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Q: How Long Should Swelling In Incision Last In Modified Radical Mastectomy with 7 lymph nodes taken out?also how long before pain in underarm and arm last?
Barbara, here are two words that don't apply to cancer treatment: "should," and "normal." Each of us has her own personal experience, both with the disease, and its treatment; and it's impossible to predict ahead of time what that experience will be.
If you're worried about how your mastectomy is healing, definitely speak to your surgeon. S/he might want to check and make sure there's no infection, or other underlying issue, that's slowing your recovery. S/he should also be able to give you a pretty good prognosis for recovery time, given how the surgery went, your body type, and other factors only you and s/he know about. Some women recover very quickly; for some, the pain lingers, and the wound takes longer to heal. But in the end, your body will heal itself - on its own schedule. It's hard to be patient, I know; but hang in there. Time heals, it really does. Take care- PJH
We're here to help, Barbara - glad you found us. And really, thre's no such thing as "normal" concerning cancer treatment - we all have our own experience. Your oncologist says it's OK; what does your surgeon say? You might want to get in touch with him/her about this... Healing always takes longer than we hope/expect, but don't hesitate to advocate for yourself and speak up, if you feel something isn't right. Take care- PJH
Barbara, as PJ says peoples healing rate varies, but you should be seeing progress. If at any point the swelling or pain gets worse, call the doctor right away. Your incision might be infected if the swelling and/or pain is getting worse.
My doctor told me that my surgery had a three week recovery time, and I was ready for my next chemo in three weeks, but it was more like six weeks before I had my range of motion back. Keep in mind that there are individual factors for each surgery that can affect recovery time. I hope you are soon feeling better.
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I WANT TO THANK EACH OF YOU THAT ANSWERED MY QUESTION.IT'S JUST THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS NORMAL AND WHAT IS NOT.ISAW MY ONCOLOGIST 2 WEEKS AGO AND HE SAID IT WAS O.K BUT THIS IS SINCE FEB.22ND AND IT IS NOW JUNE AND I EXPECTED IT TO BE ALL HEALED AND NOT HURTING YET.MY BEST AND MY PRAYERS WITH THE LOVELY PERSON WHO IS GETTING CHEMO.I THANK GOD I DIDN'T NEED CHEMO OR RADIATION.MY PET SCAN CAME BACK SHOWING THEY GOT ALL THE CANCER OUT. I SHOULD BE GRATEFUL..AGAIN THANK YOU FOR ANSWRING. SINCERELY BARBARA I.