What to Expect After Mastectomy for Breast Cancer
In this video, oncologist and surgeon Jaime Alberty-Oller, MD, explains what patients should expect during the recovery from a mastectomy surgery.
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.
- Jaime Alberty, MDDr. Alberty is a surgical breast oncologist at the Dubin Breast Center of the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital.
References
American Cancer Society. (2021). Exercises after breast cancer surgery.
American Cancer Society. (2023). Surgery for breast cancer.
Kaufman, C.S., et al. (2022). Oncoplastic techniques in breast-conserving surgery. UpToDate.
Kwong, A., et al. (2022). Mastectomy: Indications, types, and concurrent axillary lymph node management. UpToDate.