Fibromyalgia and Breast cancer surgery worries

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Hi everyone I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and am due to undergo lumpectomy and sentinel node removal in 2 days time.

Im so very worried about the surgery and the effects it will have on the fibromyalgia shooting pains that I experience constantly.

After the lump biopsies I had a major fibromyalgia flare which lasted over a week leaving me in so much pain in my body, I experienced shooting pains throughout my body and the biopsy site is still tender after 2 months from the biopsies being taken.

My worries are that if my body had this reaction to tiny biopsies being taken, then what will surgery do? And what will the long term fibro pain levels be like?

I retired from a lecturing job i loved because of the debilitating effects of fibromyalgia and now I'm facing surgery with more than a little concern on how my body will react to surgery and what aftereffects I will be left with.

Has anyone in the forum experienced surgery with fibromyalgia, and if so how did you get through it all?

Thank you in advance for any responses and helpful advice, im having sleepless nights worried about the outcome and long term effects on my body and wellbeing.

All the best Happy.Bee

  • Hi  and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your diagnosis and your concerns.

    Navigating a cancer journey can be such a stressful and challenging time but getting support from people who have walked or are walking the ‘exact same' journey can help a lot. I have a completely different cancer and no experience.

    This New to Community area is like our reception desk where we look to try and direct you to the best part of the Community for you to get support.

    The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms)……. but I do see that you have already joined and put up a post in our dedicated Breast cancer support group.

    This group is a safe place to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support.

    The Macmillan Support Line is open between 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00…… this service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits/financial guidance or just a listening ear.

    Talking to people ‘face to face’ can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.

    Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.

    Mike (Thehighlander)

    It always seems impossible until its done - Nelson Mandela

    Community Champion Badge

  • Hi Thehighlander, 

    Thank you for your reply, as you mentioned i have posted in the breast cancer forum, however I thought I may have more chance of reaching folk with fibromyalgia in this forum. I tried adding a "tag" for fibromyalgia but there is not one available in the suggested "tag" list, so I put a tag of "pain" 

    I have spoken to my breast cancer support nurse who is awesome and so helpful about my concerns however she had no experience of patients with fibromyalgia undergoing surgery, so I thought I would turn to this wonderful forum to see if anyone here has been through surgery with fibromyalgia.

    Thank you again for your reply and the information 

    Happy.Bee

  • Hi  ….. let’s see if anyone picks up on your post.

    The majority of people who join the Community tend to go directly to our dedicated cancer support groups or our various General Cancer experience groups….. and even when people post in the New to Community section they teed to move on and stay in our main groups.

    You could put fibromyalgia into the search tool Mag near the top and have a look through to see if you find any posts that can help you.

    You could also put your question to our Ask a Cancer Nurse in our Ask an Expert section but do allow 3 working days for a reply.

    All the very best.

    Mike (Thehighlander)

    It always seems impossible until its done - Nelson Mandela

    Community Champion Badge

  • Thank you I will give your recommendations a try

    All the best  Happy.Bee