Pain With Mastectomy?

Hi, Julia
Welcome, Julia, though I am sorry for your diagnosis. I had a mastectomy on the left side this past November. As far as pain, I found it very manageable: just took the prescribed meds. I did have to take them longer than I expected, maybe a few weeks. I stayed only overnight at the hospital.

I was able to use my left arm and hand. Just could not raise the arm high at all. This is due to lymph nodes being removed. The surgeon will give you exercises you can do to get back the full range of motion in that arm more quickly. Also, the amount of weight you can lift is limited.

I did not find that the restrictions affected my daily routine in a serious way and managed to make the needed adjustments with no problems. I let others help me, and you should too. Other women on this board have had the surgery and will no doubt be responding with their experiences.

There is a risk of lymphedema, which is fluid swelling in the arm (again, only if lymph nodes are removed). You can read more about lymphedema on this board. Re, a wonderful lady who conributes greatly to this board, has it and has posted an important article twice. Just use the search feature at the top right and use the word lymphedema if you are interested.

However, at this point, I myself would not and did not worry about that. I just want to reassure you that you WILL be able to use your right arm and hand, with some important limitations.

My best wishes to you. Please keep us updated. As you have more questions or concerns, or just want to vent, you will find support here.

Moopy

Moopy23 said:

Hi, Julia
Welcome, Julia, though I am sorry for your diagnosis. I had a mastectomy on the left side this past November. As far as pain, I found it very manageable: just took the prescribed meds. I did have to take them longer than I expected, maybe a few weeks. I stayed only overnight at the hospital.

I was able to use my left arm and hand. Just could not raise the arm high at all. This is due to lymph nodes being removed. The surgeon will give you exercises you can do to get back the full range of motion in that arm more quickly. Also, the amount of weight you can lift is limited.

I did not find that the restrictions affected my daily routine in a serious way and managed to make the needed adjustments with no problems. I let others help me, and you should too. Other women on this board have had the surgery and will no doubt be responding with their experiences.

There is a risk of lymphedema, which is fluid swelling in the arm (again, only if lymph nodes are removed). You can read more about lymphedema on this board. Re, a wonderful lady who conributes greatly to this board, has it and has posted an important article twice. Just use the search feature at the top right and use the word lymphedema if you are interested.

However, at this point, I myself would not and did not worry about that. I just want to reassure you that you WILL be able to use your right arm and hand, with some important limitations.

My best wishes to you. Please keep us updated. As you have more questions or concerns, or just want to vent, you will find support here.

Moopy

Julia-a mastectomy, like any other kind of surgery...
will have some pain associated with it. Again, like everything else regarding this disease, everyone is also very different in how they manage treament (including surgery). I had a slow recovery time, due to other medical issues, and the first night at home from the hospital was extremely challenging for me. Luckily, my elderly parents came in from out-of-state to be with me. It does help to have someone with you, if at all possible, especially the first night or two. It took me approximately 3 weeks of recovering time before I felt ready to return to work. The pain medications were a godsend and they quickly eased the pain.

Since I also had a lymphectomy, I did have (and still do to some extent) challenges with movement, swelling, and pain. Again, the pain is manageable, as Moopy said, with prescription meds. The most important thing is to do the exercises that your PT prescribes for you, if you have a lymphectomy. I had surgery in Jan of 2006 and, because nerves were cut during surgery, I was told that there will be some pain (more like achiness) associated with it probably for the rest of my life. I still use my prescription meds when the discomfort becomes to great, but it is very rare that I need to resort to them.

Wish you well...
dmc

Julia.......
Hello and welcome. I'm very glad that you found us.

I had right breast mastectomy and lymph nodes removed. Moopy is right...the pain was not awful. Just make sure you stay on top of it by taking the meds they will prescribe. Easier to prevent a pain than it is to get rid of it if it starts.

For the first couple of weeks after my surgery, my right arm was pretty weak. In fact, I sometimes had to lift my right hand (I am also right handed) to my computer with my left hand. But with the exercises that they recommend, my arm was soon much better.

Hugs,

CR

PS...did I see your dog on your Expressions page?? What a cutie!

STARTOY said:

THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL!
Thank you all so very much for your advice and experiences!! I am feeling so much
better, a lot less scared. But still I am scared, as you all were, I am sure.

I hate this that it is my right breast and I am right-handed but WTH, you know? I will do those exercises like you recommended too and pray that they don't have to mess with my
lymph nodes.

