After effects of breast cancer treatment

Pain relief can help with pain and discomfort after your surgery as well as finding a comfortable position to lay in bed. Many patients experience pain, numbness, and a burning sensation because of temporary damage to the minor nerves under the arm and scar area.

It is common to have some bruising after surgery but will disappear over time.

Some swelling is to be expected after your surgery and will usually settle over time. Is a normal part of the healing process and should lessen six to eight weeks after your surgery. You may want to wear a supportive bra day and night if the swelling is uncomfortable and feels heavy. If the swelling doesn’t go away, talk to your Breast Care Nurse.

After surgery some people develop a collection of fluid called a seroma. This normally occurs under the arm or in the breast or chest wall and is usually reabsorbed by the body over a period of time. If the seroma causes discomfort, doesn’t reduce or go away or if the seroma restricts your arm movement and prevents you doing your arm exercises then speak to your Breast Care Nurse.

This can happen any time after surgery until the wound is completely healed. It usually takes about two to three weeks for skin to heal and around ten weeks for any internal stitches to dissolve. Any of the following symptoms could mean you have a wound infection:

• The wound feels tender, swollen, or warm to touch
• Redness in the area
• Fluid (discharge) from the wound
• Feeling generally unwell with a raised temperature

Some patients may experience pins and needles, burning, numbness or darting sensations in the breast area and down the arm on the operated side. These symptoms are quite common and may last for a few weeks or even months. The scar may feel tight and tender. This is because the nerves under the arm have to be disturbed to reach the lymph nodes behind them.

These symptoms are usually temporary and improve with time or completely disappear over a few months. Some patients who have had lymph nodes removed maybe left with some permanent numbness or changed feeling in their upper arm. If you’re concerned about these symptoms, tell your consultant or Breast Care Nurse.

Whatever breast surgery you have will leave some type of scar. Looking at and feeling the scar for the first time can be difficult. Getting to know how your scars look and feel will help you notice any immediate and possible future changes.

Women who have had a mastectomy without a reconstruction will be given a lightweight prosthesis (artificial breast form) to wear before leaving hospital. This will be provided by your Breast Care Nurse, they will advise you to ring to arrange a fitting for a permanent silicone prosthesis when the scar area is fully healed. This is usually after four to six weeks but may vary.

You will also find further information in your primary resource ‘pink pack’ given to you by your breast care nurse.

Some patients develop a tight ‘cord’ of tissue under the skin, causing pain and restricting arm movement. The cord is not always visible but can usually be felt. This cord starts in the armpit and can vary in length. It may just be in the armpit or may travel down to the elbow or wrist., It can appear even months after surgery to the area under the arm. Stretching and massaging the cord can improve your symptoms.

You will sometimes be advised to take pain relief before doing the stretches as they may feel uncomfortable. Cording usually gets better over time but sometimes the exercises are not enough to help, and you may need a physiotherapy referral.

An appointment will be arranged for you to attend the outpatient clinic. At this appointment your surgeon will check your wound and discuss how the surgery went, your pathology report (which describes the results of any tests done on tissue removed during surgery) and any further treatment that may be recommended will be discussed.

The use of magtrace may discolour your skin and it may look bruised. This is temporary and usually fades slowly, although it can sometimes take several months to go completely.