or raising them alone..