Lumpectomy Tomorrow-What to expect

Hi Sue,

I hate surgery too, but overall, this wasn't bad.  I can honestly say that having my wisdom tooth pulled was more painful. I actually went back to work after two days - I felt fine (and I was climbing the walls waiting for the biospy results).

After the surgery, my breast was really swollen - it was uncomfortable, but not painful.  Have a good ice pack on hand, one that you fill up with ice.  Fill it 1/2 ice and 1/2 water (so there are no sharp edges from the ice) and that will help with the swelling. It took about two weeks for the breast swelling to go down. 

The bigger problem for me was the sentinel node biopsy.  My underarm and down my arm (to around my elbow) felt tight really tight and tingly.  The surgeon said there aren't a lot of nerves in the breast, but there are millions in the underarm area, which is why it can be uncomfortable.  She gave me a script for percocet, but I just ended up taking some tylenol and that worked fine. The sentinel node arm stayed kind of tingly for a couple of months, but that too healed. Also, keep the sentinel node arm moving because if you don't you could develop frozen shoulder.  I developed frozen shoulder and that was painful - took almost a year for it to clear up.

Tomorrow, you should wear a button down shirt - it may be a little uncomfortable for you to lift your arm over your head for a couple of days. Also, it will take several days for the anesthesia to wear off. You will probably feel a little lightheaded, like a bad hangover.  Drink a lot of water and don't push yourself. 

Good luck tomorrow, this is the scariest time, but it will be over in a couple of hours.

Best,

J 

I didn't find the lumpectomy to be painful at all.  No drain . . . no pain. The only pain was from the SNB. I went home a few hours post op. I don't recall whether I wore a bra afterwards. I know for sure that if I did, it wasn't a special type of bra. Best wishes for an easy surgery and recovery.

Good luck tomorrow!  My lumpectomy was a breeze. I didn't need any pain killers afterwards and my breast only got a little swollen. The armpit was ok too, just a little tender. The day following the surgery I called the doctor to see if I could do some arm exercises. He said yes.  I did them faithfully every day and the swelling went down completely. I walked my dogs the following day (1 1/2 hours) and began jogging as soon as the breast swelling went away (about a week)  I had one node removed.

The two scars have healed beautifully!

j414 already wrote and told it like it is, as far as my own experience. The SNB area was more sensitive after surgery than the lump site & I could feel the tightening.  Without even knowing about "frozen shoulder," I was stretching the area by about the third or fourth day.  The stitches probably had not even disolved, but I knew I did not want the area to get tight. 

One other thing, if you are getting the radioactive tracer (shot) to locate the sentinel nodes, you're gonna feel it.  I usually am oblivious to normal shots, but that was a stinger.