Soreness lingers after surgery

[mbd444]

I had a lumpectomy in December '05.  I am still experiencing soreness around the area and and under the arm where the sentinel lymph node was.  The tissue around the area under the arm seems be sore as well, not just local to the scar area.  Is this normal?  I stretch my arm all the way up like I used to because it's sore.  It seems as though it's gotten worse over the last 3 months, where I would think it should get better, surgery was 8 months ago.

[mbd444]

Thank you so much for your encouragement and warm thoughts!  :+)

[mbd444]

You're right - I did have radiation from January through March.  It doesn't seem to matter what activities I do, if I do nothing, the tissue is sore anyways. I have a mammo this Friday but this is not in the area of what a mammo can read.  Thanks for your comments.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear mbd444:  There is wide variation in the way people recover from surgery.  This depends in part upon the type and technique of surgery but also on the individual and how the tissue heals.  You should discuss this with your surgeon as he/she is familiar with your situation and will be better able to make any recommendations that may be helpful.

[Naniam]

If you are just staying sore and you don't find it is related to any activities, I would go back to see the surgeon.  My breast this past weekend has give me quite a bit of discomfort.  I stained a door over the weekend and moved a ladder so I figured that set things off for me. Not as bad today but still sore.It hasn't been quite a year yet since my surgery.   My doctors did tell me that depending on the amount of breast tissue you had to have removed, it can take quite a while for everything to heal.  Just remember, if this bothers you and you aren't comfortable with your soreness and it isn't related to activities, bug the heck out of someone until you get an answer that you can live with.  I am sending warm thoughts and good wishes for your mammogram on Friday.

[Naniam]

I had a lumpectomy and then reexcision of margins in Aug. 2005 and they did the sentinal node mapping and removed a total of 8 lymph nodes.  There are still times I have quite a bit of soreness and sometimes even mild discomfort.  I have found though that what I do with that arm (such as painting or lifting a grandchild) seems to cause/increase the discomfort. You didn't say if you had had radiation, I did, and I just take some of this as being normal.  If your follow up mammogram was OK, try not to worry.