post reconstruction pain

I had a double mastectomy last July for breast cancer. I had reconstruction with an expander and saline inplant put in this March. I still have a fair amount of pain especially after doing any activity that uses my upper body. I have always been a gardener but many of the activities like pulling weeds, hoeing, using the rototiller, etc. leave me in pain.

Will I ever get to where I can do these things again? I am feeling pretty depressed about this. I am thinking that I made a mistake by getting reconstruction.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I just need to give it more time?

Deborah

 

On 6/20/2009 kaybell wrote:

I had a double mastectomy last July for breast cancer. I had reconstruction with an expander and saline inplant put in this March. I still have a fair amount of pain especially after doing any activity that uses my upper body. I have always been a gardener but many of the activities like pulling weeds, hoeing, using the rototiller, etc. leave me in pain.

Will I ever get to where I can do these things again? I am feeling pretty depressed about this. I am thinking that I made a mistake by getting reconstruction.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I just need to give it more time?

Deborah

Hi Deborah:

I feel I only have a bit of information to share regarding your post reconstruction pain as I got a total mastectomy with reconstruction only 2 weeks ago. I am going through the expander/saline injections and have to say that it is a strange feeling at best. The worst part would be the "pulling feeling" and hardness of the feeling of your reconstructed breasts.

Though it's only been 2 weeks for me, I have a feeling that you will be able to overcome your pain soon. I am also a gardener and have already mowed my front and back lawns, pulled weeds and planted flower and vegetable gardens. When I get that "pulling" feeling, I put an ice pack on my breast and it tends to make me feel much better.

I truly don't believe that you made a mistake. In the long run, I believe you will be glad that you decided to get the expander/saline treatment.

Please consult your doctor. There must be something that he/she can tell you. Trust them. And I send you my well wishes. You are most certainly not alone in this.

Peggy

 

 

On 6/20/2009 kaybell wrote:

I had a double mastectomy last July for breast cancer. I had reconstruction with an expander and saline inplant put in this March. I still have a fair amount of pain especially after doing any activity that uses my upper body. I have always been a gardener but many of the activities like pulling weeds, hoeing, using the rototiller, etc. leave me in pain.

Will I ever get to where I can do these things again? I am feeling pretty depressed about this. I am thinking that I made a mistake by getting reconstruction.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I just need to give it more time?

Deborah

Well I am thinking about reconstruction after 9 years of having a lumpectomy.  During my chemo & radition Ii had implants that were about 20 The radation hardened my implants so 2 yrs later i had them removed. now one breast is very small ( the one w/cancer) and the other one is almost to my waist.  I am tired of wearing the "fake" breast and my bra weights a ton!  Do you think after all of these years its a mistake to have my implants replaced? also do you have trouble with your mammagram hurting?  

charlotte

Yes, I have talked to my doctors about the pain that I am experiencing. they have not been much help. there seems to be a very fine line of how much I can or can't do. I am a nurse and I work at a hospital in the nursery. Because of security issues with newborns there are a lot of heavy doors that I have to go throught getting in and out of the nursery many times a day. Opening these doors causes pain. It is like going to the gym and working out on a machine. I can be doing fine and then after working a 12 hour shift I can barely move. Then I rest on my days off and I am better. I go and pull weeds in the garden and I am sore again. 

 My husband may have torn his rotator cuff so I am trying to take care of him. I drove him to a doctor appointment and then did some errands in town and now I am hurting.

 My cancer was on the right side and I am right handed and that side hurts the most.

Thanks for your caring words and I wish you the best. I still have hope that one day I will be back to normal. 

I do not get mammograms anymore since I had both breasts removed.

I think you should talk to a plastic surgeon and see what they think about getting a reduction on one side and reconstruction on the other so you will feel balanced! Good luck.

Deborah

Hello - I know what you are going through but as a now officially reconstructed girl(both sides), I can say it is worth the pain.  I had a double mastectomy Oct 6th, 2008 with immediate reconstruction.  I went through the weekly injections all winter and spring.  I experienced A LOT of discomfort, especially the last few months. There were times when I had to take narcotic pain killers to ease the pain.  They are placed between 2 muscles afterall, muscles that we use all the time.   On June 5th I just had my permanent silicone implants put in and I love them.  That discomfort from the expanders is gone.  As time is passing, the permanent ones get softer and more natural looking.  Sleeping is much easier with these and everyone comments on how nice they look.  I will never undermind the pain and discomfort because it was a real part of my life for months.  I just wanted to tell you that it does get better and you will be happy to have done it.  Hang in there, the end is near!

 

Andi

 

On 6/25/2009 kaybell wrote:

I do not get mammograms anymore since I had both breasts removed.

I think you should talk to a plastic surgeon and see what they think about getting a reduction on one side and reconstruction on the other so you will feel balanced! Good luck.

