I finished 18 Herceptin in January after initial diagnosis in August 2010, WLE, chemo, rads and then the Herceptin. I have been back at work since last June, full time, and coping very well with my ‘new me’. (mostly - not always easy though…). I am conscious of my affected breast feeling tender all over as well as under my armpit, though no evident change. Lumpiness which was confirmed as scar tissue last July does not appear to be different. Has anyone else experienced this tenderness. It appears to have been a gradual process of me becoming more aware of it. I am very conscious of it when I meet an old friend and they automatically give me a hug, or sometimes feel like my bra is strangling me…ok maybe not quite, but I am sure you get the picture! Not constantly aware of it, but niggles in my brain. Can others let me know if they too have had this experience. Is it normal? I did wonder if it was because I have been more active in the garden with the good weather of late. However, I would appreciate any thoughts. Take care all.
Hi Jaynek we are almost at the same stage, I too was diagnosed in Aug 2010 though I am at Herceptin no 17 this week maybe delay is due to having 2x wle anyhoo I do have horrendous problems with ‘strangling bras!’ I have had a bad tum which was a s /e and I also have a tender bit along bra line along with underarm? I have just had a clear mammo so it’s got to be o.k. My bcn tells me it’s not unusual to have aches for a while, she did check me over and said it was all o.k. I find it’s worse at the end of the day so off goes the bra and on go the pj’s! So you are not alone, hopefully it will settle down soon take care Em x
Hi ladies, I am 5 1/2 years post diagnosis and still suffer from an aching breast and shoulder after all this time. Exercise helps with this. I also had Herceptin treatment which I finished in April 2008. It took me many months to get my stamina back and it’s only really in this last year/18 months that I’ve felt really well again.
Yes definitely experienced this and still do to a lesser extent 2.5 years post treatment. My Onc said it was the rads that caused the tenderness and he wasn’t at all surprised. I couldn’t lie on the side I’d had my mastectomy for nearly a year afterwards. Gradually it’s lessened and quite honestly I hardly think about it but if I prod it’s still tender.
In fact my husband hugged me the other day and must have caught a sensitive spot because it hurt.
I do have to be careful with bras though as I find some rub and make me conscious of that whole area. It may be that your bra is exacerbating your problem. Try wearing a soft bra when you’re at home for a couple of days and if your gardening and see if that eases things. If it does then perhaps you need to look at getting different bras. Maybe something more on the lines of a soft sports bra without seams and plenty of back/shoulder support.
I also had a portocath and bizarrely the scar area from that on my chest is the most tender spot. It was very painful after it was put in for a while so probably a lot of scar tissue around it.
I think if this is causing you anxiety then get it checked out so you can put your mind fully at rest. Can you see your Onc, surgeon or BCN and ask them to have a look?
Hi, finished herceptin end Jan this year but have had a very tender and swollen breast since last summer, after finishing rads. (My breast has felt quite solid but was told this is a s/e of the rads and is lessening slightly). It also seems to be worse at certain times of the month, bit like PMS. My 1 year mammogram was awful though, and not looking forward to the next one but hoping it might settle down in time for it.
It feels more like a bad bruised feeling rather than an ache, anyone similar? And is particular sore underneath where the wire of my bra sits and towards the middle of my chest, not near where I had surgery. But like others have said it is very sore when anyone tries to give me a hug which is a bit annoying.
Just to play safe I would get it checked, but I’m sure it won’t be anything other than s/e’s of all of the treatment.
I have to try to buy decent bras with moulded cups and no underwiring (not that easy to get when you are a 36D). The position of my lumpectomy scar is where a bra wire would sit, so as you can imagine v.uncomfortable. I’ve recently dound some cheapy t-shirt bras in Matalan, 2 for 8 quid, which are ideal for every day wear and I keep the fancy stuff for dressier moments. Even though it’s 5 years since I had rads, my breast is still a different colour - at my last appointment the surgeon commented on it. It’s a kind of salmon pink shade and you can see the outline where the beam was lined up.
I also have to watch getting bumped or hugged, sometimes I will pull away from my OH and he knows he has to be careful which is a shame for him - it’s easy to forget, especially this far down the line. I do wonder if I will ever be ache free sometimes.
I am so grateful to you all for your comments. This has really reassured me. Had my check up last month and all was well. Mamogram due in August. Like others finding a comfy bra is not easy. You have no idea how much these comments and the commaradarie (prob spelt wrong!) has helped me. Take care all. Jayne
I am relieved to find that I’m not the only one to experience tenderness after mastectomy.
I had op. Aug 2011, no radiotherapy or chemo but ever since have had feeling like swelling underarm and partially numb area but at the same time some of the nerves seem to have gone into overdrive, causing tenderness and soreness.
I wear a mastectomy bra not under- wired, under wiring is much too painful.
On things like camisoles, I have had to cut away some of the underarm material so that it does not rub.
It is a relief to get my bra off when I can.
In my case I think the problem is due to nerve damage when the lymph nodes were removed.
I was wondering if any of you have found a solution such as acupuncture or any other therapy?
I can echo what all you girls are saying;
I had lumpectomy and ax clearance, (in dec 2010 and June 2011).
I am very tender when touched, and guard myself when it comes to hugs etc.
I cant have my son’s head resting there if he’s reading to me, and bras -I only wear non-wired or sports bras now
My boob is also swollen from a bit of lymphoedema and feels so hard underneath, where all the fluid seems to gather with stretch marks on the skin which never used to be there.
I also hurt if I pick up something bulky and it presses against me, as you say, it’s like a very deep bruise rather than a sharp pain.
I have been following various threads for a few months and registered tonight. Thank you, you have all helped so much.
Tenderness, aching ribs on treatment side and bras are all live issues with me.
I’m 6 weeks post RT (I had 15). I have emailed my BCN as I am unsure how normal this is.I get sooooooo tired too. I can only wear a bra for a short time. It seems to aggrevate the soreness.
Does anyone find they get more sore at night and also after doing something like mopping the floor?
I experienced a lot of either tender or very jumpy nerve type pain in my bottom rib for a long time after rads and was assured this is normal. It was often worse in the evenings and I once had an incident where I was at the cinema and yelled “oh” loudly because the pain made me jump - a man sitting behind me just about fainted and I didn’t half get a dirty look when we were leaving!
With rads people tend to fall into 2 camps - one lot find the experience extremely tiring and are drained by it, the other have few problems. I was the latter and was OK until the last treatment when the skin broke very slightly under my breast. (I had 25). My appointments were first thing in the morning with a 50 mile round trip to the hospital, so I did find I was ready for TV in bed by 8pm every evening, but by that point I’d been up since 7am. I was lucky enough to be able to do a little bit of work in our business during this time, I could not have done this on the second round of chemo as I was so unwell on Taxotere.
When I spoke to my onc and breast care nurse about it, they said the general rule is that if any pain (esp bone pain) that lasts more than 2 weeks and is also keeping you awake during the night you should get it checked as a precaution. Luckily, I was never kept awake by it. It’s 5 years since I had rads now, but I do still get an odd twinge.
and I didn’t half get a dirty look when we were leaving!