Hello DdWest11, 

A big welcome to our forum. I hope that it will be useful to you and you did well to start a new thread to share your story. I hope you won't mind but I have edited your title slightly to mention your 'lumpectomy' and 'lymph node biopsy' - this will help your thread be spotted by others who have had a lumpectomy before. I am sorry to hear you are still in pain - if you have flagged this with your breast care nurse and she is finding this unusual, have they arranged for you to be seen by your specialist? I am not sure whether you have already had your follow up appointment which according to our website's page on the lumpectomy tends to be one to two weeks after your operation. This will be a good opportunity to raise any concerns you might have and to mention the pain you have been experiencing. 

Our cancer nurses are also available on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm - don't hesitate if there is anything you would like to discuss with them.

I am glad you have read helpful posts here before which have provided you with reassurance that you are not alone and I hope others who have been through this before will be along shortly and respond with their own stories and experiences. I hope that your asthma improves too - do talk to your GP about it if it gets a bit out of control as you certainly don't need this at the moment while you are recovering from your lumpectomy. 

Wishing you a full and swift recovery. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi DdWest,  I’m 43 and had my lumpectomy and nodes on the 7th Nov.  Altho I didn’t really have any pain (have a good pain threshold). For me it was more sore/ uncomfortable, especially bed time. I have now been able to manage to sleep on the surgery side for the last week so that’s been great been able to have a good nights sleep now.  Only issue I really had was with the surgery scar on armpit and the skin to skin rubbing so I put a fluffy sock on the top of my crop top which was such a relief but again this has now eased.  Everyone heals differently so I would imagine it depends on how quickly the inside heals.  I’m nearly 5 weeks post surgery and everything seems to have healed fine and no soreness or aching anymore.  Only thing I do have is a pulling feeling on the back of my arm If I have my arms above shoulder height and a numbing feeling on the back or my arm. X 

Hi DdWest,

I had a lumpectomy 14 years ago and had pain for a few months after surgery. I expect that this will vary from person to person, depending upon how much tissue has to be removed. I had a double mastectomy the following year and had less pain with that, than I had from the lumpectomy.

It is still very early days for you to expect to be pain free. As our moderator, Lucie has suggested, make sure to mention this when you see the consultant at your review. I am sorry to hear about your Asthma on top of all this Have you seen you GP about this, in order to keep it under control? 

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx