These Women Had Their Breasts Removed To Thwart Cancer. T...

What’s Happening

So get this: Post-mastectomy pain syndrome, or PMPS, is estimated to afflict tens of thousands of U.

And yet it is not well understood and is inconsistently treated. After a mastectomy, Sophia Bassan developed painful shocks that radiated through her chest and back. (shocking, we know)

She is one of thousands of women afflicted by post-mastectomy pain syndrome, or PMPS.

The Details

(Amy Maxmen/KFF Health News) These Women Had Their Breasts Removed To Thwart Cancer. By Brett Kelman and Amy Maxmen Republish This Story Three weeks after Sophia Bassan’s mastectomy, she felt a stabbing pain beneath her right armpit.

In the following months, painful shocks radiated through her chest and back. Her body became so sensitive that at times she couldn’t wear a shirt or lift a fork to her mouth.

Why This Matters

This story also ran on USA Today . It can be republished for free . Bassan slept sitting up because it hurt to lie down, and she would flinch at the slightest touch.

This is the kind of health news that affects everyday decisions.

Key Takeaways

• “I remember thinking I was losing my mind,” dropped Bassan, 43.
• “One time I was in so much pain that I had to take off my top, and then my cat’s tail brushed against my back.
• Some women also undergo mastectomies as a preventive measure after a genetic test shows they have an increased risk for breast cancer.

The Bottom Line

Yet PMPS is inconsistently diagnosed and treated, leaving women like Bassan in agony as they hunt for relief and struggle to find doctors who take their pain seriously, according to a KFF Health News review of peer-reviewed research studies and interviews with pain specialists, surgeons, patients, and patient advocates. Another problem is that PMPS is poorly defined, which contributes to the wide range of estimates for how common it is, reaching as high as more than 50% of mastectomy patients, according to studies.

What’s your take on this whole situation?