Breast Cancer Awareness Month: What to Expect with a Mastectomy
Mastectomy is a surgical intervention used to treat breast cancer for some patients. What is a mastectomy, and what can you expect before and after surgical mastectomy treatment?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), “Mastectomy is breast cancer surgery that removes the entire breast.” The ACS outlines six different types of mastectomies: 
- Simple or (Total) Mastectomy: The surgeon removes the entire breast and possibly some lymph nodes.
- Skin-Sparing Mastectomy: The surgeon removes the breast tissue, nipple, and areola while the breast skin is left intact to the greatest possible extent.
- Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: The nipple is left intact; however, the breast tissue and areola are removed.
- Modified Radical Mastectomy: The surgeon removes the entire breast and underarm lymph nodes.
- Radical Mastectomy: The surgeon removes the breast, underarm lymph nodes, and chest wall/pectoral muscles. Surgeons rarely recommend this surgery currently.
- Double Mastectomy: The surgeon performs a simple mastectomy or nipple-sparing mastectomy on both breasts.
What to Expect Weeks Prior
Within the few weeks before a mastectomy, expect to be doing three primary activities:
- Research: Patients who read a wide range of material are better educated. There are fewer surprises and more understanding, which reduces anxiety. Research also consists of talking with others who have had the surgery to gain insight into the best preparations.
- Medical Visits: Pre-surgery medical visits are a part of the plan. Depending upon each situation, you will need to visit doctors for pre-surgical work-ups, including blood tests and heart screenings.
- Post-operative Planning: Immediately after surgery, you will require assistance at home, including bathing, dressing, housekeeping, laundry, grocery shopping, and meal preparation. Plan accordingly to ensure help is available, whether that means support from family members or hired caregivers, such as Visiting Angels Mobile.
What to Expect the Day of Surgery
Within 24 hours before surgery, the doctor or staff will instruct you in pre-surgical preparations, including not eating within a certain number of hours prior, discontinuing or starting certain medications, and completing a bowel program.
Upon arrival on the day of surgery, hospital staff will assist you in the preoperative area by having you change into a hospital gown, start intravenous fluids and medications and draw lines on the breasts to indicate the incision site. Often a family member or friend may be present, although each hospital policy may differ given COVID-19 protocol. Eventually, the nurses will wheel you into the operative room where proper staff will administer general anesthesia.
Depending upon which procedure is needed, surgery lasts a minimum of two hours, often longer. It is essential to realize that your surgeon may insert drains to collect fluid from the spaces where the tissue had been. The drains extend to the exterior of the body and are visible when waking from surgery. With instruction from medical staff, you and your caregivers will learn to manage the drains at home.
What to Expect After Surgery
After surgery, you will immediately enter the recovery room, and nurses will monitor your vitals and medications. Once you meet recovery room expectations, the staff will transfer you to a hospital room for continued monitoring. A minimum hospital stay after a mastectomy is typically three days or more.
What to Expect at Home
Upon discharge home, you and your caregivers will have the following “homework” during recovery:
- Medication management
- Incision, staple, and drain management
- Monitoring for signs of infection
- Begin prescribed exercises to regain and maintain upper body range of motion
As mentioned above, caregivers will also need to provide support with laundry, housekeeping, bathing assistance, medication management, and transportation to follow-up doctor appointments. Visiting Angels is the premier at-home caregiving company in Mobile, Alabama, and the surrounding areas. We provide Personal Care services for loved ones recently discharged from the hospital. It is not only our line of business but our honor to assist those fighting breast cancer. Please call us at 251-345-4100 or contact us online today to learn more.