On the 18th my wife had lumpectomy and sample lymph node removal done. The pain form the lumpectomy is not bad but a week and half after the lymph node removal site is still extremely painful. I got her to go for a car ride just to get her out of the house and she was miserable with every bump and turn. She describes the pain and either a massive saw blade was used under her arm pit or a 2x4" board under their.
How was the pain for others? Any suggestions on helping to ease the pain and speed/improve the healing?
I would get her to discuss with her unit so they can check all ok and wound healing ok. It can take a bit of time for things to settle after op. I used one of those bean bag travel vision things under the seatbelt and to start with braced myself in the car seat because every pot hole in the road used to send me into orbit. But definitely get it checked with the unit to ensure all ok Hope this helps ??shi xx
Hi asjones. I think it is especially nice when concerned husbands post. That said, your wife has had major surgery and needs time to heal both physically and mentally. Sage advice from Shi; if in doubt contact hospital.
My experience (roughly similar op) was that the lymph node incision was more painful than the incision to remove the tumour. Assuming we are talking about the armpit… your wife should have been given advice on discharge from hospital, as regards exercises to keep the arm/shoulder moving. There is a perfectly natural and understandable tendency to subconsciously ‘hold yourself’ which can make you more stiff/sore, than necessary. I can only describe it as wanting to have your arm in a sling. I found something soft and stretchy but which gently held things in place, helped. Comfort is the key word and accepting there is no fast-track cure, just patience. Also there is risk of lymphodema, after this surgery, so bumpy/twisty car rides, with a seatbelt in the mix, possibly not as therapeutic as a gentle stroll in these early days.
Hello I hope your wife will feel much better soon.
In September I had a full mastectomy with immediate deep flap reconstruction which all went fine. However the lymph node sampling which took four nodes was much more painful. At three weeks post surgery I had been unable to wash properly as it was simply too painful. I found this very worrying. But by four weeks it was much better and at five weeks felt completely better and now gives me no trouble whatsoever. So grin and bear it for just a little longer and most likely the pain will resolve. In the meantime give her lots of (gentle) hugs and let her know how much she is loved
Hello all,
My surgery was Oct 2023 - for central wide incision & removal of 21 Lymph nodes right armpit. Radiotherapy feb 2024. On letrozole & 6monthly zoladronic infusions.
So 10 months on and still struggling….
Started physio in July as nerve damage from the surgery to radial & axilla nerves from the lymph nodes removal. Due to pain, ache, tingling, numbness on my armpit, shoulder, arms……physio said no to lymphoedema.
Struggled too with chest infections too….And antibiotics for 3 weeks each time…. (Twice in last 3 months)
Last 3 weeks I started getting more pain in the breast area too (not just armpit/arm)….also feel breast pain, increase in size,….however feel the increase keeps coming and going (like fluid making it bigger and then goes away again).
Unsure if to refer back for earlier annual check up or just ask physio on Friday (next appointment).
Anyone else had experienced for so long after the surgery?
Thanks
The lymph node removal was by far the most painful for me. For about a week or so I felt like there was a huge swollen, painful ball under my arm and it was super painful to have my arm by my side. Is your wife keeping up with painkillers? I tried to come off them too soon and got told off - if we’re in too much pain we don’t move as much which just exacerbates the stiffness and pain. I felt like I had turned a corner by about week 4 I think. Keeping up with the arm exercises is essential, but if in doubt I would get it checked out just to make sure it’s all healing as it should be. Hope your wife gets some relief soon!
Honestly I would recommend contacting her BCN service and asking to be assessed to check that there’s no oedema / hematoma / seroma that might be causing this - or cording . Does she still have a dressing in place ? That could be pulling or she may have had a reaction to it or it could be hiding a problem underneath . At this stage some pain is to be expected but this sounds a bit extreme .
Although it wasn’t particularly comfortable I made sure that I had a lot of support on my breasts and my lymph node wound with a very supportive bra after the first 48 hours because I know that I’m a bleeder and bruise very easily and wanted to put pressure on the wounds to prevent swelling . Most of us who have lumpectomy and SNB find that the axilla pain is worse than the lumpectomy - I certainly did and I had some pain going down by arm as well. I don’t know what she is taking for pain but my BCN said that ibuprofen ( if she is able to take it ) is useful from about day 7 as it can help to deal with swelling. It sounds heartless but it’s important to do the post- operative exercises to stretch the tissues and I found that this helped with the arm pain .
Some people have used a little heart shaped cushions beneath the armpit to relieve pressure , some BCNs give them out otherwise they’re widely available to buy and might just help .
I don’t know if your wife has an appointment soon for results / wound check but it sounds like she could benefit from seeing her someone on her breast team . Xx .
I’m sorry I made a mistake here - the thread came up with the first post which was quite some time ago and I was answering that one !
I know you’ve been told it isn’t lymphoedema but is your Physio a lymphoedema specialist ? if it feels like fluid as you say and your breast is swelling it would sound reasonable to me to ask your breast team via your BCN for referral to the Lymphoedema specialist or an assessment at the very least to exclude it . I had a swollen breast after radiotherapy - I didn’t think it was out of the ordinary but when I went to the clinic because of a lump which turned out to be nothing I was surprised to find that the BCN was concerned about my breast still being red but also swollen ( I wasn’t aware that it was ) and that if it didn’t go down she would refer to the Lymphoedema Nurse . It settled on its own but it took a long time and if I hadn’t developed the lump I wouldn’t have gone to see her and wouldn’t realized that it wasn’t recovering normally .
Hope this is of some help xx
Hope this helps ??