pain after radiation

Hi Neda.......
I did and still do, at times, get short jabs of pain at my mastectomy site, after finishing rads. I finished in February. It started at about 6 weeks after.
But it has become less and less frequent now.

CR

seof said:

its common
I think it is common. I had it (radiation finished a year ago) I had bilateral mastectomy, then radiation. The radiated side still has little twinges now and then, not much. I think it is easy to forget just how much we are putting our bodies through and how long it takes for the body to heal itself. In our fast-paced, instant world with microwave cooking and high-speed internet we forget that nature's pace is much more sedate. My guess would be that you are OK, but it is always a good idea to check with your Dr. if you aren't sure about anything.

Take care, seof.

Your Pain
Neda...I also had the jabs and twinges long after my radiation was finished. I had none during the treatment, but about two months later, there were pains. I still have tenderness, guess I will for a long, long time. Take care, Cindy

seof said:

its common
I think it is common. I had it (radiation finished a year ago) I had bilateral mastectomy, then radiation. The radiated side still has little twinges now and then, not much. I think it is easy to forget just how much we are putting our bodies through and how long it takes for the body to heal itself. In our fast-paced, instant world with microwave cooking and high-speed internet we forget that nature's pace is much more sedate. My guess would be that you are OK, but it is always a good idea to check with your Dr. if you aren't sure about anything.

Take care, seof.

You still have pain after a
You still have pain after a year seof? wow I had no idea that it would still be here after that long. Is yours bad? Mine isn't.

Noel said:

You still have pain after a
You still have pain after a year seof? wow I had no idea that it would still be here after that long. Is yours bad? Mine isn't.

Pain?
Whoah! Radiation is on my list of things to do and no one told me about this pain stuff! What do you do to alleviate the pain? Do they give you some meds or does Tylenol handle it? (I have recurrent in my reconstructed/mastecomy breast. Don't know what they will do with the other side as the cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes on that side, or it may be a new cancer.) I am doing neoadjuvant endocrine therapy prior to the surgery(s). Then I am to plan on the six week course of rads. I guess I really need to educate myself about what radiation entails. I never gave it much thought. And it lasts for a while, too? Ouchie! I am not going to like this I can tell.

arbojenn said:

Pain?
Whoah! Radiation is on my list of things to do and no one told me about this pain stuff! What do you do to alleviate the pain? Do they give you some meds or does Tylenol handle it? (I have recurrent in my reconstructed/mastecomy breast. Don't know what they will do with the other side as the cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes on that side, or it may be a new cancer.) I am doing neoadjuvant endocrine therapy prior to the surgery(s). Then I am to plan on the six week course of rads. I guess I really need to educate myself about what radiation entails. I never gave it much thought. And it lasts for a while, too? Ouchie! I am not going to like this I can tell.

"Pain" is a loaded word.....
"Pain" is a loaded word. That's why they use a pain scale in the hosptial. On a scale of 1 - 10 how would you rate your pain today? Well, I'm one year out from rads and on that scale I would describe my "pain" as "pinging and achiness or twinges and jabs" and a 1 - 3 on the pain scale. Also,the twinges and jabs are NOT an everyday occurence. I think that most of us would say similar things. This ISN'T post surgical pain, this ISN'T appendicitis pain, this ISN'T fractured bone pain or labor pain.

Relax. In most cases, twinges and jabs a year out from treatment are common and are not debilitating. But, they are worrisome and caused me to check with my radiation oncologist, which I encourage everyone to do if they are worried. In my case, he explained what was going on. See my earlier post.

Hope this helps. Hugs, Marilynn

I am only two weeks out, and
I am only two weeks out, and have most of the pain also around the surgery site mostly.

taleena said:

Touche'.... I'm with you...
Touche'.... I'm with you... arbojenn.... if everything comes back okay from todays surgery, RAD is next item on the list..... I don't think I'm going to like it.. but hell, I haven't liked any of it anyway... guess it just goes with the package... oh joy joy

Blog maybe?
Can you keep me posted on how your rads go? I am checking the board to see if there are messages about how your surgery went. The baby in your picture is absolutely adorable!!

Jan_M said:

I am only two weeks out, and
I am only two weeks out, and have most of the pain also around the surgery site mostly.

That is where my pain is
That is where my pain is too. And mine isn't really bad, but, you just notice it. But, doc said it is normal. I am still healing.

I am still in radiation but
I am still in radiation but will be done soon! Thank goodness! I have some pain now, but, it is kind of hard to tell for sure cause I am also a little burnt. So, I thought it might be from the burn too. Not sure.

Congrats for completing your rads, Neda
The pain you're experiencing could be tissue and muscle now having the chance to heal in earnest since completion of rads. During rads, much happens underneath the skin which we cannot see.

I'm 5+ years out from my own treatment. To this day, if I "twist" my upper body in a certain way, etc. - I get a "pulling" sort of sharp pain, which doesn't last long. Whether it's residual from rads, scar tissue from surgery, not sure. But, it is there.

I'll be hoping that your own discomfort passes soon; or, at the very least, diminishes greatly with time.