Hematoma not resolving

Hi there,

I am back to posting after a few weeks of silence. As recap: Diagnosed with IDC grade 2 mid-July. Lots of tests followed as my breasts are dense and active. On Aug. 14th I was told affected area was only that tumour on my left breast. I had a lumpectomy on Aug. 16th and two lymph nodes removed, which came back clear.

Now, things were going well, but six weeks after surgery I started developing a redness around the wound area. I went back to breast unit and was told it looked like a skin reaction or allergy but was given antibiotics just in case. Redness kept getting worse and wound opened up, oozing a bit of yellowish serum. I was then given a different type of antibiotics for 7 days and was told if it didn’t start getting better on the second day I would need to stay in hospital for intravenous antibiotics. My radiotherapy plan was cancelled. This made me really anxious as I had read RT is most effective within a 3-month window after surgery.

After the second type of antibiotics, things were getting much better. I finished last Monday but  I have started noticing some red dots again, discomfort and hardness in the same area. I also had an MRI-guided biopsy 5 days before my surgery which left my breast really bruised and some kind of mass/swelling inside (size of a plum). I was told it was a hematoma and I would resolve with time. It’s still there, same size as far as I can tell.

Today I saw one of the surgeons again and he ordered blood tests to rule out infection and ultrasound. He thinks the new hard bit is also a hematoma. My radiotherapy has now been postponed until the 31st of October but I am anxious about this situation not resolving and having further delay in my RT.

Was wondering whether anybody has had issues with MRI biopsies and hematomas here.

Sorry for the lengthy post!

Cristina

Hello Cristina,

 

My circumstances are a little different but I had extensive bruising and a very large haematoma following core and stereotactic biopsies in early June. This led to cancelled surgery, multiple ultrasounds and mammograms, and very delayed surgery, eventually done 6 weeks later. After surgery I developed another very large haematoma which started to erupt, had to be drained and packed. Then for 3 weeks until re-excision every few days the wound had to be packed and dressed. So far after this surgery things seem ok. It has been very uncomfortable and added considerable stress due to delays and even more uncertainty and waiting than was anyway inevitable. I hope that you get some resoution soon, it’s very frustrating and distressing when you want to progress with your treatment. Fingers crossed for you.