I am due to have a mastectomy and axillary clearance on 10th June as a day patient. After that I will be sent home with the drains still in and a district nurse will be visiting to check the drains and dressings.
A lot of people I have spoken to seem surprised about this and when I spoke to someone who used to work as a district nurse in my area they said the district nurses don’t normally come to visit every day even though the breat care nurse said they would.
I am quite anxious about being sent home on the same day as the surgery even though I know it will reduce the chance of infection, be more comfortable and probably means I will be able to sleep better.
I was wondering if anyone has had their surgery done as a day patient and what their experiences were.
Hi
I had WLE and auxilliary clearance last week and was given the option of going home same day, but asked if I could stay overnight as still felt out of if.District nurse came out day after discharge, just to check stitches but that is all that was organised by hospital.Nurse gave me direct line no to call them if I needed it.I did’t have drains as my surgeon doesn’t do them I have to call and go to hospital if necessary.
Not same as you sorry, but hope it helps.
Mary
x
I’ve never heard of anyone being sent home the day of their mastectomy. It’s a big op! My first mastectomy I stayed in for 5 days (mainly cos I live on my own). I was grateful to be looked after by lovely nurses - I was in a private hosp. - as it was quite an emotional time.
It is your choice to be a day patient, or is that the surgeon’s decision?
Also, the drains need to be checked regularly, and emptied and measured. I had mine removed before I left hospital, so don’t know about the district nurses. I imagine, like everything else, it depends where you live.
I had my second mastectomy a couple of weeks ago and was in for 4 days. It is a draining op and you must take it easy.
best wishes,
Jacki x
Thanks to Mary & Jacki for their comments.
I haven’t been given a choice about staying in or not, I was just told it was an outpatient operation and that the district nurses would visit each day but as I am having the op in a hospital in one borough and live in the neighbouring one I’m a bit concerned that the two services don’t link.
I think I will ask about staying in overnight.
Hope you are both recovering well.
Ali X
I find this amazing. What about pain relief and physiotherapy advice? I was on a drip and a morphine pump until the folIowing day. I though normal post operative care included ensuring your bladder and bowel are working properly.I was in a private hospital and stayed in for 8 days. This seemed far too long but my surgeon would not let me out until the amount of liquid in both drains was below a certain amount. I also would not have wanted to go home until i had been sorted out with a softee and had advice re living with one breast. It sounds to me like money saving at its very worst. If i were you i would ask these questions re post operative care. I was lucky in that i had no complications but some aren’t. How are you going to know if something is going wrong if you are not having observations by clinicians and being seen by a doctor regularly!
Kelley
Hi i had WLE and stayed in overnight, although when i had chemo had to be on an anti sickness driver and the district nurse did come to visit daily, however they would often turn up without the correct equipment and seeing different nurses everyday didnt help things run smoothly, i would not want to have a masectomy and put my immediate aftercare in there hands they were very friendly but i didnt feel confident in my particular nurses, i dont think it was all their fault either (there were complications). I would have a very serious discussion with your breast care nurse!!!
Anna
Hi ali.
I think it sounds very unrealistic to expect you to go home after a major op with drains in, i would definitely talk to the breast care nurse and your GP, both of who will i’m sure not be happy with your current care plan. Hoping you get it sorted and you get a good rest & care after your op.
Best wishes,
Rivergirl.
I had WLE and had to stay in until drains were below a certain amount.I was in for 48 hours and had drains removed before I left.Cant think its ok to go home day of mast and ANC.I only had node sampling.Do ask about staying overnight.
All the best, horacex
Good Lord Ali!
I am really surprised and shocked they would consider this day surgery. My mastectomy and clearance were 2 separate ops, and I was in for 3 nights following the mast and 2 following the clearnace.
I’m 42, fit and healthy (apart from the cancer of course:-), so the surgery wasn’t difficult and I recovered in no time, but my lump was pretty large (6 cm) and what I never realised until afterwards was that the cancer develops it’s own blood supply, so being a big lump it had a big blood supply, which meant I lost a lot of blood when they did the mastectomy. I spent a night lying flat on my back with blood pressure at about 80/50 as they administered plasma expanders and then gave in and ended up giving me 2 units of blood over the next day. No way could I go home on the same day - I couldn’t even raise my head without feeling faint and throwing up!