I just wish you all were here with me, I feel so lonely. :-(

Thank you again for being here for me, though!

Love to you all!

Julia
P.S. Yeah, that is my precious Rosie-Love. She is a Fox Terrier and is the Light of My Life. I just lost my Golden Lab and Border Collie last year, though and since I have
no children, my doggies are my kids, so I am really too close to them emotionally, you know?

Oh! I DO KNOW!!
Our dogs mean the world to us! I'm not sure how I would manage without them!

I just had to have our 14 yr. old girl, Lindsay, put down a week ago. It still hurts tremendously, and I miss her so.... But her quality of life....well, she had no quality left to her. So, as heartbreaking as it was, I let her go. I didn't want her to suffer.

Rosie looks like an absolute sweetheart! And I'll bet that you are an awesome Mom!!

CR

dmc_emmy said:

Dogs--are indeed a woman's best friend!
We have three here; a fat soon-to-be retired Yellow Lab who is my husband's guide dog, my daughter's little (pretty much worthless) Japanese Chin who you can't help but love--probably out of pity, and my noble and beautiful Silver Sable German Shepherd that looks like a miniature wolf (no bias here).

I have pix, too, my expressions page. The black and tan GSD, Eva, I lost last summer.
Enjoy your pooch,
dmc
PS
We also have 2 guinea pigs (Raja and Asha) and a possessed grey cat (Molly) that I think is part Mancoon--she's huge and not even a year old!

Hi Julia
I had a dbl. mastectomy & reconstruction 7 weeks ago.

As others have said, the pain was very manageable. The first few days were the worst, but still not horrible with the pain meds.

I definitely couldn't comfortably move my arms up, esp. above shoulder level, for a few weeks. I can now, although there is some still some soreness. (My hands were not affected at all.) I am now carefully doing exercise to regain my upper body strength.

I guess I am a bit concerned about your ability to use your cane on your mast. side, for awhile, because pushing down, and lifting, have been two of the more painful things for me, BUT it's possible that that is due to the reconstructive surgery more than the mastectomy itself. You might ask your surgeon about that.

In any case, you will survive! And your Rosie will definitely help you heal. I have a 6-yr-old Karelian Bear dog and a three-and-a-half month old Siberian husky puppy -- you can see them on my Expressions page. WHy we ot a puppy two days after I came home from the hospital is story for another time!!

Take care and try not to worry.

Much love,
Debi

confused123 said:

Hi,
Welcome and good luck
Hi,
Welcome and good luck with surgery. I have to say I did have pain, with double mastectomy. I needed right side taken but opted for both sides. I do not take pain pills because they make me sick. I did take Tylenol and it helped enough but I did know when it wore off.

Also with both sides it is probably different but I could not use arms much, silly me packed my hair dryer for hospital stay! LOL Anyway, at home I needed help with that and also slept on a recliner chair for 2 weeks.

Any other tips you need just ask.

Kim

Kim......
I also slept in my recliner, but soon discovered that I couldn't get out of it if I reclined because my arm was too painful to move the footrest arm on the chair. I actually got "stuck" once when my husband put the footrest up for me so I could recline....and then he went to run an errand. I literally was stuck and finally shimmied my way down to the footrest and was able to stand up! LOL!!

It's funny to me now. Back then, not quite as funny! Well yeah, it actually WAS funny then too!!

CR

confused123 said:

CR1954
My husband and Dad got me out of the chair everytime. THey puit it up and down for me. I finally had to figure out how to get out my self because I had to pee in the middle of the night! My hubby slept on the couch the first few nights because he was worried about me.

Kim

Hi Julia, I had a lumpectomy
Hi Julia, I had a lumpectomy 3 weeks ago. Some pain, but with the meds it took care of it. Just like the others said. Take the pain meds everyday for a few days so you can stay on top of the pain. My right arm is still sore, had nodes removed. Heard this could be a problem for awhile with the nerves cut and all. Good Luck

