Thanks for an excellent overview about mastectomies.  I had people tell me before my surgery that their mastectomy didn't hurt.  I never believed them, but it would be fair to say that in terms of the scar, what I felt afterwards could be described as more discomfort than actual pain.  I'm sensitive to anesthesia, so I spent a day vomiting.  After that I couldn't wait to get home.  One thing no one prepared me for was the sensitivity in my chest area and down the back of the arm that comes from having nerves cut during the procedure.  That has gradually (over a period of years) gone away.  My lymphedema therapist was just telling me this week that there are massage techniques that could have helped me get over that sooner.