Pain post Axillary Lymph Node Dissection

I just had my surgery this week (two days to be exact) and I am numb with pain on the bottom of my new boob. Numb: upper interior of my arm, side towards my back and the inflated thing that will be my new boob

HomeMom--I am sorry to say that I still experience numbness and it has been almost 15 months since my BMX and 10 months since my exchange.  I have been going to physical therapy or massage therapy since about 8 weeks post BMX and the area of the numbness has decreased, however, my right armpit and the inside of my right arm from my armpit to my elbow remain numb.  Both foobs are also numb.  This is very common but it was not explained to me by my doctors so I was quite alarmed after my surgery.  Since you are only two days out from your mastectomy, it is totally "normal" to still be experiencing pain.  This too, will subside.  Keep on top of the pain with medication and if you are medicating yourself and still in pain, talk to your docs about changing your drugs.  Some pain killers work better on some people than others.  I am a Tylenol girl and at first, the docs were giving me Lortab and Dilaudid which it did nothing for pain but made me loopy and uncoordinated.  Once they switched me to Percoset (which contains Tylenol), the pain became manageable.

homemom

I was given a booklet of exercises which I found very helpful. I only have one complete arm so my physio was "life". I had to use my left arm as there was no alternative. I had my surgery on March 17th it was a modified radical mastectomy - 21 lymph nodes removed. Today I still have some numbness on the back of my left arm and still feel the odd "pull " if I am reaching for something but all is good

At one time I couldn't lie on my left side and also felt discomfort in the back and side of my ribs. All gone

:-)

My range of motion is pretty close to what it was prior to surgery

:-)

Wishing the best for you !!!

Hi I had a radical Mastectomy /dissection on my right breast 3 weeks ago i too have the numbing almost burning pain from my armpit down the right side of my body -not sure how many lymph nodes they had to take -i have been doing the arm over my head exercise which seems to help at times and at other times like today i feel a tightness across my chest and under my armpit like i can't raise my arm very high as if my skin has shrunk if that makes any sense and it is so tender i am not sure if that means it is healing or what very annoying thats for sure. i have also been experiencing a pain like bruising under where i had my breast removed by my ribs not sure what would cause that. has anyone else experienced that? i read on this site you can use ice for the swelling and pain has anyone tried that. I am freaking out because my surgeon did not give me any exercises to do he just said oh your fine go live -i had to go on the internet to find out what i should be doing

Hi Bren58 I have my tubes out already and all the Surgeon said to me and my husband when I asked what kinda exercises do I need to and when all he said was to go to a wall and walk my arm up the wall like a spider walk . Not a lot of help at all lol

Thank you so much for the info I am a bad patient I just want to be well now but no it's going to take time.  I am supposed to start chemo soon I am so not looking forward to that at all 

I just wanted to post about my new LE sleeve. I had a LX and ALND Feb. 13 (three months ago). I also had 30-year-old implants removed and not replaced.   I had horrible burning and skin hypersensitivity in my underarm, chest and upper arm area.  The pain has pretty much gone away except for my upper arm.  I don't have LE, but hope to get back to doing a lot of long-distance cycling so I got a LE sleeve to use while exercising.  The minute I put the sleeve on, the pain in my arm went away.  The compression of the sleeve really helped to shut off the constant sensation from the nerve damage.  

I just wanted to relay that information just in case there is anyone else out there without LE that is dealing with tingling all the time in the arm after surgery.  The constant compression of the sleeve has really helped those nerves settle down.  

thanks Bren!

Hope everyone is feeling better! It has been 1 year and 2 months since surgery.  I would say my arm is 90% what is was.  However, the feeling I have something under my armpit does not go away.(any suggestions?)  I forget sometimes but it does not go away.  I have still some numbness but not completely numb.  I have started pilates a couple of months ago and I believe it helps as well. We just have to be patient and it is so hard!

Bren, thanks for your support.  You are always answering and giving very helpful info.  