The clearance was a whole lot easier and I did go home with the drains but only after a few days.
The other thing I found very difficult was the emotional fallout at have a breast removed. It helped so much to have sympathetic staff around because my word I did a fair bit of crying. Nearly managed to make the physio cry with me!
I’m not telling you this to make you afraid, just to give you a perspective on what may happen - I did recover very quickly and was never in any danger. I think you should be pushing hard to stay in and if they won’t let you then at least have some assurance about what they’ll do if you are unable to go home. Presumably this is all to do with funding?
Jane
Hi
I too would be very worried about going home same day. I had mastectomy on 10/3 and have had problems ever since with healing. Like everyone else has said there are the emotional problems, what about a softee, advice on exercises (most important). I was in for 3 and a bit days on mastectomy and am going back with clearance on 12/5 (I hope!) and have been told that will be for four days.
I should ask some more questions about after care.
Good luck
Starfish x
I’ve never heard of a mastectomy being done as a day patient.
My surgeon was swaying between just taking the lump or taking the lump and some nodes (technically it should just have been the lump due to a benign core biopsy)… in the end he was so sure that the lump was cancer he sampled 7 nodes.
My op was at a private hospital and I got a phone call from Matron a couple of days before my admission just to introduce herself and see if I had any questions - she mentioned about me maybe being in for 2-3 days and I said that the surgeon said I might get home same day … her response was that surgeons often have an optomistic view on discharge whereas nurses have a more realistic view and I should be ready to be in at least overnight!
Whilst I had the drain in I needed to be propped up to assit the drainage, this was so much esier in a hospital bed which can be adjusted into the right position. I had my drain removed the day after my op and was allowed home after that.
I would seriously question the idea of a mastectomy being performed as day surgery.
This sounds terrible, though after two nights in hosp after wle & axillary clearance I went home with one of two drains. It was a bore, but so was/is everything else medical connected with our situation. I went into the nearby clinic to have it out a few days later. But ‘outpatient’ surgery? I couldn’t possibly have done it, and I only lost a tiny part of a rather large breast - and the underarm stuff, of course.
But what’s the infection record of the hospital where the surgery is being performed? Is it conceivable that - as Worthya says - it would actually REDUCE the chance of infection to be sent home? I’m pretty certain that there have never been any cases of patients contracting hospital infections in Finland (forgotten the correct term), where I live & am having treatment, but my mother rang from England today and mentioned that she’d read it was on the constant increase in Britain. Is this something to take into consideration?
More information - and don’t allow yourself to be fobbed off until you are entirely happy. Take someone with you when you discuss it with surgeon, onc, nurse etc. and stand up for yourself - or get them to.
Best wishes to you Worthya.
M-L
No No No.
This is not right . A full mastectomy is a huge operation and needs a proper recuperation period and attendant nursing care.
To go home with drains and have to rely on a possible variety of district nurses is not what you need after such a large and emotionally draining operation. You need care and attention .
Besides all of the nursing and aftercare considerations there is also the effect of being at home after an operation. There is a real fear that others ( family, friends) will consider that you must be ‘well’ as you are not in -nor have actually stayed in-hospital. Such a ‘trival’ operation must therefore have a short recovery time. Perhaps like tonsils -or a wisdom tooth? Why are you not up and scrubbing floors when you arent ‘ill’ ???
I made sure that I stayed as long as possible after my op. I refused to consider having a nurse come to take my drains out at home and so had to transfer to another ward (for some reason my ward closed at the weekend). I didnt care. I wanted to have as long as possible in hospital and also took as long as I wanted before restarting doing normal duties at home again.It isnt that hospital is so wonderful ( noisy and possibly dirty but its all we have) but more that it is -in the modern world -the only recognised way we have of separating ourselves for a while.
