Lymph Node removel
Lymph Node removel my wife is suffering quite badly with her arm after having a lumpectomy & 17 nodes removed from her armpit, the operation was 4 months ago and although being advised this would improve after a few weeks this is not the case, her doctor has tried 3 differant types of medication and all this does is make her sleepy ,we have been told that this is nuropathic pain and hard to control,she has a numbness and heavy feeling about her arm and soreness if touched but no signs of Lymphadema, if anyone has had the same experince or can give any advice it would be much appricated
For kenjg Hi Kenjg,
Welcome to the forums where I am sure you will get lots of help and support for your wife and yourself from the many users of this site.
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Hope this helps. Kind regards
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ken when I asked why I wasn’t suffering after node removal the answer amounted to awkward node positions and surgeon’s skill were what counted with nerve pain post op.
The numbness sounds like Lymphoedema lurking so treat with care.
Suggest your wife cossets herself and is very kind and careful with her arm to give it the chance to sort itself out. My fortunate results still took over a year to get back to near normal.
Animal fats are necessary for nerve repair- make sure your wife eats pork chops, steak, cream etc. Don’t be put off by the no red meat no dairy fundamenalists. Would also add a good Vit B supplement. Best wishes -be patient and persevere, dilly
Hi Ken I had 18 nodes removed and I had the soreness for a few months afterwards. The only thing that helped me was resting my arm on a warm hot water bottle.
arm probs after node removal Hi ken,
Sorry to hear about your wifes discomfort, its something many of us go through and understand.
I had all 20 of my nodes removed and suffered soreness and the tingling that comes from nerve damage, it was done about 5 months ago and its still a bit iffy.
i was told that the heavyness/tingly, basically all the ‘wrong’ feelings i had about my arm not being my own generally dont repair as its often nerve damage. It still feels that way to some extent, however they told me that you slowly adjust to it and over time it improves, which is the case with me. it really frustrated me for a few months, but now i barely notice unless i touch it in certain places.
i also had quite a bit of ‘cording’ where theres some tissue hardening that attaches to muscle, or something like that. it caused my arm to feel like the veins/muscles were slightly too short for my arm! this was quite painful when moving my arm up or outwards, and also caused aching, and i still have physiotherapy every couple of weeks to stretch and relax my arm. this helps me immensly, i dont know if any of this sounds similar to your wifes discomfort as everyone is different, but if so i’d strongly recommend physio, as one of my ‘cords’ snapped during physio releasing my arm and stopping alot of the pain. it also meant i was finally able to do my post op excersises properly, which in turn meant i could finally help the healing process along.
whatever the problem, speak to the breastcare nurse and they can make any referrals necessary and be persistant as your wife should be improving with time, and as this isn’t happening then be firm in asking for more help. one thing i was always told tho was that the overall healing process is a long one. some people are fine after a few weeks, others take many many months, and some of us need ongoing physio to help things along…
best of luck with everything to you both.
nodes removed Hello,
Just wanted to say that after 3 years whilst I have still have some discomfort with my arm, it does come and go and as long as you take care not to lift too much with it its okay, and it is certainly a lot better in the summer when the weathers a bit warmer. I said I wanted all my nodes removed and I certainly do not regret that decision. My arm was so bad to begin with that there was a problem getting it into the position to have radiotherphy and I was so worried at the time but it was okay in the end.
My physio was impressed that my husband was the one who made sure I did all the exercises, I think she felt we didn’t need her after the first few visits.
Hope everything goes okay
Hazel
Thanks for all your replies they have really helped,it is reasuring to know that we are are not alone. My wifes radiotheapy started today after a 16 week wait so hopfully the end is in sight.