I have been recently diagnosed with intermediate DCIS and booked in for a therapeutic Mamoplasty in a couple of weeks time.
I am wondering whether anyone could offer any advice with regards to recovery. Everyone is different but would just like to get an idea of what I may/may not be able to do in the days/weeks following surgery.
I am a single mum of 11 year old twins and want to get organised for them.
In general any advice/tips would be welcome!! It is all very daunting and a little scary to be honest.
I had a therapeutic mammoplasty and sentinel lymph node biopsy five months ago. I recovered quite quickly, was going for long walks after three days and started driving two weeks after the op, probably could have driven after a week but my surgeon told me to wait for two weeks.
I didn’t have too much pain or discomfort in my breast but the site of the sentinel lymph node biopsy was sore, swollen and stiff for a couple of weeks. Make sure you do your shoulder exercises as soon as you can, they really do help even if you find some of them difficult at first. I can’t sleep lying on my back so I laid on my left side, op was on the right, with a small, soft heart shaped mastectomy cushion under my right arm and breast to cushion and support the tender bits. I found that cushion useful when sitting down in the first few days too. My surgeon advised me to wear for bra 24 hours day and night for the first six weeks. Although I didn’t much like having to wear a bra in bed I think it did help.
Good luck with your op, recovery and ongoing treatment. If you need to know anything else please ask. xx
