Hi all… I am 3 days post smx with reconstruction, wondering how long I might be living with this drain for, I have been told I have to be under 30mls… just wondering if anyone else has been through this and can tell me how long it took for them to get their drain removed.
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I has mine in for about 10 days if that helps. Its awful isn’t it, I so appreciated a bath in the end lol. Good luck x
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I believe 10 days is the max you can have one, but hopefully you can have it removed sooner if the fluid reduces enough.
Have you got a little bag for it? That helps keep it out of the way.
Wishing you a speedy recovery 
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Hi there this was the worst part after my double mastectomy I had drains in both sides and was carrying them around in carrier bags. So glad to have a partner around however I banished my husband to spare bedroom and used a V pillow to sleep so as not to roll over and finally had the drains removed after 7 days.
The district nurses were awful in my area non existent so we had to drive to a health centre in the end for help and monitoring which was very painful but the NHS generally is a post code lottery these days. Everyone I saw was lovely just not enough of them
Really really wish you well in your recovery
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Hi
I had a bilateral mammoplasty so had two drains. They were really awkward. Thankfully I had one removed after two days before I left hospital. The other one had to remain until day 5 when the amount draining was sufficiently reduced. They gave me a very cute (not!) crossbody bag to carry it around.
Hope that helps.
K
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Welcome to the forum. I hope you find it a helpful and supportive place.
Please do have a look through the various boards and topics to find those going through similar experiences or for places you may be able to share your experiences and knowledge.
Please know that our nurses are here for you any time, here on the forum on the Ask our Nurses your questions or over the phone 0808 800 6000.
Sending love,
Alice 
I had SMX with immediate reconstruction too. Two drains, one of which was removed about day 5/6 and the other about day 10. They are a pain, but they’ll be gone soon, and having it removed is really not that painful.
Hi. I had mine in for 1 week following left mx. I did accidently unplug it once in that time. As it was evening I had to go to a&e. After a 3 hour wait and a threat of being admitted they just swapped tte bottle and I was on my way again. So please take extra care and don’t catch the tube on chairs, door handles etc. It’s not painful, just very inconvenient. After that incident I held the loop everywhere I went!