Mastectomy side effects
Dear Julia,

I had to have a mastectomy back in 2002. My nurse told me that most of her patients wanted to go out to eat after the day surgery. I figured she was telling me a whopper so I would stop being so scared and miserable. Guess what! I really did feel like going out to eat that night. We settled for Burger King so I could get home to see my son after soccer practice (we lived 100 miles from the hospital). The first thing I did was start putting away the dishes I had washed the day before. Lifting those plates one at a time with my opposite arm was okay. The surgery side was limited though. I had exercises that started the day after my surgery. Because I just had a sentinel node operation, I was back to lifting my arm above my head in just a few days. I was back to lifting a plate to the cupboard by the end of the week. It took about a month and a half before I could lift a basket of wet laundry up the stairs and out to the line. Pulling weeds was a big no-no for several weeks. Surgery for me was in October. By spring I was back to weed pulling. I didn't take a lot of pain meds other than extra-strength tylenol, but they gave me oxicodon just in case I needed it. Butterscotch candies right after surgery helped with the nasty sore throat you get from intubation more than the pain meds. I needed help with the tubes for drainage for the first two days. After that, I could take care of myself. Another thing I needed was medicine for constipation. That was the most painful thing I had to deal with. If you are on pain meds, you will need more Phillips Milk of Magnesia, but get it now for your fridge, especially if you aren't next door to a pharmacy. Driving was also forbidden for about two weeks after surgery. They didn't want me pulling my stitches out trying to turn the steering wheel, my tubes would have been in the way and might have pulled out, and it would have been painful. Not driving was excruciating because I am usually very independent and go wherever I want when I want. But I had folks who helped out and even took me walking in a nearby mall as needed. If you do not have the help you need, you may want to talk to your hospital social worker and see what can be arranged. Sometimes they can send a visiting nurse or nurse aide or house keeper. Sometimes you can go to a rest home for care. But you will not be sick enough to be in a hospital even the night after your surgery whether they let you spend the night or not unless you are having a tissue transplant done at the same time for reconstruction purposes. Then you spend a week more or less recovering in a hospital and about a month and a half at home. I hope things go well. May you feel well enough for dinner out the night of your surgery too!

C. Abbott

cabbott said:

Mastectomy side effects
Dear Julia,

I had to have a mastectomy back in 2002. My nurse told me that most of her patients wanted to go out to eat after the day surgery. I figured she was telling me a whopper so I would stop being so scared and miserable. Guess what! I really did feel like going out to eat that night. We settled for Burger King so I could get home to see my son after soccer practice (we lived 100 miles from the hospital). The first thing I did was start putting away the dishes I had washed the day before. Lifting those plates one at a time with my opposite arm was okay. The surgery side was limited though. I had exercises that started the day after my surgery. Because I just had a sentinel node operation, I was back to lifting my arm above my head in just a few days. I was back to lifting a plate to the cupboard by the end of the week. It took about a month and a half before I could lift a basket of wet laundry up the stairs and out to the line. Pulling weeds was a big no-no for several weeks. Surgery for me was in October. By spring I was back to weed pulling. I didn't take a lot of pain meds other than extra-strength tylenol, but they gave me oxicodon just in case I needed it. Butterscotch candies right after surgery helped with the nasty sore throat you get from intubation more than the pain meds. I needed help with the tubes for drainage for the first two days. After that, I could take care of myself. Another thing I needed was medicine for constipation. That was the most painful thing I had to deal with. If you are on pain meds, you will need more Phillips Milk of Magnesia, but get it now for your fridge, especially if you aren't next door to a pharmacy. Driving was also forbidden for about two weeks after surgery. They didn't want me pulling my stitches out trying to turn the steering wheel, my tubes would have been in the way and might have pulled out, and it would have been painful. Not driving was excruciating because I am usually very independent and go wherever I want when I want. But I had folks who helped out and even took me walking in a nearby mall as needed. If you do not have the help you need, you may want to talk to your hospital social worker and see what can be arranged. Sometimes they can send a visiting nurse or nurse aide or house keeper. Sometimes you can go to a rest home for care. But you will not be sick enough to be in a hospital even the night after your surgery whether they let you spend the night or not unless you are having a tissue transplant done at the same time for reconstruction purposes. Then you spend a week more or less recovering in a hospital and about a month and a half at home. I hope things go well. May you feel well enough for dinner out the night of your surgery too!

C. Abbott

mastectomy had less pain than lumpectomy
I had a lumpectomy Oct.2008 and a right mastectomy April 2009. The lumpectomy actually hurt more because of the drain they placed pressing on a nerve. The mastectomy was not bad at all. I spent one night in the hospital but I probably could have gone home same day. The nurse insisted on giving me pain killers while there. When I got home I took one pain pill a day for about a week, it was enough to cut the pain for me.

I did all the excercises and had great range of motion until radiation. You will probably have a drain or two and you won't be able to reach above shoulder height until they are out. Make sure the day they take out the drain that you start raising your arm. It will make a big difference. Do it slowly but regularly.

Good luck