LD flap/pain 2 years later?

sonya16

I am curious if anyone that has had a LD flap reconstruction has experienced burning pain in back of the shoulder on the surgery side. I had this surgery done 2 years ago and have really had no problems with it. Recently I have been experiencing burning, nerve like pain just above where the scar is in the back of my shoulder. I’m not positive it’s from the flap but I have not been consistent with my arm exercises as much as I was the first year or so and I don’t know what else it could be. It seems to occur mostly when I am sitting or at rest. Has anyone else with this reconstruction had this happen to them? Thank you.

dimples90

Hi sonya!

I think I have answered some of your questions on previous postings about aromatase inhibitors. Also remember seeing your concern about spinal nets. How was your scan ?

I had the LD flap back in 2020. Radiation made reconstruction with an implant difficult. I have always exercised, usually strength training and yoga. I do not get burning above incision but do get spasms on that side sometimes. It happens when I’m sitting too long. We flew to Europe last month and that’s when it happened. I usually need to get up and change positions and stretch. Like you said, maybe it is related to nerves.

sonya16

Hi dimples!! It’s good to hear from you. Thank you for responding to my post and for checking in. The spine turned out to be fine. I just have the normal stuff like degenerative discs and a few herniated discs.

I’m pretty sure the burning pain and the flap area has come from not doing enough stretching of that area like I have been doing very faithfully before. And it definitely feels stiff after I’ve been sitting too long. I have found that since I’ve been back to doing my stretching I’m not getting the burning as often. Honestly, I’ve been very happy with it and I’m really glad I took that route.

Funny you should send me a message because I hadn’t been taking the letrozole for a few months now. But tonight, I decided to try to start taking it again. We’ll see what happens. I haven’t been feeling all that great but I had a follow up with my oncologist last month and my bloodwork seems OK. Not that that means anything, but there’s no red flags as far as the bloodwork is concerned. And I’ve had scans of my abdomen and pelvic area. The only thing I haven’t had scanned in the past year is my lungs. But I have of course that underlying fear of the cancer coming back. I’ll be following up with my pulmonologist in the beginning of March just to check on the changes that occurred in my lungs from the radiation. Supposedly those changes are nothing to be concerned about. But I’m not having any cough although sometimes I get short of breath, but I think I’m just really deconditioned. I’ve been having a lot of problems with my right hip and I know I’m going to need a replacement. I had two Cortizone shots there and it helped a lot but it’s worn off now. They really don’t like to do anymore than that because it does something to the cartilage and makes it more difficult to do the hip replacement. So because of that, I have a lot of pain in the hip and leg especially going upstairs and it’s keeping me from taking the walks I used to take.

How have you been doing? Is everything OK with you? How nice that you went to Europe! That must’ve been a great trip for you

dimples90

hi sonya

I’ve been doing good! Traveling has been a lot fun!

I did the BCI (breast cancer index) test last March when my 5 years of hormonal therapy ended. It was a little bit of a shock to hear that I’m a “high risk” for recurrence and additional years of therapy would not benefit me. I was glad to stop Letrozole but leaves you in a dark place about high risk. Took me several months to process it and just let go.
So mentally, I’m in a better place.
My oncologist said she doesn’t do anything different because of high risk. I would get scanned only if I had symptoms. Moved me to yearly check ups. Just had dexa scan but don’t have results yet. I see my onc in a few weeks.

Sorry to hear about your hip!

How are you feeling on the Letrozole ?

sonya16

dimples, that is surprising to me that after the 5 years of therapy you would still be considered high risk and I can imagine how hard that was to process. But I give you a lot of credit for sticking with the therapy. I only restarted two nights ago so we’ll see. I will always worry as to whether I did the right thing in not taking it for so long and am concerned that I shouldn’t have taken the chance. But I just have to move forward and I’ll see how I do on it.

I just saw my breast surgeon for my 6 month check up and he feels everything at least that he could feel is ok and I don’t see him again until October. My oncologist I saw last month (well I saw her PA, she was out in maternity leave) and basically they just run blood tests. What is a dexa scan?