Severe pain immediately after waking from right masectomy surgery.

Hi @colely and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This must have been shocking. I am so sorry you are going through this. I did find some information that I thought you may find helpful.

- Pain After Breast Surgery: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mastectomy/expert-answers/pain-after-breast-surgery/faq-20058049#

Member @rach1009 has also shared about her experience with pain post mastectomy so am hoping the pair of you are able to connect.

How long ago was your mastectomy?

I had a paravertebral block done which helped with pain immediately after surgery, but it wore off after 2-3 days! For me, the pain got better in a matter of weeks but it was not as excruciating as yours. Still it hurt!

To me it is important to very careful with movements after mastectomy surgery and give the body a chance to
heal. It was hard getting out of bed etc but eventually it does heal and the stitches can be removed.There is also gathering the liquid discharge as the body heals itself.
The Doctor could inspect if there is too much pain.

This is a major surgery and taking the time to heal, take pain relievers ahead of the pain, and rest.
Also, drainage tubes are the most painful aspects of the post surgery pain.
Anticipate it, the pain will be better two weeks post op, not gone away just better.
Best wishes and I hope you have great results and good margins after pathology!

Hi Colely,
It breaks my heart to know you had extreme pain immediately after mastectomy surgery and most likely are still in pain. I am sending divine white light to surround you and add you to my prayer list. In my case, I did not find this site until after my 05/2022 bilateral. Had I done more research I may not have had as many complications as I Still Do? My first BC surgery was a lumpectomy on 01/17/2007. I trusted the surgeon that had done multiple surgeries then and went blindly into 2022. After 05/2022 bilateral I had a near-death experience in less than 24 hours. Luckily I had insisted on an overnight hospital stay. I can not understand the justification for major surgery and being sent home the same day. Heck, my firstborn child, I was in hospital 5 days 50 years ago. May we both heal and be well again soon. I'm here for you, Lynn xoxoxo

P.S Back after my first breast cancer, I turned the oxy & hydrocodone into my family GP for disposal. I wish I had 1/4 of it back, so much sleep loss due to 3-month dehiscence.

This is SO TRUE! I am now over 16 years out since diagnosis of HER2 breast cancer. Life is good. I’m also pretty sure the standard treatment may have changed a bit since then but I wish everyone on this thread well and hope you have the best care possible.

It's so encouraging that someone is 16 years out from a cancer diagnosis and here to remind us that life can be good again. I think a lot of people who are able to put cancer in their rear-view mirror and not look back, move on and enjoy life and we don't always hear about them. So thank you for posting that encouraging time span.

@colely @rach1009 @boathouse @zolamiller7
Hello ladies, I am new here... joined due to the conversation on post mastectomy pain. I truly did not expect this much! I was told most women feel numb /completely numb and some pain. My chest feels like it has the worst sunburn imaginable. There is a deep aching beneath the implants (my surgeon went direct to implant instead of expanders).

I am trying to figure out if this is because they removed my pectoral fascia. My understanding is about half of surgeons remove it while the other half keep it depending upon location of tumor. My tumor was nowhere near my pectoral fascia and had I known it would be removed, I would have signed any waiver to keep it. My background is health education and I was a former personal trainer. The fascia is rich with nerves, particularly proprioceptive nerves. I understand scar tissue will eventually form, but it will never be as flexible and will lack the nerves the fascia had contained.

My question to those ladies experiencing bad pain (please specify short-term or long-term depending on how far out you are from surgery)... can you please check your surgical report or ask your surgeon if they removed the pectoral fascia. Just within the past 5 years there is a movement for more surgeons to keep the fascia as long as it will not be unsafe to do so with respect to the tumor location. They are realizing it helps with pain and cosmetic outcomes and actually results in the less blood loss and shorter operative time too.

So far, the women I have spoken with who are doing the best post surgery (both short term and long term) had kept their pectoral fascia.

Thank you so much for looking into this!

Hi @lilc - sorry you’re having so much pain!!!! My heart goes out to you.

I didn’t go direct to implants. My surgeon did create a “pocket” from cadaver skin that would graft into the front of my breasts… and tissue expanders. Unfortunately I do not know if the pectoral fascia was removed.

I did wake up every day for about three weeks and groggily think what has happened? Because of the pain and discomfort.

My advice would be to contact your surgeon’s office and describe your pain in detail - and ask 1) if this is expected and 2) how long does this recovery usually take.

Without a doubt, the first three weeks are tough, particularly if you have drains. Hopefully you have some pain meds to help.

Also, I would recommend following their instructions precisely in terms of what they said about restricting movement or lifting. I was over active initially and it creates more pain.

Wishing you healing and pain relief.