Have a great day!

i hate those frickin irritated lymph nodes. you know what? before surgury, they knew there was clinically involved nodes. and i could barely feel them. After surgery? two of the nodes were 2.5 cms'!!!! and i never felt them! now, i am having all kinds of trouble with the remaining nodes, from bottom of rib-cage, inguinal, neck, etc, WTF? they say its because the nodes are doing the job of the ones taken out. Slowdeepbreathes, whom i met, went with me to follow up bs, is having the very same problem. and she did not have ANY removed. the only thing her and i did the same, was lumpy, and chemo. i am just so frustrated.

I must say I feel better "listening" to you... I just cannot talk with many people about it...

First, docs.  I have now this rejection to doctors and to traditional medicine.  So if before I visited my homepath every 2 months, now it is part of my life (and my wallet to unfortunately!).  I just hate doctors saying, you are ok, there is nothing wrong, it just takes time, blah, blah, blah. ARgggg!!!  I  must say that my dermatologist helped with the scar in order to avoid getting "harder".

Second, cant believe someone without node surgery is having that problem... how is that possible?

Third, PT and exercise.  PT helped a lot and now pilates is helping as well.  I believe that it stretches and even if I feel a bit of pain, later my arm feels better, in particular the cording feeling.  I still have that + the golf ball.  However it is not all under my armpit but just towards the back.  I has gotten better.  I have decided (power of my mind) that I am fine and I can do everything.  So I do every excercise in pilates and hopefully (I work, husband and child makes it  hard) will start weight lifting twice a week. I hope that my shoulder will go back down... it has gone up a little.

Sometimes is just so frustrating!!!! Especially at 37 with a husband and a child... My family "stage" had just started... Well, I am sure we have learned a lot in this "journey"... not the best way to grow as a person...ahhh Check this 3 minutes TED conference:the best gift I ever survived.

http://www.ted.com/talks/stacey_kramer_the_best_gi...

Bren, I feel the same way about fearing to get LE and my symptoms sound pretty much identical to yours.  I am working with 1.5 pound weights!  My arm strength is getting better slowly.   Sometimes I think of the pain in my arm as an "early warning system" not to overdo it.  I wear an LE sleeve when I exercise and for an hour afterward.

Hello!

I feel like you do: I do not limit myself on doing things but the the tension, the numbness is still there.  It is simply frustrating.  

When I had surgery to remove the port... I felt sooo good when I woke up... I felt no pain at all, nothing... I just wanted to be on drugs to forget about the arm,armpit, back. 

I have not been able to find a pattern... sometimes I start feeling a LOT better and suddenly again the tension at my armpit and sometimes my wrist hurts.

Gotta go to bed! Enjoy weekend

Homemom, yes go see a PT that specializes in BC patients and/or Lymphedema. They will able to work on that tightness also called cording, and help you regain your range of motion. I had to go after my BMX in 2000 and then again after my ALND last year. A good PT will not only be able to work out that cording, but also give you a weight training program that starts out slowly with light weights. After ALND surgery you want to be careful with your weights because of the LE risk. You are only 3 months out from surgery, so don't rush it.

I was talked into having an ALND after having a mastectomy with a sentinel node biopsy. I had one positive sentinel node at the first surgery at UK then went thru 16 rounds of chemo. I went to Vanderbilt to talk about clinical trials.  The oncologist at Vanderbilt told me I should have had an ALND because the tumor was large enough for a mastectomy and it was the standard of care. They didn't explain the risks to me when I asked. I was already back at work and was hesitant to do the surgery.  They scared me and I agreed to the surgery.  I haven't been able to work since. The nodes were all clear. Since the Vandy surgery I have extreme nerve pain in my arm, armpit, chest and shoulder. I have had lots of physical therapy and seen pain specialists. It's been almost a year with no relief. I've tried all the drugs they give you for nerve pain and narcotics which I hate. I've had lots of reactions to the drugs.  I am now being told by other surgeons that there was no reason to do the ALND.  It was totally unnecessary.  Does anyone know of a way to get permanent relief?  Are there any doctors out there that can help women like me?  I will travel anywhere.   I want my life back.

Try having 29 nodes removed. I'm numb from a portion of my shoulder blade across my armpit and the back of my arm. I've been told it can take up to a year for things to get back to somewhat normalcy. Only one more node came back with "flecks" in it. I'm working on recon so the pings and pains I am assuming are from the fills I get. How do they decide how many nodes to take? Is it a slice and dice and see how many you get operation? I never asked my BS.