Home – Your Surgery and Rehab

The iconic window at the Nightingale Centre

Welcome to the Macmillan breast surgery rehabilitation website.

Macmillan and Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) are working together to improve the information we give you during and after your breast cancer treatment at the Nightingale Centre.

We have listened to our patients and their difficulties about getting safe and reliable information in a way that is easily accessible.

This website has been developed so that all our patients can receive consistent help and advice. This information is available in Urdu, Arabic, Cantonese and Polish for those whose first language is not English over the coming months. If you need help meanwhile please contact your breast care nurse.

We aim to help you understand about your rehabilitation and why this is so important to help recover after your surgery and give you advice on things such as

Shoulder and arm exercises after your surgery
Going home and how much you should do when you get home
Wound care- what to do with your dressing
What is lymphoedema and how to prevent it
Attending a one-off class designed to help progress your exercises and activity safely and tips for managing ongoing treatments. This session also looks at helping you to look after your health in the future
Where to get help and support

Information before your surgery

This is a short version taken from each section that will be shown to you in your pre-op clinic. This aims to raise awareness of what will be useful to know before your operation and in the first few days after your surgery.

Learn More

About your recovery from surgery

This will provide more in-depth information on your recovery in the weeks following your surgery.

Learn More

Exercise and Health well-being class (Suspended due to Covid19)

These Classes will be resumed as soon as it is safe to do so.

You will attend an exercise and health and well- being class, which has been specifically designed for your type of surgery. This class is an important part of your rehabilitation.

Learn More

Nightingale Centre

The Nightingale centre is the centre of excellence for breast cancer treatment and research in the UK and is part of the Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). Opened in July 2007 it also has the largest family history unit in the country.

Macmillan Cancer Support is working closely with the Nightingale Centre to begin a new project. This will help patients with their recovery following treatment and look to improve their future health and well-being.