What to Expect After Mastectomy for Breast Cancer

Many women with early-stage breast cancers are given the opportunity to choose between total removal of a breast (mastectomy) or breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy). There can be pros and cons to both, so the choice to do one or the other is a completely personal decision.

“I would say that a mastectomy patient should be able to fully recover within one to three weeks if they have not had reconstruction,” says Jaime Alberty-Oller, MD, breast cancer oncologist and surgeon at Dubin Breast Center, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. If a woman has had breast reconstruction, their recovery time may be longer, around four to six weeks. Someone who has had a mastectomy should be able to expect full range of motion and to go back to their regular life within that time frame, he says.

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Written by:

Brittany Doohan

Brittany Doohan was the Content Director at HealthiNation and is currently the Editorial Director at Medscape. Through her work with Medscape, she won a Silver Telly Award in May 2022 for "Sleepless Nation: A Public Health Epidemic — Episode 2: A Decade Without a Diagnosis." She has worked in health journalism and video production for more than 8 years, and loves the challenge of explaining complex topics in an easy-to-understand and creative way.

Reviewed by:

Sanjai Sinha, MD

Sanjai Sinha, MD, is a board-certified physician with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in internal medicine.

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