› Forums › General Melanoma Community › lymphadenectomy of the arm – What to expect?
- This topic has 21 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 8 months ago by jvictoria.
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- July 28, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Hello! I assume that you are having a complete axillary lymph node dissection, but I apologize if my assumption is incorrect.
I had a CLND of right axillary in mid-Feb. My right arm is dominant, so I was really worried about not being able to use my arm for a long time. However, the recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I had been prepared for. Mine was an outpatient surgery…some folks stay in hospital one night. I was very very nauseus when I came out of surgery, but I always am and expected that. My fiancee drove me home with a puke pan in my lap 🙂 Speaking of the drive home, bring at least one pillow – two might be better. I put one under my arm and another one wedged between my shoulder and the door. Even little bump in the road were painful.
I didn't have much pain – never took any pain meds other than OTC stuff once. The worst part of recovery for me was – by FAR – dealing with the drain. I didn't strip it enough in the beginning, which I quickly learned is important. Mine got plugged up once which was pretty painful, but a quick visit to my surgeon's office took care of that quickly. I had my drain in for about 3 weeks.
Things that I found helpful…
* I slept in a reclining chair for the entire time that I had the drain in. Lying down flat really didn't work for me at all…and trust me, I tried.
* After 4 days of trying to shower with one hand, I got one of those nylon lanyard with a clip on the end. Clipped my drain to that, and voila…two hands free! I wound up using the lanyard for the rest of my recovery.
* I bought a bunch of oversized, button up shirts from the thrift stores. It was really hard to lift my arm over my head, so the button up shirts were WAY easier. And it got them a bit oversized so the drain wouldn't be noticible. (I worked while I had the drain)
* Start using that arm just as soon as possible…the next day. I did the "spider walk" exercises multiple times per day (where you "walk" your arm up a wall with your fingertips). That, plus just trying to use my arm in general whenever possible.
* I don't have any allergies to adhesive or anything, but after a week or so my skin was absolutely raw around the drain site. I had some leaking from the drian site, so I had to keep it bandged…and changing the bandages HURT,, didn't matter what kind of bandage or paper tape I tried. After a lot of pain, I started using gauze squares wrapped with ace bandages. (Cut the gauze piece up about halfway to fit it around the drain tube.) Thinking back on it, my skin irrirtation was really the worst part. I won't lie – it hurt like a son-of-a-gun – so avoid it from the beginning if you can 🙂
* One of my other lifesavers – besides the lanyard and ace bandages – was one of those small squishy pillows filled with some sort of beanbag material or something. Something like those travel pillows or kids pillows. It was soft enough to rest my arm on, I could sort of mold it to however I was sitting or lieing…super helpful.
I was using my arm for golf within 8 weeks. Sorry if I rambled on! I truly hope your sugery goes well…keep us posted 🙂
Sheila
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- July 28, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Hello! I assume that you are having a complete axillary lymph node dissection, but I apologize if my assumption is incorrect.
I had a CLND of right axillary in mid-Feb. My right arm is dominant, so I was really worried about not being able to use my arm for a long time. However, the recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I had been prepared for. Mine was an outpatient surgery…some folks stay in hospital one night. I was very very nauseus when I came out of surgery, but I always am and expected that. My fiancee drove me home with a puke pan in my lap 🙂 Speaking of the drive home, bring at least one pillow – two might be better. I put one under my arm and another one wedged between my shoulder and the door. Even little bump in the road were painful.
I didn't have much pain – never took any pain meds other than OTC stuff once. The worst part of recovery for me was – by FAR – dealing with the drain. I didn't strip it enough in the beginning, which I quickly learned is important. Mine got plugged up once which was pretty painful, but a quick visit to my surgeon's office took care of that quickly. I had my drain in for about 3 weeks.
Things that I found helpful…
* I slept in a reclining chair for the entire time that I had the drain in. Lying down flat really didn't work for me at all…and trust me, I tried.
* After 4 days of trying to shower with one hand, I got one of those nylon lanyard with a clip on the end. Clipped my drain to that, and voila…two hands free! I wound up using the lanyard for the rest of my recovery.
* I bought a bunch of oversized, button up shirts from the thrift stores. It was really hard to lift my arm over my head, so the button up shirts were WAY easier. And it got them a bit oversized so the drain wouldn't be noticible. (I worked while I had the drain)
* Start using that arm just as soon as possible…the next day. I did the "spider walk" exercises multiple times per day (where you "walk" your arm up a wall with your fingertips). That, plus just trying to use my arm in general whenever possible.
* I don't have any allergies to adhesive or anything, but after a week or so my skin was absolutely raw around the drain site. I had some leaking from the drian site, so I had to keep it bandged…and changing the bandages HURT,, didn't matter what kind of bandage or paper tape I tried. After a lot of pain, I started using gauze squares wrapped with ace bandages. (Cut the gauze piece up about halfway to fit it around the drain tube.) Thinking back on it, my skin irrirtation was really the worst part. I won't lie – it hurt like a son-of-a-gun – so avoid it from the beginning if you can 🙂
* One of my other lifesavers – besides the lanyard and ace bandages – was one of those small squishy pillows filled with some sort of beanbag material or something. Something like those travel pillows or kids pillows. It was soft enough to rest my arm on, I could sort of mold it to however I was sitting or lieing…super helpful.
I was using my arm for golf within 8 weeks. Sorry if I rambled on! I truly hope your sugery goes well…keep us posted 🙂
Sheila
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- July 28, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Hello! I assume that you are having a complete axillary lymph node dissection, but I apologize if my assumption is incorrect.
