Breast pain after lumpectomy and radiation

My pain like that landed me in the emergency room just to make someone believe me that it hurt! I also couldn't breathe, though (probably a panic attack after being in pain like that for a week). No matter what I took, I could not get the pain to go away. I also had two lumpectomies and then 16 high dose radiations that ended August 8th. By September 21st, I was in the ER.

The fix? Lymphatic drainage massage. Find a Physical Therapy place that specializes in this. Your surgeon, or radiologist (mine didn't believe I could hurt that much because "you'll turn pink" was the only thing I got from him) can get the ball rolling. It was a total game changer learning some exercises and getting it massaged. Otherwise I was opting for a mastectomy just to get the pain to go away.

Oh, and, the stabbing pain went away once I knew there was a fix. Go figure. But the swelling and hotness went away in about a month after massage. It is finally floppy eleven months out. Good luck. They really downplayed my radiation because I "did so good through chemo".

Hi psychknowledge, I had a huge hematoma after surgery and started radiation as soon as it drained. I had the same symptoms that you had and ended up going to a lymphedema specialist where I was diagnosed with lymphedema that started in my breast. I have a flexitouch pump now that I use once a day and the pain is almost gone.

My story is similar to yours. DCIS diagnosed July 2019, 2 surgeries August, Radiation started September. My doctor said it was normal to have pain for several months and even years.. I was on tramadol for a while and didnt want to turn into an addict, so they put me on gabapentin which prohibits me from taking anything else like motrin or tylenol. Its not working I am sore all the time but feel alot of pain first thing when I get up. I have fibromyagia so they don't know if its ftrom that or the scar tissue. I am truly thank for my life but the pain is very annoying. I have good days and bad days. How about you and your pain management. How do you cope? I started yoga.

The thumb thing brings to mind the brachial plexus which is a group of nerves in the shoulder blade area that do down the arm. It can be damaged by radiation. Ot maybe it's nerve pain from surgery? Might be good to ask your RO.

ViewFinder - sounds like Small Muscle Fiber Neuropathy. I used to have it bad in my legs due to a different dx years ago. It finally resolved. Then after RADs that same feeling (pins needles...like static on a tv channel) appeared in my left arm. Shoulder to fingers.

I see a Neurologist regularly so I went back to him. They did scans...all stable. He told me that it's not uncommon for radiation to trigger Neuropathy, especially in patients that have a history of it. There's nothing much to be done for it. Gabapentin sometimes helps patients. Never worked for me. After a few months post RADs it went away again.

I would definitely talk to your team. Hopefully its nothing worrisome. Keep us posted.

Hi Psychknowledge and Viewfinder. I agree with others' good suggestions but would add that doing the prescribed post-lumpectomy stretching exercises is really important and helped me a lot. There are many resources online but I will try to paste the link to one below. It amazes me how many doctors are not making this recommendation.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/arm-exercises-after...

Contrary to the advise on this website, the protocol is for stage 0 cancer (DCIS) are now changing to a wait and see approach. Some doctors even call DCIS pre-cancer.

HI everyone,

This is another example of a huge problem in the cancer industry. In June 2011 a study was released that the majority of women who receive lumpectomy and radiation will be in moderate to severe pain for a year. Was this ever explained to you by your doctor? Did they explain how much radiation would help you? In some women it only lowers the chance of their cancer coming back by 7%. Is that worth a year of pain...and is that right for your doctor to decide that for you by telling you you must have a treatment. Also, did he tell you that there is treatment? The only treatment is HBOT with is FDA approved for radiation pain and damage. MOst radiation oncologists do not know this. SO they give you a treatment that causes you pain, don't tell you how much it is helping you and then they don't even know how to treat it.

I need your stories!I am currently writing a book on stage 1 breast cancer as I had a horrific experience that didn't need to happen.These ranged from gender bias where my symptoms and pain were not believed, resulting in unnecessary suffering and damage, to doctors having very little knowledge in their fields, for example Hyperbaric oxygen specialists that not only unaware that it is the only approved treatment for radiation damage, but even after giving them studies to support this, they still didn't believe me and refused treatment.

On top of this, there is the industry's constant over simplification of guidelines (mastectomy or radiation and lumpectomy for every stage 1 BC case) and the over treatment of patients.In 2018 a study came out that 70% of early BC patients did not need chemo.Then why were they giving chemo patients that didn't need it!Why were they testing a treatment before it was administered! Women are never told how much each of these treatments will help them so they cannot weigh the benefits and costs to treatment.They are just told they have to do it.For example, some women will only receive a 7% reducing in the chance of their cancer coming back from radiation and this is according to the NCCN the governing body or cancer research. Shouldn't these women get to decide if that benefit is worth permanent damage and the possibility of severe side effects?)Then to top it off, there is no accountability in the industry (please read "Unaccountable" by Dr. Makary) and completely driven by money (please read "The Price We Pay" also by Dr Makary. Dr. Makary is a surgeon and teacher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health)

So I want to hear from you.Were you ever told how much different treatments will help you?Were you ever in pain and a doctor said it was in your head or it wasn't that bad?(Both of these were said to me.)Were you told about all of the side effects of treatments, before you started the treatment, such as a long-term safe effect of chemo is cardiovascular damage?Or that you would have permanent damage to your skin, muscles, ribs (and heart of it was done on your left side) from radiation?Post-cancer did you have issues and no doctor had the knowledge to help you?

To all of my BC sisters I want to thank you for your time and we will get through this!!