I think I may have told you I was 36 when I had the surgery and I am sure this probably had a great deal to do with my excellent recovery. It took one year for me to be able to raise my arm straight up in the air, and gradually I regained full strength but it took a lot of work with Rehab to get there. Unfortunatley about 10 years ago (age 80) I took a fall at Wal Mart) and fractured my right shoulder in three places).. I now have an artificial shoulder replacement and cannot reach very far or place my arm behind my back or lift the arm above shoulder height. I do manage quite well with a metal grabber and my left arm (radical mastectomy arm) is excellent. I have learned to use it almost as well as my right arm use to be. I think I did mention to you, my Radical involved taking all the way to the chest, and enough muscle into the arm pit. They were able to stretch this muscle, (over time, this is part of why it took about a year to regain the use of this arm). Believe it or not, my doctor told me to get a brush and to brush and brush. Best therapy for that arm. As I also mentioned, I am 92 and beginning to loose strength in both arms(old age), but I have large bottles of distilled water and I use them as weights to lift each time I need to use them and I think this has helped to keep the arms strong.
I know when I tell people about my surgery, they are almost horrified at the extent of the surgery, but the one thing they cannot know about is Cancer in 1968 was almost a death sentence. There were no lompectomies, radiation (only if lymph involvement) and definitely no Chemotherapy. It was a one shot deal. I tell everyone, "YOU CAN'T FAULT SUCCESS'.
So after all of that, Your arm will be fine, just takes a little work. Smile, God is good, The Sun is Shinning, and you have a very long life ahead of you.
Gina5009