Ode to a node

I never thought I’d be writing an ode to a node. But here I am after 5 chemo rounds, breast surgery, and headed to radiation thanking my lymph nodes.

Lymph nodes are small bean-shaped organs that trap unwanted substances and fight infection. Pretty impressive job right? Well, there is more. The lymph nodes filter lymph fluid, remove bacteria, viruses, cancer cells and other substances that could cause harm. The filtered lymph fluid is then returned to the bloodstream, and the unwanted substances are eliminated from the body.

SLN are the first set of lymph nodes that a tumor will pass through if it were to spread. My SLN was a mighty warrior who stayed strong not letting those invasive cancer cells thru the gate. So, thank you and hats off to my sentinel node. Who knew that would be the body part that I would appreciate the most.