So many questions...
This discussion was created from comments split from: This Christmas I will be........
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A breast care nurse is someone who helps you with questions and answers and advice (I think - I've never really had one)
It does depend on the surgery. I started with a wide excision and sentinel node biopsy. The surgery was done beautifully and except for the scar, hard to tell. The pain was mostly in the underarm area as messing with the lymph nodes causes damage to the nerves which takes a little while to settle down. I'm still numb in a lot of spots in that area. I had to go back in for a mastectomy and axillary dissection as the tumour was much larger than expected and it was in the nodes. This surgery was a bigger deal and took a bit longer to recover from. To be honest, the surgery wasn't too hard to deal with. (I haven't had any reconstruction work.) It's important to do the exercises as instructed. You may find out about radiation when you see your surgeon but the real information comes from the path report after surgery.
It does depend on the surgery. I started with a wide excision and sentinel node biopsy. The surgery was done beautifully and except for the scar, hard to tell. The pain was mostly in the underarm area as messing with the lymph nodes causes damage to the nerves which takes a little while to settle down. I'm still numb in a lot of spots in that area. I had to go back in for a mastectomy and axillary dissection as the tumour was much larger than expected and it was in the nodes. This surgery was a bigger deal and took a bit longer to recover from. To be honest, the surgery wasn't too hard to deal with. (I haven't had any reconstruction work.) It's important to do the exercises as instructed. You may find out about radiation when you see your surgeon but the real information comes from the path report after surgery.