Numbness after Surgery

MaryToU

I had my left breast mastectomy on Monday, today my upper left arm is numb along with the armpit and side. I this normal? There doesn't seem to be any swelling, just a tight feeling.

Spookiesmom

Yes, it's normal. Nerves were cut, things moved around. Takes some time to feel normal again.

Trill1943

Mary, I had a double mastectomy last December. The sentinel lymph node on the left was also taken out to check for lymphatic invasion if any. This is a pretty standard procedure. Don't know if you had that done....

In any case, I also had numbness and came right here and asked about it as I was like, oh, wow--no feeling. The ladies here told me that those nerves were removed/severed etc and the numbness is normal. But they also said that it doesn't go away.

This was upsetting news!

OK, I thought, so, that's life and it is what it is and this was part of the surgical procedure I opted for.

For a while I was bummed....

Now, it's been a year. And the thing is, yes, the numbness is still there--it's along the chest wall where the boobs were and are no more, and under the left arm and down that left side partially--but I don't even notice it!

Really, only when I'm soaping up in the shower do I notice it. feel the stiffness but that's minimal too.

In the end: I don't notice the numbness. Doesn't bother me one bit.

Hope this helps!