I am recovering from bc recurrence (local) and axillary dissection...you ask about the dissection, well to be honest not an easy recovery...this is 7 weeks post op and still very numb underarm and still nerve pain, but is getting better so I am hopeful this continues. The drain was annoying that I had to manually work for 10 days, but once that was out things were better. I also didn't do 'everything' to avoid recurrence (did not even start the AI, but did radiation) but no guarantee that putting up with the AI would have avoided this, so may be your case as well that the bc would have still recurred. Wishing you well, somehow we get through these hard times and I like to think it makes us stronger and more empathetic towards others in this predicament.