Well Anthony,
I had an enormous amount of pain after my RND (rhs).My right shoulder and arm were v painful too The nerves were either damaged or irritated/agitated by the surgery. It lasted months and vastly contributed to a deep(death wish) depression. The radiotherapy was something else to overcome too!- pain and discomfort wise. The morphine patches were effective but left me very dozy and nauseous.
The morphine related constipation had me crying on the loo!!
Long story short - nearly 5 years on - I suffer a lot of discomfort from time to time but so what! I am here for a long time to come. I get on with a really normal life now - and to be honest that is all I want.
cheers Tony K