I have an infection in my breast and under the arm and down the side of the breast is red and swollen.
I went to see the surgeon and he aspriated over 50ml of fluid from under the node scar which has eased the discomfort substantially. I am still on the antibiotics.
Has anyone experienced this and if so did it come back and have to be repeated? I am 4 weeks post op.
Cant start chemo etc until it is sorted out.
Thanks
Maggie x
Hi Maggie, I had a seroma where I had my ANC, it was like a golf ball and I had it repeatedly aspirated. My surgeon eventually decided to let my body sort itself out which it did. I started chemo 5 weeks after my op. Take care CC x
Maggie
I should think it’s critical to make sure there is no infection at all before you start chemo… starting in Jan won’t make any difference to efficacy of chemo, but your body’s been through a lot. A nice break and recouperation from all the stress can only be a good thing to my mind. They wanted me to start the week between Christmas and New Year but i said no until the first week of January… absolutely fine with them. They thought it would actually be a very good thing for me to have a couple of weeks without stressing about tests, apppointments etc etc, and I’d be in a better mental state after it. And anyway, the Jan Chemo thread is going to ROCK!
big hug my friend, and look after yourself
jane xx
Good news Maggie and great timing !
If you’re going to have an enforced gap / wait - then Christmas / new year period could not be bettered! Annie x
I had huge repeated seromas 1-4 weeks after masectomy. Drains we’re accidently pulled out early by my mother. I had to go back to hospital daily at one point for it to be syringed, also had it done under ultrasound as fluid was behind implant. 70-150 ml each time.
Unfortunately repeated syringing can lead to infection. And I have had 2 infections post start of chemo - resulting in removal of infected implant yesterday, so beware of too much interference the body will absorb the fluid if it’s not infected.
Thanks Dawn. Ouch!!!that must have been painful…
Will go back and see on Monday. No temp now but redness seems to be spreading further across breast now so not sure what to do and whether I need to go somewhere before that?
You have been giving me some good advice!
I can only advise on my experience Maggie! Unfortunately not all good experience but we seem to be on a similar path for complications. Keep safe, infection is the worst and you must keep on top of it. I’ve been so careful but look where I ended up. Scared now for a repeat. Surgeon and nurse keeping a careful eye on me.
Maggie don’t wait til Monday. Do you have an out of hours doc service?
Yes I do. The trouble is that I had surgery in the new private wing of the NHS (very good, all profits go back to the NHS trust) but the chemo is done in a different BMI hospital.
Will call the wing where I had surgery tomorrow as they are very helpful and have had me back when wound bled. Might also have a hot line to surgeon.
How did I get in this state??
Mine’s always at the weekend too - why is that?! I guess as I have chemo on Fridays my blood count drops the following weekend. Get yourself checked out Maggie and keep on top of it x
I had a mastectomy on 19 Nov. and have had trouble ever since. First I had a heamotoma for which I had to go back into theatre to have it rmoved. Since then I have a recurring serotoma for which I have to keep going back to the hospital to have it drained. It must have been done around 6/7 times so far and I may need it again at my appt. tomorrow. I have also been back to hospital for a 5 day stay to be given IV antibiotics as I have an affection. I came home on Tuesday and now taking oral antibiotics. I hope this might help to realise we are not on our own but I am new to this site and feel I need to find someone who has also experienced this and can tell me when I might see the scar beginning to heal. (Sorry but my serotoma is underneath my mastectomy scar, not lymph nodes). I am hoping there is someone who can tell me of their experiences.
2nannynoo97
Hi Nanny
I have seromas too under both mastectomy scars and haematomas under both armpits. The hospital have looked and advised to leave it alone, as they fell draining it will cause the fluid to build up again and can cause infection, so practice is different everywhere.
It’s awfulmyou have had such bad luck. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and help. Maybe if they left it for a while it may settle?
Maggie I think is the expert on this though !!
Hope you get better soon