Deborah

I had the left breast removed, right breast reduced, and implant on left all in one operation....not a good idea but it did work., lots of pain for quite a while.   This was 12 years ago.  I had pain every time they added more saline to the implant.   Finally I said enough!  The two breasts don't match, but put a bra on and I'm good to go...much better than a prosthesis.  I still have a tight feeling in the implant, but no pain. 

Good luck with your decisions.

 

Hello Everyone! I had a bilateral mastectomy in 2006 followed by immediate reconstruction with silicone implants. While I have not experienced the degree of pain you seem to be describing, I have had some pain and I can just say that for myself and probably for most people, the implants feel more and more comfortable as time goes by and the pain pretty much goes away in time. Everyone once in a blue moon I get some strange twinge, but nothing to complain about. I have another issue. I have found it very difficult to find pretty fashion bras that fit with my new body. I am a clothing designer and i have decided to design a new line of bras and lingerie that address reconstruction issues. I want to identify and address the top five issues most women have if I can so I developed an on-line Post-Reconstruction Bra Survey. If anyone else is looking for better bra options, I encourage you to take the survey and let me know what your issues and requirements are so I can design with you in mind as well. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/bra-survey Be well everyone! I hope all the pains goes away soon!

 

On 6/20/2009 kaybell wrote:

I had a double mastectomy last July for breast cancer. I had reconstruction with an expander and saline inplant put in this March. I still have a fair amount of pain especially after doing any activity that uses my upper body. I have always been a gardener but many of the activities like pulling weeds, hoeing, using the rototiller, etc. leave me in pain.

Will I ever get to where I can do these things again? I am feeling pretty depressed about this. I am thinking that I made a mistake by getting reconstruction.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I just need to give it more time?

Deborah

Hi,

I had a bilateral mastectomy with expanders put in during the same operation and ended up in the most excruciating pain I could ever imagine. The surgeons told me for 6 months that they had never heard of pain like that after the operation, and they prescribed all kinds of narcotic pain meds. I had the expanders removed, on both sides, and the pain continued. Finally, I went to a pain management center and found out that my pain was from nerve damage (which the surgeons certainly did not want to tell me about!). After a few years on Neurontin, my pain doctor switched me to Lyrica, I also take Effexor because it helps with pain. They had me on a Fentanyl patch, too, but I started acupuncture last year and it helped so much that I gradually stopped the patch. Since then, the pain doctors told me that they've learned that Fentanyl does not help nerve damage. I am wondering if the pain you still have is from nerve damage. If it is, you should waste no more time getting treated. The longer you wait, the harder it is to stop. Ask your doctor if Lyrica could help. I have no side effects from it, and it enabled me to get my life back.

 

 

On 7/7/2009 Ebreporter wrote:

 

On 6/20/2009 kaybell wrote:

I had a double mastectomy last July for breast cancer. I had reconstruction with an expander and saline inplant put in this March. I still have a fair amount of pain especially after doing any activity that uses my upper body. I have always been a gardener but many of the activities like pulling weeds, hoeing, using the rototiller, etc. leave me in pain.

Will I ever get to where I can do these things again? I am feeling pretty depressed about this. I am thinking that I made a mistake by getting reconstruction.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I just need to give it more time?

Deborah

Hi,

I had a bilateral mastectomy with expanders put in during the same operation and ended up in the most excruciating pain I could ever imagine. The surgeons told me for 6 months that they had never heard of pain like that after the operation, and they prescribed all kinds of narcotic pain meds. I had the expanders removed, on both sides, and the pain continued. Finally, I went to a pain management center and found out that my pain was from nerve damage (which the surgeons certainly did not want to tell me about!). After a few years on Neurontin, my pain doctor switched me to Lyrica, I also take Effexor because it helps with pain. They had me on a Fentanyl patch, too, but I started acupuncture last year and it helped so much that I gradually stopped the patch. Since then, the pain doctors told me that they've learned that Fentanyl does not help nerve damage. I am wondering if the pain you still have is from nerve damage. If it is, you should waste no more time getting treated. The longer you wait, the harder it is to stop. Ask your doctor if Lyrica could help. I have no side effects from it, and it enabled me to get my life back.

 

Dear Ebreporter,

Thanks for your reply. Do you have to take Lyrica all the time or just for a while?

I have not felt like my doctor is very knowledgeable about issues conserning pain and rehabilitation. He is good at reconstruction and everyone tells me how good I look. I want to feel good too and be able to do the things I used to do.

 I decided to get saline implants because I didn't want to have to get MRIs to find out if the implants were leaking or not. He says that silicone implants are more comfortable and he really wanted me to get silicone. I don't know if it would have made any difference or not.

Thanks for your response. I will ask the doctor about the Lyrica.

Deborah