I had a CLND of right axillary in mid-Feb. My right arm is dominant, so I was really worried about not being able to use my arm for a long time. However, the recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I had been prepared for. Mine was an outpatient surgery…some folks stay in hospital one night. I was very very nauseus when I came out of surgery, but I always am and expected that. My fiancee drove me home with a puke pan in my lap 🙂 Speaking of the drive home, bring at least one pillow – two might be better. I put one under my arm and another one wedged between my shoulder and the door. Even little bump in the road were painful.
I didn't have much pain – never took any pain meds other than OTC stuff once. The worst part of recovery for me was – by FAR – dealing with the drain. I didn't strip it enough in the beginning, which I quickly learned is important. Mine got plugged up once which was pretty painful, but a quick visit to my surgeon's office took care of that quickly. I had my drain in for about 3 weeks.
Things that I found helpful…
* I slept in a reclining chair for the entire time that I had the drain in. Lying down flat really didn't work for me at all…and trust me, I tried.
* After 4 days of trying to shower with one hand, I got one of those nylon lanyard with a clip on the end. Clipped my drain to that, and voila…two hands free! I wound up using the lanyard for the rest of my recovery.
* I bought a bunch of oversized, button up shirts from the thrift stores. It was really hard to lift my arm over my head, so the button up shirts were WAY easier. And it got them a bit oversized so the drain wouldn't be noticible. (I worked while I had the drain)
* Start using that arm just as soon as possible…the next day. I did the "spider walk" exercises multiple times per day (where you "walk" your arm up a wall with your fingertips). That, plus just trying to use my arm in general whenever possible.
* I don't have any allergies to adhesive or anything, but after a week or so my skin was absolutely raw around the drain site. I had some leaking from the drian site, so I had to keep it bandged…and changing the bandages HURT,, didn't matter what kind of bandage or paper tape I tried. After a lot of pain, I started using gauze squares wrapped with ace bandages. (Cut the gauze piece up about halfway to fit it around the drain tube.) Thinking back on it, my skin irrirtation was really the worst part. I won't lie – it hurt like a son-of-a-gun – so avoid it from the beginning if you can 🙂
* One of my other lifesavers – besides the lanyard and ace bandages – was one of those small squishy pillows filled with some sort of beanbag material or something. Something like those travel pillows or kids pillows. It was soft enough to rest my arm on, I could sort of mold it to however I was sitting or lieing…super helpful.
I was using my arm for golf within 8 weeks. Sorry if I rambled on! I truly hope your sugery goes well…keep us posted 🙂
Sheila
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- July 28, 2015 at 5:28 pm
I was concerned about having this done, because my sentinel lymph nodes were in my left armpit, and I'm left handed. It turned out to be not too bad.
I walked around with a surgical drain for about three weeks, I think. The doctor had to cut and reattach a muscle during the surgery, and that caused me some minor problems for a little while. But I was very conscientious about doing all the range of motion exercises the doctor showed me. Now, a year and a half later, I can't really notice much difference in my arm, or in my range of motion, except that a nerve that was cut has made the back of my arm permanently numb. But writing, using the computer, pretty much everything I used to do with my left arm, is fine now.
Good luck with your surgery!
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- July 28, 2015 at 5:28 pm
I was concerned about having this done, because my sentinel lymph nodes were in my left armpit, and I'm left handed. It turned out to be not too bad.
I walked around with a surgical drain for about three weeks, I think. The doctor had to cut and reattach a muscle during the surgery, and that caused me some minor problems for a little while. But I was very conscientious about doing all the range of motion exercises the doctor showed me. Now, a year and a half later, I can't really notice much difference in my arm, or in my range of motion, except that a nerve that was cut has made the back of my arm permanently numb. But writing, using the computer, pretty much everything I used to do with my left arm, is fine now.
Good luck with your surgery!
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- July 28, 2015 at 5:28 pm
I was concerned about having this done, because my sentinel lymph nodes were in my left armpit, and I'm left handed. It turned out to be not too bad.
I walked around with a surgical drain for about three weeks, I think. The doctor had to cut and reattach a muscle during the surgery, and that caused me some minor problems for a little while. But I was very conscientious about doing all the range of motion exercises the doctor showed me. Now, a year and a half later, I can't really notice much difference in my arm, or in my range of motion, except that a nerve that was cut has made the back of my arm permanently numb. But writing, using the computer, pretty much everything I used to do with my left arm, is fine now.
Good luck with your surgery!
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- July 28, 2015 at 11:27 pm
You've been given good advice. My experiences were similar to what is noted. I had it done twice! Right ax in 2003, left in 2007. The drain was not fun….but best to keep in as long as needed. Took one out a bit early and then developed a seroma (lump of fluid) that had to be drained by aspiration with a needle and syringe. Breast cancer sites often have good post surg exercise advice. I have never developed lymphedema in either arm. I wish you well! Celeste
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- July 28, 2015 at 11:27 pm
You've been given good advice. My experiences were similar to what is noted. I had it done twice! Right ax in 2003, left in 2007. The drain was not fun….but best to keep in as long as needed. Took one out a bit early and then developed a seroma (lump of fluid) that had to be drained by aspiration with a needle and syringe. Breast cancer sites often have good post surg exercise advice. I have never developed lymphedema in either arm. I wish you well! Celeste
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- July 28, 2015 at 11:27 pm
You've been given good advice. My experiences were similar to what is noted. I had it done twice! Right ax in 2003, left in 2007. The drain was not fun….but best to keep in as long as needed. Took one out a bit early and then developed a seroma (lump of fluid) that had to be drained by aspiration with a needle and syringe. Breast cancer sites often have good post surg exercise advice. I have never developed lymphedema in either arm. I wish you well! Celeste
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