You will be admitted either the day before or the morning of your operation. The nurse will welcome you onto the ward and go through all the paperwork with you. You will be asked questions about your medical history, any medication you take and about your social circumstances. This information is used to try and ensure that your surgery goes smoothly and that you are able to be discharged home when you are medically fit. You may need some additional tests prior to your operation, for example blood tests or X-ray. You will be seen by the anaesthetist who will talk to you about your anaesthetic and your pain relief after the operation. The surgeon will also see you to explain the surgery and when they have given you the opportunity to ask questions to ensure you have understood everything, you will be asked to sign a consent form.

The procedure

You will be starved for theatre.

• Please drink clear still water up to 1hour before your admission time.
• You must not have any food, boiled sweets, chewing gum, mints, tea, coffee, milk, fizzy drinks or juices for 5 hours before your admission time.

A ward nurse will escort you to theatre and transfer you to the care of the theatre staff. Once the anaesthetist has put you to sleep the surgeon will remove your tumour.

What happens during the procedure?

• A cut will be made to get to your tumour.
• Your biopsy tract will be removed at the same time.
• Your tumour will be removed along with a rim of healthy tissue (called a margin).
• A drain may be inserted which helps to remove blood and prevent swelling.
• The wound is closed with dissolvable sutures or skin clips and a dressing which will cover the wound for two weeks.
• A pressure bandage will be wrapped around your wound.
• When you are ready you will return to your ward.

After your procedure

On your first post operative day your pressure bandage will be removed. You will start your physiotherapy. Your drain will stay in until drainage is at a minimum then one of the nurses will remove it for you. You will be given anti-embolic stockings to reduce the risk of blood clots; you must wear these for around 6 weeks post surgery. You may be seen by a physiotherapist who will advise you if there are any restrictions on your movements and provide you with a frame or crutches to help you mobilise. You will be seen in clinic approximately 6 weeks following your operation to make sure that your wound has healed and that you are making a good recovery from your surgery. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions and discuss your surgery results.

Pain relief

There are different methods of pain relief used depending on the type of surgery, you may have painkilling tablets or medicine or you may be connected to a machine that will give you a dose of painkiller when you press a button. Sometimes you will have a combination of painkillers to give you the best pain relief possible. Good pain relief will mean you are able to move around without too much pain. Early movement will speed up your recovery and you may be able to go home sooner. If you have any questions about pain relief one of the nurses will be pleased to talk to you.

Results from your surgery

When your tumour is removed, it is sent to our pathology labs so that the pathologists can examine it. They present the results to the multidisciplinary team (MDT) at the meeting (this is on a Tuesday morning), they confirm the diagnosis, the grade and the surgical margin and the MDT then decide whether further treatment is recommended. If you require further treatment this would usually be radiotherapy (strong X-ray treatment) which can be done at a cancer centre near to where you live.

More information

How will my arm/leg look and feel following my operation?
You will have a scar and your limb may be swollen; you should rest with your limb elevated to help this settle.

When can I resume sporting activities?
For the first 6 weeks there are likely to be activities that you are restricted from doing. Once your wound has completely healed and you have been reviewed in outpatients you will be able to resume sporting activities.

When can I drive?
This will depend on where your operation is and how much muscle has been removed. You can discuss this with the ward staff when you are an in-patient or contact your keyworker.

What happens if I have a problem out of hours?
In the first instance contact the ward. If they can’t resolve the problem, they will put you in touch with the on-call doctor.

Contact Information

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