Mastectomy

KayGirl

hey everyone! I am wondering how long everyone took off work after a double mastectomy? Also, how long after surgery were you in so much pain that you required prescription pain meds? Any advice is appreciated!

Castigame

I can only speak based on my experience. Was 47 at the time of surgery. Radical MX on oneside and modified on the other. ALND and SNB w 19 nodes removed. No reconstruction. It took about 4 wks to recover. I recommend min of 4 wks off. Painwise the first 3 full days is bleep. Day #5 and on prescription pain killers was more bugger in terms of side effects. Yes the favorite drains. It felt like I had a third leg Be gentle to yourself. And be diligent about the post surgery exercise. I added 5 sec holding pauses per every few centimers of movements. Ex move arms up a few degrees hold and stay few seconds and move more up and stay a few secs move down the similar manner.

Wigging2000

I had BMX 11/30 with implant reconstruction a week later in December. I took one month off of work. I have a desk job.

As far as pain, I was on prescription pain meds for about 3 days with the BMX and 1 day with the reconstruction. After that I only used Tylenol. I was on Gabapentin and muscle relaxers though, which reduced the need for the pain meds. I think I was on those for about a week following the second surgery, so total of 2 weeks.

I was actually really surprised at how well I did! I expected much worse.

Everyone is different...I wish you peace and strength! You can do this!

NotVeryBrave

I think it would depend quite a bit on what kind of work you do. And I think having reconstruction at the same time makes it somewhat harder. I had PT that started after the drains were out and that was helpful for increasing my ROM.

I took the lower amount of narcotic on a less frequent schedule (one Percocet every six hours) pretty much around the clock for the first week. I was also taking a muscle relaxant at the time. It hurt, but I never had horrible pain or felt like it was out of control. I transitioned to Tylenol the second week and was back to driving by the third week.

TB90

I only had unilateral mx with no reconstruction. It was day surgery, but simple mx. I never took anything stronger than over the counter pain killers and only for the night. Sleeping was difficult. Drains were a pain. Once drains were removed, I could have returned to work. Depends on your type of work however. But if you have the luxury, take your time and recover. Emotionally as well as physically

Arya44

Hello,

Just had bilateral mastectomy, lymph node removal, and most discomfort is in left side when moving arm, and can't yet get up from lying on back without help. I will try your advise and start moving arms a little more each day.

alto

Tylenol works surprisingly well on the pain. I only took one or two narcotic pills outside of the hospital - then I realized the pain was similar to my quadrantectomy (smaller surgery) and I'd probably be able to cope with just Tylenol. I also had gabapentin/neurontin for nerve pain. I took that for 2 weeks. Some people say it makes them sleepy. It didn't really do that to me, although surgery wears me out. At any rate, I was just kind of achey like I'd been punched - tiny bit stabby pain if I made the drains angry by twisting - not super miserable with pain. I had one very short episode of sandpapery sensation, which I think is 'nerve pain' but it went away quickly and didn't come back.

I also recommend at least 4 weeks of recovery. I'd say if you absolutely had to (as in, you were in danger of losing your job, etc.), and did not have to lift anything as part of your work, you might be able to go back after 2-2.5 weeks, but you would probably be exhausted and miserable, emotional from everything, and in danger of wearing yourself out in a bad way. If you can take time to heal fully, do it. It makes a big difference. Also, depending on where you live and what your work requires, you may need your doctor to sign off on your return to work.

4 weeks was my minimum of "okay, I can do most things, I get worn out a little faster, but I have most things figured out when it comes to post-mast life, and I'm not hating life."

For me it was (umx, no recon):
Week 1: Tired, not very functional (brain and top half of body not working well), naps, aches; drains - so no driving or twisting
Week 2: Tired, tight chest, weakness in arms, starting to feel better - but every time I do stuff, I'm wearing myself out fast, need to sit down a lot; drains out mid-week, but gave my ribs a couple extra days to recover before I drove; started stretches
Week 3: Feeling a little more like myself, less hazy/brain is working better, less pain, starting to round the corner on feeling better, able to make short car trips, starting to feel a little more emotional because I'm not distracted as much by the discomfort and recovery; started to regain better range of motion
Week 4: Feeling better, have to be careful not to lift heavy things, can reach up carefully; I'm doing things but remembering to take it easy; I'm going to bed early every day