Mastectomy scars and chest tight and irritated after first chemo

smali

Chemonstarted one month after my BMX mastectomy. It was healing very well, andvI had been stretching to improve m range of motion. Three days post chemo and the whole area is sore and irritated. Anyone experiencing this?

vlnrph

Hi smali and welcome to the club nobody wants to join. You may want to post this question or search the surgery threads (I see you are already on the one for chemo in October). 

My sensation of numbness is beginning to lessen after 18 months but lymphedema compounds the tight/sore feeling. Have you had a physical therapy consult or just a hand out on exercises? There are scar massage techniques your doctor could describe to you.

The "swell sisters" on the LE forum here may be able to offer advice also - my surgery was unilateral with immediate reconstruction so I only had one side to be concerned about. Perhaps having the entire chest involved makes it more difficult to isolate the source of a problem. Hope you get some answers and a plan for recovery!