Home / What's going on? / Mastectomy recovery
Post-operative care · South Berkeley
I have seen people through four surgeries and out the other side.
Breast surgery is rarely one event. It is often a sequence: mastectomy, then expanders, then reconstruction, sometimes revision, sometimes radiation somewhere in the middle. I work with people across the whole of that, not just the first few weeks, and I know what each stage tends to feel like.
- Clearance
- Your oncology team decides
- Also covers
- Lumpectomy, reconstruction, revision
- Watching for
- Lymphedema, cording, restriction
- First step
- A free phone call with me
What changes in that quadrant
Node removal changes the whole picture.
If lymph nodes were removed from the armpit, or the area was treated with radiation, the upper quadrant on that side has lost drainage capacity permanently. That does not mean you will develop lymphedema. It does mean that quadrant deserves attention for the rest of your life.
In the early weeks, the work is about swelling, comfort and getting your arm moving again. Later, it is about knowing the early signs of lymphedema and staying ahead of fluid rather than catching up with it.
Cording, sometimes called axillary web syndrome, is another thing people are rarely warned about. Tight, painful strands running from the armpit down the inner arm, which can badly limit reach. It is common, it is treatable, and it frightens people who do not know what it is.
Staying ahead of the fluid is far easier than letting it get away and then trying to bring it back.
What this helps with
Through each stage of a long process.
Everything here depends on your surgeon and oncologist clearing you first.
Post-surgical swelling
In the chest, armpit, and along the arm. The first and most common reason to come.
Range of motion
Getting your arm back. This matters enormously, and it matters more if radiation is coming.
Cording
Tight painful strands from the armpit down the arm. Common, alarming, and responsive to gentle work.
Expanders and reconstruction
Each stage produces its own swelling and its own tightness. I work with all of them.
Lymphedema risk
Knowing what to watch for, and acting on heaviness or tightness before it is visible.
Scars, later
Mastectomy scars can bind and restrict how your arm moves. Worth addressing once fully closed.
Timing
Your team decides, and I work inside it.
I do not ask for written notes. I ask you to talk to your surgeon or oncologist about lymphatic drainage and tell me what they said. If they say wait, we wait.
Drains, radiation schedules, and reconstruction stages all affect timing. Bring me whatever you have in writing.
Many people come to me years afterwards, when an arm starts feeling heavy and nobody ever warned them it might. That is not too late. It is exactly the right time to call.
Worth saying plainly
Where my part ends.
I do not treat cancer
This is supportive care. It does not treat, shrink, or cure anything.
I do not diagnose lymphedema
If I think you need assessing, I will say so clearly and help you work out who to see and what to ask for.
Anything sudden goes to your team
Redness, warmth, fever, sudden swelling, or anything about an incision that worries you.
I do not do wound care
If something opens up we pause, they handle it, and we resume when they are happy.
Before you call
Questions I get asked.
How soon after a mastectomy can I have lymphatic drainage?
Your surgical and oncology team decide, and it depends on drains, reconstruction stage, and whether radiation is planned. Ask them and tell me what they said.
What is cording, and can you help?
Tight, painful strands running from the armpit down the inner arm, sometimes called axillary web syndrome. It is common after node surgery, it badly limits reach, and it responds to gentle hands-on work. It is also far less frightening once someone tells you what it is.
Will I get lymphedema?
Nobody can tell you that. Risk relates mainly to how many nodes were removed and whether the area was irradiated. What matters more is knowing the early signs, since heaviness and tightness usually come before anything is visible.
It has been years and my arm feels heavy. Is it too late?
No. Lymphedema can appear months or years later. Get it properly assessed so you can access compression, and call me. Staying ahead of fluid is much easier than catching up.
Can you work between reconstruction stages?
Yes, with clearance. Each stage brings its own swelling and tightness, and the work adapts to where you are.
Can you work on my mastectomy scars?
Once fully closed and your surgeon is satisfied, yes. Chest scars can quietly limit how your arm moves. I use Dolphin microcurrent and hand technique.
You may also want
Related to this.
The next step
Tell me where you are in this.
Fifteen free minutes on the phone with me. Whatever stage you are at, tell me what has happened and what your team has said, and I will tell you honestly whether I can help and when to start.