could anyone help me-i had mastectomy for dcis high grade in november and had immediate breast reconstruction implant, i am still having pain on my reconstruction side and it is still swollen and the pain is in my arm and now in my back, is this normal? and when does it stop
Hi Elaine4,
Please contact your bcn or surgical team as there is a syndrome called “post mastectomy pain syndrome” that a number of ladies suffer from but nobody tells you about this pre mastectomy. I had mx with immediate diep recon oct 09 for extensive dcis and even now suffer regular pain. I was referred to the pain team and was prescribed oral tramadol and emla cream to apply 3 times a day to the recon. This does work and my pain is a lot better than when I first complained of it to my team. It is also fairly normal for the recon to be still swollen 5 - 6 months post surgery and this may be aggravating the situation. At the moment, following reduction surgery to the good breast in Dec 10, I am wearing compression bras to help with the swelling and they are certainly helping. These were provided by the lymphoedema team so do use the resources available to you and contact the bcn tomorrow.
Let us know how you get on,
Regards,
Marjay xx