Mastectomies are more complicated, usually requiring an overnight hospital stay; expect it to take three to four weeks before your energy level is back to normal. "But when you go home from the hospital you can do most things; it's not like you're in bed for a month," says Dr. Morrow.
Here's what else doctors have to say about recovering from breast cancer surgery.
1. Keep moving. Becoming a couch potato isn't just bad for your state of mind, it also ups your risk for deep-vein thrombosis, which can turn into a life-threatening embolism in your lung. Keep the arm on the side of the mastectomy gently moving, too.
