Surgery Recovery

I personally recommend Chunyi Lin's CD "Small Universe". It's a CD from Spring Forest QiGong. Google It. It's a very powerful CD for balancing and healing the entire body.

Hope that helps Yes, there are CDs with guided meditations that are extremely helpful. Comprehensive pain management approaches including pre-emptive analgesia with nerve blocks and the use of pain pumps is also very beneficial.

It depends on the patient and if reconstruction is performed, and what type of reconstruction. If a mastectomy without reconstruction is performed, usually a 24-48 hour hospital stay is required, and a patient is discharged with drainage tubes in place. The drains are usually removed after about 7-10 days, but may stay in place longer depending on the amount of fluid that is being produced. Overall recovery in terms of return to work and other normal activities can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks up to 6-8 weeks.

If reconstruction is performed using tissue expanders or implants, the recovery is similar to that of a mastectomy without reconstruction but the initial pain is usually more as the tissue expanders or implants are placed underneath the pectoralis muscle. If reconstruction using muscle or fatty tissue is performed, the hospital stay is usually 3-5 days, and may include an intensive care unit stay; overall recovery is typically 6-8 weeks and sometimes longer. It depends on the patient and if reconstruction is performed, and what type of reconstruction. If a mastectomy without reconstruction is performed, usually a 24-48 hour hospital stay is required, and a patient is discharged with drainage tubes in place. The drains are usually removed after about 7-10 days, but may stay in place longer depending on the amount of fluid that is being produced. Overall recovery in terms of return to work and other normal activities can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks up to 6-8 weeks.

If reconstruction is performed using tissue expanders or implants, the recovery is similar to that of a mastectomy without reconstruction but the initial pain is usually more as the tissue expanders or implants are placed underneath the pectoralis muscle. If reconstruction using muscle or fatty tissue is performed, the hospital stay is usually 3-5 days, and may include an intensive care unit stay; overall recovery is typically 6-8 weeks and sometimes longer.

The sooner you can resume normal activities the better off you are. I don't mean push it, and I don't mean start doing jumping jacks. Start walking and add distance incrementally. And do this every day. One block, two, three, until you're comfortably walking a mile or so.

Equally important is the rehabilitation of your arm. If you haven't had physical therapy many excellent resources are mentioned above. You can run through arm exercises in fifteen minutes or so. I still do so to this day. After full lymph dissection and radiation the natural tendency of the arm and skin is to retract and tighten.

One of the best things I'e found is yoga. Many cancer treatment centers (in Houston through MD Anderson and Memorial Hermann) now offer yoga for cancer survivors. It's excellent and a gentle way to reduce stress.
I would assume that if you are back to work you are at least 6 to 8 weeks out of surgery. Most doctors will recommend you don't start an exercise program until you are 6 to 8 weeks out of surgery, so make sure you have your doctor's permission to exercise before starting a program. That being said, I always start with flexibility and range of motion. After surgical procedures related to breast cancer, we have a tendency to sort of hunch over in a forward position which causes tightening in the chest muscles and weakness in the upper back muscles. If you are going back to work in an office, this would probably mean you are sitting at a desk and working on a computer, which puts you automatically in the above-mentioned position. So, what are some exercises you can do at work to regain range of motion and flexibility?

I would start by sitting up straight in your chair, and doing some shoulder rolls. Shoulder rolls are great because they "set" your posture. So sit up straight in your chair and squeeze your shoulders up towards your ears, then drop them down while squeezing them back towards each other, then drop them down as if you are putting your shoulder blades in your back pocket. This is an exaggerated version of a shoulder roll, but it gets your shoulders moving and pulls them down and back where they belong. Try a few of these by doing the exaggerated version first, then simply roll them up, back and down.

Let me know if this helps!!

For a video of flexibility exercises you can do at home or at work, go to http://www.movingonfromcancer.com

Massage after mastectomy is generally considered to be beneficial. There was some concern a few years ago that massage may spread breast cancer cells. This notion has been overturned.

It has been shown that massage reduces anxiety, pain and requirements for pain medication. A study form the University of Miami showed that massage also increased levels of a brain chemical called dopamine, which helps produce a feeling of well-being. In addition there was an increase in protective white blood cells that help boost the immune system (called natural killer cells) from the first to the last day of the study. Not sure what you are referring to when you say "massage". Do you mean traditional massage or manual lymph drainage which is sometimes referred to as "massage" although it is not part of the traditional massage protocol?

