Just finished bilateral masctomy

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hward2007
hward2007 Member Posts: 62
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I just finished my bilateral masctomy with reconstruction. I am having a lot of nerve pain in the backs of my arms, shoulders, and of course chest. Any input on how long it last & my nodes were neg. Has any one ever heard of reoccurance with neg. nodes? Thanks,33yrs young, mother & wife.
Heather

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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    Hello Heather.
    I was 38 when I lost my right breast. I had a 12 year old daughter and 1 year old son. Before 40 I had lost the left one as well. I had nodes involved in both cases. That all started almost 22 years ago. This summer I am turning 60 and doing well.
    There is just no way to predict reoccurance. You have done all you can....enjoy your life and expect the best.
    As for the nerve pain. Some of it will be with you for months to come. However, that is not to say that you will be miserable the whole time by any means. You will find that the intensity will diminish and one day you will realize that you have had a very comfortable day. Let someone else do the major lifting and hanging pictures and mowing the lawn for awhile. You will get back to all of it in good time.
    God bless.
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #3
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    As far as recurrence goes, Your Doctor can probably tell you about statitics, but when it comes down to it, it really is unpredictable. I agree with Zahalene, you have done all you can, just look ahead and focus on living life as well as you can for as long as you can.

    As far as the pain from surgery: Take your meds as often as the prescription allows. This is also an individual thing, but this is not a time to try to be superman. Let others help, and take care of yourself. I had bilateral reconstruction in Dec. I did the excersizes the Dr. prescribed, and learned new ways to get out of bed, etc. It seemed like each week I noticed an improvement. I could reach higher, or sit up more easily, or wipe myself after using the toilet without thinking of the least painful way to do it. I think I was mostly back to pre-surgery mobility by the end of Jan, and went back to work Feb.

    Be patient and let yourself heal. Look to the future, it will get better.

    Hope this helps, seof
  • 3cbrca
    3cbrca Member Posts: 206
    #4
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    seof said:

    As far as recurrence goes, Your Doctor can probably tell you about statitics, but when it comes down to it, it really is unpredictable. I agree with Zahalene, you have done all you can, just look ahead and focus on living life as well as you can for as long as you can.

    As far as the pain from surgery: Take your meds as often as the prescription allows. This is also an individual thing, but this is not a time to try to be superman. Let others help, and take care of yourself. I had bilateral reconstruction in Dec. I did the excersizes the Dr. prescribed, and learned new ways to get out of bed, etc. It seemed like each week I noticed an improvement. I could reach higher, or sit up more easily, or wipe myself after using the toilet without thinking of the least painful way to do it. I think I was mostly back to pre-surgery mobility by the end of Jan, and went back to work Feb.

    Be patient and let yourself heal. Look to the future, it will get better.

    Hope this helps, seof

    I had a bilateral with axillary dissection
    I agree with Seof - take the pain meds- they also help you keep moving which my doctor encouraged.

    That funny tingling (if you got it ) from axillary dissection is totally normal and mine was gone in 3 or 4 months (less every day) The numbness stays for quite awhile - I just noticed more feeling coming back under my arm (its been a year) The other thing is the occasional wierd shooting pains - they're common and I think they stopped about 6 months...I don't know the statistics on recurrance but they have to be better with negative nodes - that's great that it hasn't spread.
    S
  • survivor51
    survivor51 Member Posts: 276
    #5
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    Hey Heather,
    I had a bilateral and reconstruction March 15 of 2007. It does take time and I am getting some feeling back in both breast. I found that taking a lot of warm showers helped with the pain. Also, I found that keeping the top part of my body elevated to sleep did help. You can take a hand towel, wet it, place in microwave and place it across your chest for moist heat. Make sure you feel it with your hands first because since you don't have feeling in your chest, you don't want it too hot. Take the pain meds regularly because if the pain set in, it is hard to get ahead of it. I'm not sure what type of reconstruction you had. They took muscle from my back and brought it forward. Then I had saline injected each week until I was 800cc. Let me know if you have any questions through email and I'll be happy to help. Angela
  • tracisspot
    tracisspot Member Posts: 3
    #6
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    Hello fellow survivor!!
    I had a bilateral mastectomy, lymphnode dissection, and reconstruction 5 years ago at the age of 28. I also had a lot of the nerve pain you are speaking of. Mine was mainly that non ending deep itching feeling that you could just never seem to get rid of. It just depends on your body how long it takes for the pain to go away. My pain went away rather quickly after I was healed from all the surgeries. In my case I still don't have complete feeling back in the right side of my shoulder, arm and chest but that I can deal with because I'm still here with my family. Just stay positive and remember it gets better. God Bless you.

    Traci
    33 yr old mother, wife and survivor

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