Random pains 2 years post mastectomy?

Michi
Michi Member Posts: 98
edited October 2020 in Pain

hi all-

I had a prophylactic mastectomy 2.5 years back, with expanders and then reconstruction about two years ago.. It was uneventful and my recovery was fine, I did develop two areas of fat necrosis which scared the daylights out of me.. (This was never mentioned by my surgeon until I was in a near panic attack at her office)

Now I am having random pains on my right side, it seems to be in one targeted spot though I can feel nothing there and then randomly at the top of my rib and underneath my arm where they did the sentinal node biopsy. I do play tennis three times a week and mostly use my right arm which is the same side of the pain- not sure if that’s aggregating things. The pain is almost a deep ache.. not horrible but I notice it often enough to pay attention.

I know I could go back to my doctor and get an ultrasound but I really don’t want go down another rabbit hole, my doctor has reassured me my risk of having BC from here out is about 1 percent, since I only had pre-cancerous cells before, stage zero. But this whole experience has really thrown me and I can’t help feeling every ache or pain is something now.


I guess I’m just trying to understand if this is the new normal? I’ve seen many of the post on PMPS, and the pain doesn’t seem to be severe and I have to be that, it’s just hard to live with all these unknowns still about life after this surgery. My surgeon made it seem like the pain should be resolved by now and the nerves should be done regenerating.


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Comments

  • SummerAngel
    SummerAngel Member Posts: 1,006
    edited October 2020

    Yes, I still have random pains over 5 years after my BMX. I'm sure most of the pains are scar tissue related. I also think that some are due to exercising the pec muscle, which was dissected for my below-the-muscle implants. I'm very in tune with my body and can feel where the pains are coming from.

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  • Michi
    Michi Member Posts: 98
    edited October 2020

    thank you for your reply, I had below muscle implants also and I guess it would make sense based on where I feel the pain coming from.

    I too am very in tune with my body which can sometimes be annoying..I feel everything including random little pains and zaps that most people would probably not even pay attention to!


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  • LaughingGull
    LaughingGull Member Posts: 560
    edited October 2020

    Hi Michi,

    I am 2.5 years post-mastectomy, also silicone implant under the pectoral muscle. I have sore spots, random pains, itching, and zaps; I had radiation back in the day, and also ALND, so I think in my case it's a mix of fibrotic tissue from radiation, scar tissue from surgery, zaps from the pec muscle and who knows what else. All of it annoying, but not really painful, painful. I am also very active, and I swim, among other things, so I use my pec muscles a lot. This is getting worse not better, and it drives me crazy some days. I convinced myself I had to have some broken ribs there; however, I just had a bone scan and everything was normal in my ribs. Guess this is normal.

    I have a painful sore spot where a drain from surgery once was, and the surgeon recently told me to massage it often to soften the tissue -I am trying. So if you have a sore spot like that, which can be traced to surgery/scar tissue, know that massaging it is supposed to make it better -according to my surgeon.

    LaughingGull

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  • Michi
    Michi Member Posts: 98
    edited October 2020

    Thanks for getting back to me...I too an very active between tennis and running. Maybe I should update my sports bras too I was thinking. Who knows if I am actually giving the ladies enough support, as I am often braless. Figure that's one perk of having this dang surgery. Just glad to hear I'm not alone, I have scoured these forums and online but it's kind of a random thing, since is not severe, but just more annoying and nerve wracking when my mind starts to wonder...

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited October 2020

    Michi - do you still have regular follow-ups with your BS or PS? Since this pain is ongoing or continuing, I think you should really make an appointment with your doc - probably the PS. Yes we all have pains & aches & twinges, but don't let the docs just blow you off. It could be any number of things - and not recurrent cancer.

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  • SummerAngel
    SummerAngel Member Posts: 1,006
    edited October 2020

    I'm also quite active, and I think those of us who are, and especially those of us in tune with our bodies, tend to feel more of these things. For the first couple of years it freaked me out, too, but now I'm used to it. I agree that massaging the area that hurts helps, that's what I do. I forgot to mention that in my last reply.

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  • Michi
    Michi Member Posts: 98
    edited October 2020

    Thanks for the replies, ladies.

    I will certainly try the massage.

    Minus Two, I do yearly check ins with my surgeon and went in a few months back when I had a random pain at the top of my rib... she did say this can happen and that there are so many small stitches that can get irritated. She isn't a fan of jumping into US and MRI's unless she finds something very troubling since it can lead to difficult and unnecessary biopsies. I tend to feel everything in my body and since this is still fairly new to me I also tend to worry everything is something. She said my pain is not consistent or severe enough for her to be concerned. I guess I was just trying to understand if this is the new normal for other ladies years out. For some crazy reason I assumed I would just feel nothing since it started out so numb- but it makes sense that after the nerves start to regenerate I am going to feel random things like this from time to time.

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  • LaughingGull
    LaughingGull Member Posts: 560
    edited October 2020

    SummerAngel, my same exact thoughts and feelings! It was all so numb at the beginning and I thought things would stay like that.

    I also agree with checking with the different doctors, for sure.

    I see the breast surgeon twice a year ,and discussed this with him, he told me about massaging that sore spot that looks like scar tissue. He also told me that in his experience, a local recurrence would not be under the implant, but on top of it. I also discussed with the oncologist, she didnt seem concerned and said scar tissue, maybe radiation side effects. I will see the PS soon and I will also ask him.

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  • Fleurdavril
    Fleurdavril Member Posts: 10
    edited October 2020

    I saw my BS this morning and told me the same thing about massaging the scare tissu.She also told me that the pain will never go away.Nice.....

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  • Michi
    Michi Member Posts: 98
    edited October 2020

    something to look forward to 🙄🤦🏻 I feel like none of this was discussed with me. I loved my surgeon, but it would have been nice to have some expectations laid out for afterwards. I don't mind dealing with something I can anticipate. I hate the anxiety that comes with this aftermath though. The fat necrosis sent me into a tailspin for a week..

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