How should I prepare for a mastectomy?

You and your healthcare provider will develop a treatment plan that includes the type of mastectomy you’ll have and any reconstructive surgery you might choose to have. You’ll also learn more about what to expect during your recovery. This will help you plan how to manage your daily activities after your surgery.

Your provider may tell you to restrict your activities during recovery. They’ll explain that you won’t be able to raise your arms over your head, so you may want to reorganize your shelves. They’ll tell you that you won’t be able to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, so you should plan to have help at hand.

You may want to contact a local breast cancer support group. Talking to others about their mastectomy experiences can help you feel less anxious about your upcoming mastectomy and recovery. You might learn helpful tips in advance, and you’ll make contacts that you can go back to during your recovery.

You may also need to:

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On the day of your mastectomy:

You’ll go under general anesthesia, which means you’ll be asleep through the procedure.

You’ll have a tube to help you breathe and a catheter in your vein to give you IV fluids. This keeps you hydrated during the procedure. You may also have a catheter to drain your pee.

Your surgeon will sterilize your skin and give you antibiotics through your IV to prevent infections.

Your surgeon may inject a mild radioactive tracer into your breast tissue, which helps to highlight your nearby lymph nodes. Your surgeon will use a handheld scanner to find them.

Alternatively, your surgeon might inject a blue dye into your breast tissue to highlight your lymph nodes. The dye will stay in your tissues for a few weeks.

Your surgeon will remove your breast tissue, including or sparing your skin and nipple. They may remove additional tissue if cancer has spread there.

Your surgeon may remove lymph nodes for biopsy. They’ll send them to the lab to check for cancer cells.

If you’ve chosen to have breast reconstruction surgery, your surgeon may now begin and complete this process. They may use an artificial implant, a temporary implant and/or tissue from somewhere else on your body.

If you’re not having breast reconstruction at this time, they’ll close the opening. You may have reconstruction surgery later, or you may choose not to have it.

Your surgeon will most likely leave a temporary drain inside the surgical site. This is a tube that draws excess fluids from the wound into a collection bulb on the outside. You may have it for a week or two afterward.

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A partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) may take an hour. A total or double mastectomy may take several hours. If you have reconstruction surgery at the same time, that will make your procedure longer.

Mastectomy complications can develop within days or weeks after your surgery, and sometimes later.

Early complications from the procedure can include:

Delayed complications can include:

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Typically, you’ll spend a night in the hospital, or possibly longer if you have more extensive surgery. Your healthcare team will have you up and walking on the same day as your surgery. This reduces the risk of blood clots and pneumonia from lying in bed for a long time. You’ll have pain relief as needed.

You’ll wait for lab results to determine the next steps. Your surgeon will want to ensure they got all the cancer. They should have these results within a couple of weeks. Most of the time, there’s no need for more surgery. But occasionally, your surgeon may need to remove additional lymph nodes or tissue.

You might also need additional cancer treatment after surgery, like radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Some people wait to finish these treatments before starting breast reconstruction surgery. If you have started it, you might need additional follow-up surgeries to achieve the final cosmetic result you want.