What to expect after lumpectomy/ radiation

Hi there!  Sorry you're here with us...

I too ended up with a lumpectomy and radiation after my first screening mammogram.  There are places on this site where you can read generally about both of those, but meanwhile, I wanted to share that my personal experience was much less inhibiting than I thought it might be.

Everyone is different--but after tons of wondering and worrying, I found recovering from the lumpectomy to be fairly easy.  I took pain meds for a couple of days after surgery and felt fine after that.  Someone I know had the surgery on Fri and went back to work the following Monday, but I suggest arranging a few days off to see how you feel.  Take your time.  Icing the areas (breast + underarm area where 2 lymph nodes came out) helped a lot.  The incision under my arm did feel itchy and tingly, and it was hard to fully extend my arm for a time, but everything healed up well and I resumed exercising/running (carefully) about 3 weeks later.  Before that I took a few walks and did some light stretching.  

I was really nervous about how rads would go, especially how my very sensitive skin wold react.  It was 33 treatments, so about 6 weeks 5 days a week.  My appointment was first thing in the morning before work.  I did get tired and spacey midday, and after a few weeks they put me on a prescription cream (silvadine) to help the redness in my skin, but by going to bed at around 8:00 (hello, life of the party!), I was able to work and exercise nearly normally.  I wasn't up for a lot of socializing during that time, but it didn't last forever.  All in all, not too bad--and afterward, the radiation oncologist said it was the best skin result he had ever seen (not to brag!).

Again, every story is a little different, but I spent soooooo much time and energy worrying in advance that I wanted to offer you a positive experience as a baseline!  Good luck and good health to you.