Hi all, I had a lumpectomy (nipple and surround tissue) and all lymph nodes in armpit as cancerous on Thursday. I am home with a drain in and I am in a good state, no where near as much pain as I had feared.
My issue is sharp pains like elastic bands snapping in the back of my arm where I have not had surgery. I was not expecting this, does anyone know why I am getting this? The breast nurses will phone me tomorrow so I will ask them but I just wondered if anyone could put my mind at ease until then?
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Hi, I’m glad your surgery went well and you aren’t in too much pain. I had a lumpectomy and lymph node clearance in April and I also experienced strange pains and sensations in the back of my arm area. I think when they take out the lymph nodes they disturb a lot of nerves so you end up with these odd feelings. I found rubbing the area hurt at first but then helped. It does get better. Definitely mention it to your BCN though to put your mind at rest. Wishing you continued you good healing x
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Sorry to hear you are in pain. I had pain from the axillary clearance too and was surprised to get this as the nurses hadn’t prepared but now understand it’s fairly common. The pain does subside but I still have extreme tightness and cording after 2 months which is limiting my range of motion. One of the nurses I spoke to said the doctors do ‘rummage around’ during surgery and nerves are bruised or damaged. I would recommend the exercises and gentle stretches to help that they give to you and if you mention it to the nurse tomorrow you should be referred to physio.
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I only had lumpectomy and SNB but for the first few weeks at least I used to get a tight burning pulling pain down my right arm as far as my elbow which was relieved by stretching and became less frequent before finally disappearing…
However the way that you describe it like elastic bands snapping sounds like cording . If you haven’t heard of this it’s quite common complication of lymph node removal - I was not diagnosed with it but my two friends both had it and made a full recovery . One of them sounds exercises on YouTube that helped her to get rid of it . Before you do anything different though speak to your BCN .
It’s also possible that it’s due to swelling / nerve damage and will resolve in time . The fact that there’s a drain won’t be helping as it could be pressing on something .
Take care xx