Are you asking about having a massage for its generalized beneficial effects, or are you asking about massage as a component of post-mastectomy rehabilitation treating swelling, neuropathy, scar tissue and fibrosis?

In general, a lumpectomy (most often performed with a sentinel lymph node biopsy) is done as an outpatient surgery, meaning the woman will go home the same day. The usual time to return to fully normal activities can be anywhere from 1-4 weeks, depending on the patient, underarm discomfort (generally this is worse than the breast discomfort) and various other factors.

After a mastectomy, some patients go home the same day, although I think most commonly patients are in the hospital for 24-48 hours. I will also depend if reconstruction is performed and what type - patients that undergo muscle flap reconstruction may spend 3-5 days in the hospital. Recovery can vary from just a few weeks up to 6-8 weeks, again depending on the type of surgery / reconstruction, amount of pain, and other factors. After mastectomy, drainage tubes are commonly left in place and may remain for 1-2 weeks. In general, a lumpectomy (most often performed with a sentinel lymph node biopsy) is done as an outpatient surgery, meaning the woman will go home the same day. The usual time to return to fully normal activities can be anywhere from 1-4 weeks, depending on the patient, underarm discomfort (generally this is worse than the breast discomfort) and various other factors.

After a mastectomy, some patients go home the same day, although I think most commonly patients are in the hospital for 24-48 hours. I will also depend if reconstruction is performed and what type - patients that undergo muscle flap reconstruction may spend 3-5 days in the hospital. Recovery can vary from just a few weeks up to 6-8 weeks, again depending on the type of surgery / reconstruction, amount of pain, and other factors. After mastectomy, drainage tubes are commonly left in place and may remain for 1-2 weeks.

I am a cancer exercise specialist and a breast cancer survivor. I can say from personal experience and from the cancer survivors I've trained, exercise is crucial to recovery. Everyone will have different range of motion and a different experience with returning to an exercise program. Once you have your physician's approval to begin an exercise program, I would recommend finding a rehabilitative exercise program that starts with stretching and flexibility exercises. Performing stretching exercises frequently will increase range of motion and get you ready for a strength training program.

I am working with a client now who is 3 weeks out of mastectomy surgery. Her range of motion is increasing by the day. I am fortunate enough to get to support her in increasing her flexibility, but I'm also watching her empower herself by learning something that she can do to improve her situation and get some control over her cancer. I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of her recovery.

For more information about rehabilitative exercise, go to http://movingonfromcancer.com/ Advice about exercise will vary depending on what procedure has been performed, and whether a drain has been placed or not. Return to exercise will be the fastest following lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. Usually I allow patients to return to their usual routine within a couple of days provided it is not painful.

If a drain is in place I usually allow arm movements up to the level of the shoulder till the drain comes out (about 7 days). Following drain removal, range of motion is extended and full ROM is generally reached in about 2 weeks. If not, physical therapy would be recommended.

When mastectomy has been performed with reconstruction, the plastic surgeon may have more restrictions on arm movements in the immediate post-op period.

Long term I encourage exercise, both cardio and weight-training. The notion of weight-training causing lymphedema has been debunked. We know that regular cardiovascular exercise improves survival, so my advice would be to lace-up and get moving.

I am about 4 weeks post op today. I went out on 11/13 and will return to work on 1/23. I'm a nurse and I work in a busy psych clinic. I was active and in good health prior to surgery, but there is no way I could return to work yet. I believe that I will need the full ten weeks to recover.

There is a big psychological component that needs to be processed during this time. It is a time to be gentle with yourself, I believe it is important to give yourself enough time to heal both physically, and emotionally. I usually recommend that patients take one month off from work to fully recuperate. Depending on what they do, how quickly they heal, and how motivated they are to get back, this can be variable. The only absolute restrictions are no heavy lifting or rigorous activity for 4 weeks. After that, there are no restrictions. After DIEP patients are walking on the first day after surgery, and discharged on the 4th. By that time they can do whatever they need to take care of themselves, like shower, walk stairs and drive a car.