One Month After Mastectomy

Hi Katrob,
I had some post-surgical shoulder pain. I was large breasted and the physiotherapist told me that it was quite common to experience some shoulder pain, particularly when you were large. As she explained it, the shoulders have been carrying that weight for a lot of years and the sudden absence of that weight can cause them to go into spasm. I only had it on one side and one physio session followed by a stick on heat pack fixed it. Talk to your own medical team about it because obviously you already have shoulder issues and that might mean they need to look at special care. Certainly having the pre operative steroid shot sounds like a wise move.

I didn't want to come home with drains so I stayed in hospital for nine days. Thank goodness for private health insurance! If you're in a public hospital you won't get a choice. They seem to send most people home after two or three days unless there's complications. I was glad of the rest, of not having to cook and of not being able to look at my housework without being able to do it! It also gave my husband a much-needed break.

You don't say what kind of work you do but my advice would be to not make any firm plans if that's at all possible. It's been a month since my surgery and I'm still dealing with seromas. I'm only just getting my energy back. Depending on the size of your breasts you might have larger or smaller scars. Mine run all the way out under my arms and the left side is fragile because I had radiation. I've healed well but I'm still avoiding any kind of heavy lifting for another few weeks, just to be on the safe side. 

If you can possibly afford it, then take as long as you need and add at least a week to it. I know we all want to get back to life as quickly as possible but this is major surgery and your body needs time to recover. The last thing you want to do is compromise your wounds, give yourself an infection or undermine your recovery.

I hope this is helpful.

Meg

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