post surgery chest wall pain

rewayland

Do any of you out there in breast cancer diaspora, who are post chemo and radiation have chest wall pain? I was fine for about four months after radiation, and maybe I was too excited about my hair coming in and being doen with all of it that I did not notice,but... now my right ( surgical ) side hurts when I sneeze, cough or anything visceral. The breast hurts at night when I go to lie down and it is so hard to get to sleep because i can't get comfortable. My right arm lymphedema and right chest wall are getting to me. if I sleep flat, my chest wall hurts. It is really getting to me. I have resumed swimming hoping that might help and jacuzzi as well hoping the stretching will help..any ideas out there my fellow sisters?

Binney4

Hello, rewayland, and welcome to bc.org.

I'm wondering if you have an experienced lymphedema therapist, and if you've run this by her/him? It could certaily be truncal lymphedma:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/breast_chest_trunckal_lymphedema.htm

Until you know for sure what's causing the problem, try not to overdo with the swimming and stretching, yes?

Please keep in touch and let us know what you discover.

Be well!
Binney

rewayland

I have seen a lymphedema specialist and am on my second compression sleve and mitten. The lymphedema has not really changed in the last 6 months..some days good and some days not so good. The chest wall pain from the dr standpoint is not remarkable, and as it is chronic, it seems up to me to figure this all out. I have been swimming laps, 5 at a time then into the jacuzzi which seems to help. Of course the gym staff at 24 hour fitness want to exercise it on the machine etc..but for now, all I want to do is swim gently to keep the mobility and increase the flexiblity. We had a move recently and I packed 100 boxes and all the movement that goes with it, and I know that aggravated everything. Now i am paying the price, but one has to keep on with life milestones too. Heat at night sometimes helps, but i notice that my wrist is really sore as well..don't know if that is from the sleeve, or the lympedema or something else. This whole process really gets to me..I barely survived my only dose of TAC, and this chronic crap is getting to me.

kestrelgurl

I'm with you on the Chronic Crap (good title for another thread, huh?).

I am 8 months post-BMX and 6 months post-rads. No reconstruction. My chest seems to be more achy than it was a few months ago. Now I have been working out a decent amount, but it's hard with all the nerve stuff to tell if it's muscle soreness, bone ache or what......

I have modified my workout schedule significantly since all this started, not sure how much less I can do and stay sane. I was telling one of my closest friends, and fellow BC'er, just this morning that the novelty has worn off and I am ready to have my life back.......sigh.

yuchick

I've had that, specially after swimming.  My radiologist said to think of the radiated side as waking up after being cooked in a microwave, so it's kind of naturall that your nerve endings are flickering back to life, thus waking up, thus letting you know that chlorine, tight bathing suite, will cause all kinds of irritations and pain. 

In a nut shell, it'll never be the same.  Get a huge bathing suit when swiming, 2 piece that has a T-Shirt like top, and cut out all the fluffy stuff, so it's nice and lose, use Lubriderm before swimming (I personally found Olive Oil longer lasting), and keep swimming my fellow dolphin - don't let the little pain slow you down, 'cus schucks, you survived breast cancer!

XOXOXO

PS: Mine kicked in a year after therapies, so kudoz to you for starting to exercise earlier then that!