Post Lumpectomy Pain
Hi, Please be gentle 😉this is my first post. I had a lumpectomy on 7/31/2024 (almost three weeks ago). I didn't have much pain immediately after the surgery, but I have gotten what I've been told is nerve-ending pain. I've been to the surgeon and I get it; it's gonna take time for the nerves to heal. I take gabapentin for it and it really helps -but it's still painful.
I had some numbness in my armpit although most of this has gone away. The most painful part is now in the armpit and also close to where an incision is about five inches long (for the sentinel nodes). The pain is beyond sunburn pain, and it feels like a terrible rash has been rubbed raw -but if you look at the skin it's normal color with no apparent irritation.
I do not yet have a new bra to wear -I've stopped wearing the compression bra after two weeks- because it aggravates the nerves underneath the arm.
My question: what have others done to cope with the pain? I have found incredibly soft shirts I wear inside out (because the seam is terribly irritating) that I then layer other shirts over to go out in public. I also used soft fleece throw blankets on my bed to lay on -that worked for several days, but now the heat generated laying on them is becoming bothersome. I have an overhead fan that cools from above, but doesn't take the heat underneath the body away.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Hi @steppingstonetowhere, I'm sorry you have to deal with that post surgical pain. The burning sounds like an injury to the bracheal plexus nerves from the SNB, a possible side effect. Nerves grow very slowly so it takes a long time for the damage to repair itself.
On the advice of my daughter who is a PA with hand surgery experience I did nerve desensitization therapy. I found six different textures of cloth in my closet (satin, cotton, denim, wool, terry, velvet) and rubbed each one for a couple of minutes along the nerve as many times a day as I could. It is a process that reminds the nerve how it should be working to feel sensation and is standard OT therapy after hand/arm surgery. You can google it for details and more extensive nerve stimulation techniques. It wasn't a miracle cure but it did help.
I found a bra (Hanes model #DHHU39) which has light foam cups with a light stretchy cover and only two seams far back on the sides. It is not very supportive but it helps cover up like your soft shirt and doesn't hurt. I don't see it on the Hanes site any more but it is available on Amazon. I stocked up figuring it would eventually be discontinued. I had to change the type of tops I wore to loose and flowy, cardigans instead of pullover sweaters and oversize sweatshirts rather than fitted. I tent my sheets and blankets so they don't touch me and got a body pillow to keep me on my left side while I sleep. I still have to give side hugs.
Radiation caused the nerve damage to get worse and my RO sent me for acupuncture which helped some. Unfortunately six weeks after rads ended I suffered a thermal burn injury to my chest, torso, face and left arm. While most everything else improved during the next year my surgical (right) breast has permanent nerve damage and can't have the laser treatment the burn surgeon used elsewhere. I take gabapentin (oxycodone added for mammograms) and have had OT, neuro consults and nerve blocks done at a pain clinic. Hopefully your pain will disappear as the nerve heals but there is help out there if it doesn't improve over time.
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Hi Maggie,
Thank you so much for caring and sharing! I will begin the desensitization this evening =)Today has been a better day with less pain … I don't know if it's the gabapentin working better or if magical unicorns are working on my nerves. LOL
I checked Amazon unsuccessfully for the Hanes bra -but I am so glad you thought to plan ahead. I wouldn't have thought about that, but I will now. =)
I plan to go to a specialty bra store (where i got my compression bras) in the next few days -thankfully my insurance covers a good portion of the cost for a couple of regular bras. I actually wore the compression bra over a soft shirt today and it worked well.
Sleeping on my side ~goodness, am I looking forward to that again! I used to use a pillow between my knees but rarely hugged one. I didn't used to have trouble staying on my side, that was my preference. We'll see how that goes! Recently, when I've been on my side my arm squashes the side and the nerves go bezerk. My day is coming, I'm sure when I can do that again, though.Hugs ~man, that's a bummer I never considered. Side hugs are such a sad second-best option. I want to put a positive tone to it, but sometimes it's hard.
The acupuncture sounds like something I could easily get behind! I am so glad you have found it helpful.My goodness, your radiation experience doesn't sound ideal. I am uncertain what treatment I will continue to receive. Before the surgery, it seemed like there was nothing in the lymph nodes. I was not going to do radiation or chemo, but I was willing to try the anti-estrogen pills. Now I don't know what to do. I am waiting on the Oncotyping results, regarding the chemo … but the radiation really scares me.
Thank you again, for taking time to answer me. 😎
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