Just for context before I ask my question:
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Diagnosed in March 2024 with TNBC (age 28),
Chemotherapy May-October,
Double Mastectomy with immediate implant reconstruction on 18th December 2024,
Did have clear margins but had about 30% of viable residual disease, and no known lymph node involvement (my surgeons could not find my lymph node at surgery),
5 days of radiotherapy at the beginning of June 2025 (so late due to skin healing complications)
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So I had my radiotherapy to my left chest about 5/6 weeks ago now, and I didn’t get any side effects apart from a very slight skin burn, I was only a little bit pink and warm and it wasn’t sore. Like having a minor sunburn that disappears quickly. For the last couple of days I have noticed a tenderness or slight swelling/firmness of the tissue in between my armpit and my breast. Then last night I was woken up by a sharp shocking pain around the area of my lymph node surgery scar. It felt like a couple of little electric shocks, like I was being zapped. It has happened a couple more times throughout the day.
The radiotherapy nurse did mention that some people feel ‘shooting pains’ and that it is normal, but at what point do I need to be concerned? Obviously every cancer patient fears reoccurrence, but what if it is a reoccurrence and I mistakenly brush it off? Is it common for the armpit area to feel tender 6 weeks after treatment?