Mastectomy recovery

[Grisol]

I am meeting with my breast surgeon tomorrow. For my peace f mind, I decided to have a double mastectomy. I am curious about the recovery. I am horrible at staying still.

[Hidden]

Hi Grisol

I had a single Mastectomy & l was much better than I imagined, l had a pain block & it made a huge difference. Are you having node clearance or just the sentinel nodes, as l think that restricts the arm movement more.

Staying still is not an issue, it'll be if you over do it or try to lift anything too heavy, you need to do your exercises to keep your arms moving & try to prevent any cording or risk of lymphodema depending on the number of lymph nodes that are removed.

Make a list of questions for your surgeon for tomorrow & good luck 🍀

Best Wishes 💐

Mrs N

[Jennymary]

Wishing you luck for tomorrow and subsequent surgery xxxx

[Debster2016]

Hi Grisol Well done on making the choice you have, it must have been a difficult one. I wasn't given the choice and would have welcomed being given it.

I had single mastectomy on December 7th accompanied by clearance of 2 levels of lymph nodes out of 3. I experienced cording and I am almost free of it now, 10 weeks post op. I had a drain in place for 9 days. I did not have any seromas nor infections. I still have some lymph fluid collected just below my armpit and at the top of my inner arm.

That's my recovery to date and each of us will give you different experiences because we are all different. Our physiology, physical state, emotional state, life experiences, expectations, needs, support, medical teams are all different and this makes our experiences unique.

My breast care nurse went through all the potential consequences of surgery with me before the operation, with it all on a hand out and I also got a booklet from her too. There are different booklets produced by Breast Cancer Care that can be ordered online, I think they are free.

Wishing you a speedy recovery 🌹🙏

[Weeze10]

I had a double mastectomy 5 months ago. The worst part for me was having the drains in but the recovery went much better than I anticipated . Best of luck to you

[June9961]

Hi, because of my family history I had a bilateral mastectomy. I too cannot stay still for long and despite having four operations and nearly dying from complications I was back to work within two months. However the peace of mind outweighed the problems and if I had to I would go through it all again. 😊

[Maggie18]

I had single mastectomy and total auxiliary clearance and day 4 pistol drains came out I was out for a short walk each day after day 2 and I was amazed at how quickly I was free of pain just a few days by 2 weeks was driving but rest and also take it easy sleep and catch up but build up walks each day . Be careful not to carry objects relied on others to do your chores if you can like no hoovering for 4-6 weeks be careful xxx

[biddenden_sue]

I had a single mastectomy with full node clearance. One night in hospital. No pain to speak of. I was up and about as normal from the day after the op. Drains were in about 7 days. You just carry them round in a bag with you. It was the node clearance which took time to recover from. Had physio exercises to do to get movement back. Took about 6 weeks to get it back to normality. Good luck, but it is a relatively simple op if there is no reconstruction involved.

[Debs1962]

I had a single mastectomy with implant, was out the same day with no drain, and was doing arm exercises soon after, you will be limited with both sides a bit, as I used my good arm a lot in the early days, but with exercise it wasn't long before my arm movement was very good.

Good luck xx

[Artemis-angel]

I had a single mastectomy with a reconstruction, with lymph nodes removed. I was off work for six weeks mainly due to the reconstruction, I was told 2weeks for a mastectomy with no reconstruction. I have not had problems with cording or lymphodema, as the others posts say follow the arm exercise regime. They are simple gentle exercise to get you moving again.

[Maz1965]

Good luck with the surgery... you need to take it easy and listen to your body. Xx