Feeling very breathless can be extremely frightening and stressful. You may find it very hard to relax or to sleep, even with oxygen. Having somebody sit with you may help. Taking a sedative is another possibility. In considering whether to take sedatives you should understand that they could make your breathing and coughing less efficient. This is a cost that you may well be prepared to accept, especially if your cancer cannot be cured and the reason for your breathlessness cannot be relieved. Some doctors take this choice out of their patient’s hands, either by prescribing a sedative without telling them or by refusing to prescribe one even when the patient asks for it. The choice should be yours. Insist that your doctors prescribe nothing without your agreement. Tell them if you would prefer to be either more alert or more drowsy than you are. You have the right to choose, even if the choice to be more drowsy could mean that you don’t live quite as long.

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Several different types of drugs will be given to you during your operation:

1 induction agents to bring on sleep;

2 maintenance agents to keep you asleep;

3 analgesics to stop you feeling pain after the operation;

4 anti-emetics to help stop you feeling sick after the operation.

If local anesthetic is injected into the wound during surgery, you will have little or no pain for a few hours after you wake up.

After your operation

When your operation is over, the anesthetist will stop giving you the drugs that were keeping you asleep and you will probably be taken to a recovery room or step-down ward.

The recovery room

The nurses in the recovery room are specially trained to care for patients coming round from anesthetics after an operation. You will stay in this room, still watched over by monitoring equipment, until you are fully awake and ready to be returned to your own ward.

If you are in pain when you wake up, tell a nurse in the recovery room as you can be given an injection or tablets to relieve it.

The step-down ward

If you are going home on the same day as your operation, you may be taken to a step-down ward. The nurses on this ward will make sure that you are fit to go home and that your journey will be safe and pain free. They will also want to be sure that you have a responsible adult to care for you once you are at home, and should give you advice about how to manage your recovery over the next few days.

Back on the ward

If you are not going home the same day, you will be taken back to your own ward, where the anesthetist may visit you before you leave. This visit is to ensure that you are having adequate pain relief and have no ill-effects from your operation. Do tell the anesthetist if you have any concerns or questions.

Side-effects of the anesthetic

There are side-effects which can occur after anesthesia, but these do not normally last longer than a couple of days. A sore throat is quite common, and is caused by the dry gases breathed while you are asleep, or by the tube which may have been put down your throat to help you breathe during your operation.

If you feel unwell, or have pain anywhere other than at the site of your wound, do tell the anesthetist – or a nurse on your ward – so that the reasons for it can be discovered.

Pain relief

The house surgeon and nurses on your ward will be able to give you analgesics to control any pain. However, if these drugs are not enough, do tell the anesthetist or ward staff, which may be able to give you something more effective.

The amount of pain suffered after a breast operation varies from person to person. Some women have pain or slight discomfort for only 12 to 24 hours and will not need any pain-killing injections after this. Others may need injections for up to 3 days after their operation.

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