I'm sorry you're having such a rough time of it Jenni.  I had a mastectomy and full axillary clearance last year.  I didn't get the pain you're describing but I did experience some numbness in my upper arm and around the armpit area and the alterered sensation continues even now.  It was explained to me that they damage the nerves during surgery.  I wonder if its possible that you're feeling pain because of nerve damage? (I seem to recall after 3 weeks of surgery that although I was uncomfortably swollen and taut, the pain was subsiding). A friend of mine from work had surgery in a similar area for skin cancer and he had nerve pain but they were able to give him something for it.  It might be worth asking for a different kind of pain killer that works in a different way - this would be effective against the misleading messages being sent by the damaged nerves.  Obviously I'm not medically qualified or anything so I could be completely wrong but its just an idea and might be worth asking about?  lou x