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How long does the tightness last?


carolhg

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I thought that by now the nerves or whatever would have healed by now and that I would be back to my old self. I had an upper right lobectomy in July 2005. For a long time my right side was just plain numb. Now it is numb somtimes, sometimes tickly prickly and it just feels tight like something is pushing against my rib cage from the inside. Does anyone know how long this feeling will last? Thanks for any info.

Carol

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Carol I can not really answer your question but will eagerly await responses from others. I was not a candidate for surgery but did have 35 radiation treatments accompanied with chemo. I still have what I call a numbness, tingly, thickening feeling on the right side where the radiation took place. I have been attributing it to nerves damaged by radiation but not really sure what is causing it.

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Hi Carol, I know what you mean about the scar. Mine was numb for the first few years. All numbness is almost gone, after 6+ years now.

I still have the creepy-crawl's along the scar sometimes....if I move wrong I can get a mighty zap of pain, but I notice less and less now.

It took about two years of yoga before I could reach behind my back and pull off my coat sleeves over my hands. A major victory. :)

Judy - Yes the skin on my chest seems to be tough too. Kind of thick and leather-like where I got the radiation. My onc says is normal.

Barb

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Mine is not the scar. It is the right side below my breast. It feels tight and numb and sometimes tingly. On the inside it feels like something on the inside of my ribs is pushing against my ribcage.

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Hi Carol

I too still have the feeling of tightness and the numbness under my right breast. I have learned to accept that this is most likely the way it will always feel. There are times when I am very active that the area of my surgery will become sore. Everyday it feels as if I have a strap around my ribs on the right side. I have learned to ignore these feelings. I think of myself as bless to have had the cancer caught so early.

GOD Bless

MaryAnna

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Hi Carol and MaryAnna, I remember.....it felt as if a tight belt was cinched around my chest and under right breast the first week in the hospital. The nurses told me it was because I had 6 different layers of stitches under there. Not sure if that's true.

But that tight belt feeling went away instantly my 7th day in the hospital. Some friends stopped by my room, I told them it felt like I was wearing a "bad bra" 6 sizes too small. They laid their hands on my incision and prayed over me. When they finished, the pain was gone. Honest to God, the pain just disappeared. It was the strangest thing.

I definitely believe in the power of prayer. I pray this tightness leaves you too. :)

Barb

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Well I don't have the tightness, but I do have the tingle and numbness under my left breast and in my left breast. My incision (scar) is on my left side just a little under my left breast the around toward my back. My left breast has always been numb, but in the last year it just started to tingle and stated to cramp up on me. I never really had problems with mine until the last 2 years.

Just one of those things we may have to live with.

Have you asked your doctor about it? I sure would make mention of it. You have nothing to lose.

Let us know and good luck!

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Thank you all so very much for your responses to my post. I was told to expect some discomfort, but I thought by now all discomfort would be gone. Wrong! Once I know what to expect then it is much easier for me to deal with. My right side had been numb for a long time and now it has some tingly feeling, some soreness, some numbness and honestly it scared me. I thought it might be the cancer coming back even though my scans have been good. I guess I am just hyper-vigilant.I have gained 45 pounds since my surgery. I am going to work on losing that and hope that my help. I am not glad that any of you are having or had discomfort, but I am glad that you are able to relate and share your experiences with me. Again, thank you very much. I am so looking forward to a anti-cancer vaccine this year. It is way overdue. Happy New Year to all of you.

Carol

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Suki isn't quite a year out from her pneumonectomy, but she describes getting "zapped" and areas of numbness now again, near her scar. I know she had this off and on during the 5 years between her lobectomy and her second surgery. hope you get some relief from it soon.

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