When I rule the world there will once again be convalescent homes for all who require them. Its something I feel very strongly about.(does it show? )
Wynn
Hi
I had a lumpectomy and went home the next day, March 07, then I had a a further shave of the tumour area and lymph nodes removed and stayed in for 6 days, I was not allowed home until my drain had stopped filling. As I was in with other women who all had breast cancer we were able to support each other and I found this to be very valuable. It does not seem right to expect you to go through this trauma without the support of nursing care and the reassurance they can give you. I too have found district nurses to be very nice but not really experts in this area. I had some leakage from the wound after I had come home and when I asked a particular district nurse if the wound was infected, she said she could not tell me because she had forgotten her glasses, and she advised me to go see a doctor!
You really do need to have as little worry as necessary.
Best wishes
Dawne
I had a wle and full node clearance and went home the same day. My surgeon does wle’s and mass as day patients, I did a follow up assessment and all the people there were very pleased to do it as day patients, including mastectomy ones as well
I was very pleased with the follow up care and would recommend it. I am surprised that people are being so negative about it. I had no problem at all with the breast surgery part of my opp, had big swellings under my arm but they went eventually. It was wonderful to recover at home with my family and far more restful. I can understand if you are going home to an empty house it would be a worry but if you have support I would recommend it.
xxsam
HI Sam
I had same as you nearly 2 weeks ago and again am getting excellent after care.I too have large swelling under arm which I am told is fluid build uo,It is quite painful today, how long did yours take to go
Thanks
Mary
x
Thanks to everyone for their comments - there is a lot to take into consideration.
It is good to hear that Sammyh had a positive experience going home the same day. When I have had previous operations with a general anaesthetic I have recovered quite quickly from the anaesthetic and been keen to go home despite the discomfort - these were not operations on my breast so I know it’s not the same but it gives me some idea of how my body reacts to operations.
I am seeing the breast care nurse on Friday so will definitely discuss all the pro and cons with her.
Ali X
Good idea ali. I dont think day surgery is for everyone but i was pleased to have the choice. I also live very near to the hospital so felt i could easily get there if I had a problem.
Mary- I had my swellings for a long time I’m afraid. If you are worried phone your bcn. I went in and made them check me 'cos I couldn’t believe it was normal- but my surgeon doesn’t like drains and thinks it is best to let the body deal with it naturally. I definatley had loads of swellings a 2 weeks out and it did take a few months to go down. I did have 26 nodes out and was told i had more fluid than normal. My surgeon has very good rates for patients not getting lymphoedema so I did trust his judgment but it was sore so I feel for you! Make sure you do your exercises and take it easy.
xxsam
Thanks Sam,
My surgoen doesnt drains either and I have had two occurences this week were it all leaked from my wound I saw him on Friday and he is really pleased with my movement I had 20 nodes removed and none affected.He has said to keep a towel to hand, is going to see me on Tuesday.He said that as I am not “a skinny skinny type” it may take longer to settle down
Iam doing exercises
Take Care
Mary
x
I’m with Wynn 100%. When I had my first breast cancer the surgeon wanted to send me home after 5 days with the drain still in. Luckily the sister on the ward understood, particlularly my circumstances (two small children and a colllie x alsation with a red hot nose - drains SMELL! ), and I stayed until the drains had done their job, thank goodness.
Some years later,second breast cancer and a WLE. Out after 4 days with giant milk bottle attached. (Advised to ‘run myself up something’ to sling over my shoulder to carry it about in). The district nurses didn’t come every day - I used to mark the level on the drain bottle myself with a biro to see if was slowing down at all.
Another thought…I had keyhole day surgery on my knee a few years ago. I was advised that I must not be alone in the house, nor lock the bathroom door, etc, etc for at least 24 hourse as there was a high risk of passing out even with the minimal anaesthetic I had received for this minor op. With a mastectomy you are given much more anaethetic that this and it can be very painful. I have to agree with Kelley, too; it does sound like money saving at it’s very worst.
I would take this up with someone (breast care nurse, surgeon?) as soon as you possibly can. Let us know how you get on, won’t you?