I was diagnosed in 2017 with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy and some lymph nodes removed followed by chemo and radiotherapy done all within several months. I have struggled with this and it's 3 yrs now since I had it, but I still feel pain in my shoulder, underarm where the area is still numb and I have restricted movement. Three years on and I'm still having pain in my breast and wondered if that was normal. Has anyone else felt like this?
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Courtney_J
Community manager
06/12/2020 at 6:48 PM
Good advisor
@1984survivor! Hello 1984survivor!, thank you for starting this discussion. I'm sorry to hear you're still having pain. Let me tag some members who may be able to share their experience with you.
Hello all, how are you today? Did you experience pain, numbness, or restricted movement after your lumpectomy? Even years later? Have you talked with your doctor about it? Is there anything to soothe the pain? Feel free to share here, we're all here to help one another!
@1984survivor! I didn't have lumpectomy, but I've heard that you can get seroma or a build up of fluid there afterwards. I feel like pain may be normal, it's a delicate area and people who have surgery on other parts of the body often have pain afterwards as well. Maybe someone who has had one done can weigh in since they know more :)
My lumpectomy was about 2 years ago. They took 1 lymph node. I am still experiencing pain and numbness in my breast. Have not seen my surgeon since to ask her. But plan on bringing it up when I see my doctor next time. Good luck with yours. ❤️
I had a lumpectomy in March 2019 and 9 lymph nodes removed. I still have numbness and pain in my breast and restricted movement in my arm too. My doctor said to do the lymphodema exercises and some of it may be due to stress.
I TOO, HAD A LUMPECTOMY, REMOVED 10 LYMP NODES IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 2020. JUST FINISHED RADIATION IN JULY, DUE TO COVID. DID NOT HAVE CHEMO DUE TO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. MY BREAST AND THE WHOLE SURROUNDING AREA IS BLACK, BREAST AND NIPPLE CONSTANTLY HURT, BOTH INCISIONS STAY SENSITIVE, AND THERE IS A DULL ACHE IN MY SHOULDER BLADE ON THAT SIDE. MY ARM IS STILL WEAK, CANNOT HOLD THINGS UP VERY LONG. DEALING WITH THE DIAGNOSIS, THE TWO SURGERIES, AND THE AFOREMENTIONED HAS BEEN DIFFICULT AND SOME DAYS ARE WORSE THAN OTHERS, BUT I PUSH FORWARD AND PRAY FOR THE BEST
Hi, I had a mastectomy and not a lumpectomy, but I think in both cases a bit of soreness in the area is normal. If you're ever worried about it, definitely talk to your doctor.
@stillwoman@notup! I still have pain two years after lumpectomy , 18 rounds of radiation, major lymph node removal. Not horrific, but its there. My surgeon said its normal. They just don't tell you that at the beginning. I just had my two year check so I stopped working about it. Good luck to all.
I had a lumpectomy right in the middle of covid in 2020. I was in for my mammography check up for this year, and mentioned to the technician that my shoulder was still sore. She asked if I had follow up Physical Therapy for cancer patients. When I said no, she said that the cancer teams are finding a lot of the cancer patients from that time frame have fallen through the cracks for follow up PT . I got referrals and went to 8 weeks of shoulder therapy for cancer patients. It has helped me tremendously with my shoulder pain. The other thing I found out was the medication (Arimadex) causes muscle stiffness and a lot of bone joint pain. Again the PT helped releave it so the pain was manageable.
1984survivor!
Good advisor
I was diagnosed in 2017 with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy and some lymph nodes removed followed by chemo and radiotherapy done all within several months. I have struggled with this and it's 3 yrs now since I had it, but I still feel pain in my shoulder, underarm where the area is still numb and I have restricted movement. Three years on and I'm still having pain in my breast and wondered if that was normal. Has anyone else felt like this?