Questions about lymph node biopsy?

My mother has breast cancer and she’s getting a biopsy done for lymph nodes. We were told that she has to stay an hour at the recovery room after the procedure. How is this done and how painful is it?

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Answer:
Lymph node biopsy can be done in a few ways. One way is fine needle aspiration which invovles inserting a needle into the lymph node to remove fluid. Another is core biopsy which is done under loal anaesthetic and is tiny more invasive. Lymph nodes can also be taken out during surgery and lookd at afterwards.
The procedure shouldn't be painful (anaesthetic/numbing is used) but it might be uncomfortable. She'll probably be made to stay for a little afterwards just as a precaution as with all medical procedures.

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Answer:
I´m guessing here, but could it be a procedure with the purpose of determining if the cancer has spread to the “sentinel node”? That’s the lymph node that would the very first one the cancer would spread to. If that is the case then it is an excisional biopsy. If there is no spread to the sentinel node, full axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided.

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Answer:
If your mom has already been diagnosed with breast cancer they’ll not do an FNA or a core biopsy. It will be excisional. She has likely had a lumpectomy and that is why they are doing the nodes separately. This surgery will be similar in pain and discomfort as the lumpectomy.

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Answer:
About lymph node biopsy can be read in http://health-schools.blogspot.com/?q=ly…