Recovery time after single masectomy and reconstruction surgery

Seems a bit soon. I didn’t have reconstruction but did have a mastectomy in June with radiotherapy mid August. I went on a cruise late October and did struggle with swelling and fatigue. Everyone is different and it may be you recover quickly. Assume your treatment plan doesn’t include radiotherapy? 

Hi , my treatment plan is going to be decided when they have results from lymph node biopsy during the surgery. I guessed I was been a little ambitious thinking I could still go on holiday  it's just the thought of chilling with a book in the sunshine would be really something to look forward to. Thankyou for sharing your experience I really appreciate it and  hope you are on the road to recovery  xx

You might be fine. For me I was hoping to go to the gym each morning, take part in daily activities, have a couple of drinks in the evening with friends so being quite active. Needless to say I wasn’t. I enjoyed it ok but spent more time watching TV and resting than I hoped. It is nice to be in a warmer climate though and no housework to worry about

Hi , thankyiou for replying.  How long did you have to rest up for ? How long was it before you went back to the gym ?  Xx

Hi Loubie

i tried the gym one day on the ship but decided it was too busy and I couldn't really do my stretching exercises there so just decided to stay in the room to stretch each morning while hubby went to the gym. I still have fatigue so still rest each afternoon for an hour or so. I think the recovery just takes time.

Hi , how long after surgery did you go on holiday? Did you need a note from your doctor to say this was OK to fly? Did you find it hard to get travel insurance,  so many questions lol . TIA x

It all depends on the individual. I had a mastectomy at the end of April and was out on my bicycle after 3 weeks.  
What you might need to be careful of is if anything is found in your sentinel nodes taken out at the same time. Although I had been told mine were clear (from scans) it turned out that 2 of the 3 had cancer cells in them. This resulted in a second surgery 5 weeks after the 1st for an axillary clearance. A total shock which we weren’t prepared for.  So probably just something to be aware of if you are having sentinel nodes removed at the same time as the mastectomy.  Hope this helps. 

I had sentinel nodes removed 3 weeks prior to the mx, but they still removed more at the mx op, I suspect that’s standard. 

I suspect you’re already erring on the safe side, hopefully you can just change dates so you’ll feel more recovered for your break.

hugs xxx

Hi Loubie

i had surgery on 16 June - mastectomy and SNLB. The nodes were clear but I still needed radiotherapy because of the size . I had rads between 8 August and 14 August. I didn’t get a reaction to the rads until about 4 weeks later when my skin was red and angry but the creams kept it at bay and didn’t last long. I had a lot of tightness across the chest and under the arm even before the radiotherapy and that’s what I’m finding the difficult bit as it restricts my movement and can be painful. I am doing the stretches every day.I went away on 20 October, a cruise from Southampton to Fort Myers and we are now in Florida for 2 months. I did ask the oncologist before the radiotherapy started if it would be ok to go in October and she said yes. We had travel insurance through our Nationwide account so managed to get cover by paying extra £93. Hope this helps.

Hi , yes this does help , thanks so much for taking the time to.do so. Have the most amazing time in florida xx