Dealing With Post Mastectomy Pain

Diane500

Hi everyone. I had a mastectomy of the left breast with lymph node removal/no reconstruction about a week ago. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on pain management. Since the surgery, I have been in significant pain. I have had these throbbing/shooting pains on the left side of chest and my entire left side near the ribs there have been stabbing pains and tightness & stiffness/ burning that goes all the way around the backside, and my left arm is very stiff. There is also a sharp pain when I breathe. My surgeon won't give me any pain med or advice on how to manage the pain. When I was discharged, the surgeon only wanted to prescribe Tylonel, but the nurses convinced her to give me something stronger. I had also been vomiting for the rest of the day since I woke up from the surgery. The nurses gave me some anti-nauesa meds before I left the hospital, but she won't give me a prescription for it. Anyway, the next day, I started vomiting again and was in significant pain despite the pain meds. The hospital had arranged for a home nurse to visit me, and she was so alarmed at my condition that she called the surgeon. The surgeon told her that there was no reason why I should be nauseous & vomiting, and I must be lying. She also said that she didn't believe that I was in pain, because most of her patients didn't experience that type of pain, and she won't prescribe another pain medication. She told the nurse that if I was really in pain & vomiting I should go to the ER. At the ER, the doctors gave me some anti-nausea and pain meds in the IV and sent me home with about 3 days of a new pain med. The pharmacy won't fill the prescription because my insurance won't approve of it without a prior authorization, and the ER said it doesn't do prior authorizations. The nauesa is less, but the pain is getting worse.There is also a burning sensation near the drain. I called the surgeon again, and she won't do anything. I have tried taking Tylonel, Ibuprofen, using heating pad, ice,etc but nothing seems to help. The pain and stiffness is so bad that I can barely move on my left side. Would appreciate any advice on how you dealt with the pain/stiffness, anything that helped you, any any exercises that I could do later as I wasn't given any when discharged. Is this type of pain normal?

DATNY

Hi Diane, and so sorry you have to deal with this crap. My surgeon gave my gapapetin prescription, if I remember correctly the name, although I never use anything else than Advil ( three doses in total). My pain never fully went away, but I kept pushing myself using the arm more than the other, which I think it helped. One week is really soon, I had my drain out at three weeks and I remember I was still in pain at that time. In any case you should go and see your surgeon in person if this is still going on.

Diane500

Hi Dateny. Thanks for your advice. I have my first post-op appointment with the surgeon tomorrow. I will mention the gapapetin. Her nurse mentioned that she wants to remove the drain. I hope its not to soon as its still draining between 65-70mls a day.