help my mom

My mom had a biopsy done. When the doctor was performing surgery he knew right away it was breast cancer. The tumor was 6 centimeters. He did not take any lymph nodes at this time. He sent away what he took out of my mothers breast to see if there was more. The test came back positive. He put my mom through chemo. During her chemo she had a cat scan done which was negative. Her bone tests came back also negative, but her liver test came back abnormal. The doctor went in for more surgery and this time took some lymph nodes to test also. He said after the surgery that everything looked pretty good. Well when the results came back they found microscopic sized cancer cells still in the breast and also in all ten lymph nodes they removed. He keeps telling my mom that she can keep her breast that the cancer is right above her breast and not in her breast. My mother is very large busted. She doesnt care to remove her breast if that is what will get rid of this. She told her doctor she wanted to get a second opinion and he told her she shouldn't because the surgeon he requested has already been in her breast twice and knows where the cancer is. Could you please tell my if you could recommend something different? My mom is 56 years old and I want  to know if she is going to make it and if she should have her breast removed? Please help?

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear Softball, It sounds from what you are describing that the cancer has spread beyond the breast.  So even if the breast were to be removed there would still be cancer remaining above the breast.  If so then treatment aimed towards controlling the cancer in the breast as well as the area surrounding it, and any microscopic metastasis would be the direction of treatment.  Further chemotherapy or hormone therapy (depending on the hormone status of the tumor) would be more suitable to accomplish this treatment goal.
If your mother would feel more comfortable with getting another opinion, that is always her choice.  However, an oncologist rather than a surgeon might be the more appropriate person to seek a second opinion from, considering what you have described regarding your mother