What to anticipate: The process of a radical mastectomy
On the day of your surgery, you must check into the hospital. A nurse will put you in a hospital gown and place an IV in your arm so that you can receive fluids, antibiotics, and other medications. Until it’s time to enter the operation room, you can typically ask someone to stay with you.
Before putting a patient under general anesthesia, the surgical team will go over the plan.
All axillary lymph nodes, pectoral muscles, and the entire breast will be removed by the surgeon after making an incision. The lymph nodes will be taken to a lab to be examined for the presence of cancer cells. The surgeon will close the wound once he or she has inserted many tiny tubes to drain fluids.
A radical mastectomy would take many hours. It’ll take even longer if you are also starting reconstructive surgery.