You all supported me so much over the last year with your help and advice I thought you might be interested in the ongoing sage of my seroma.
Briefly, DX Aug 08 with IBC, chemo ended Jan 09, Surgery Feb09, Rads finished May 09. Within days a seroma formed and no matter what I did it just would not go away. I rested, I exercised, it was drained, it was left, still it persisted. In Novemebr my surgeon decided I was just to ignore it and basically live with it. In December the skin over the seroma turned very pinky but because my instruction was ignore it I did. Over christmas pink became bright red and looked like cellulitis, and I felt very poorly. I was put on a course of antibiotics by our urgent care centre under instruction from my hospitals on call registrar.
After making a bit of a fuss with the BCN I got to see my surgeon on New Years Eve. He took one look and decided that I needed to be admitted to hospital then and they would need to operate that night.The seroma had become severely infected and needed draining and the site cleaning. I went to theatre at 8pm and heard 2010 come in from a hospital bed.
I am now in a situation where they have had to open a small part of the MX scar but because of the infection they can’t restitch it, it must be cleaned and repacked daily to ensure that it heals fron the inside outwards. Its 3 weeks now and I have had my alloted time for nurses to visit me at home and must arrange to have it done by the practice nurse at my doctors surgery.I am told this could take many more weeks to resolve.
I realise that this is not a sinister problem, and for that I am grateful, it is just so draining, I wish I had asked for a second opinion when the seroma proved to be so persistent.
Sending all my love and best wishes to all you other IBC ladies you are in my thoughts constantly while you are fighting other battles.
Andie - so sorry to hear what has been happening… Just goes to show how things have changed… 14 years ago i had an ectopic pregnancy and unfortunatly picked up an infection in theatre so the wound burst open after 2 weeks… i had to have that packed each day (they used to use a seaweed based dressing then…) and i had the district nurses in 7 days a week for 6 weeks to do it… is it a long trip to your practice…? {{{hugs}}}
They still use a seaweed based dressing together with the same stuff in gel form.
My doctors surgery is about a 10 minute drive away or 1/2 walk. I hope to drive depending on how uncomfortable the pulling is when changing gear or reversing.I have been told that I can if I wish
Thank you for posting this! I have had a seroma since July 2007 and I have seen it as a ‘bonus’ and as ‘nature’s little filler’ to fill in the space left by my WLE. I had it drained initially, but my breast just ‘disappeared’ as I’d no idea how much had been removed. I was quite pleased when it reappeared and I had a cleavage again. I shall certainly now look out for signs of infection. What was the first sign, was it hot or itchy?
Sorry to hear you’re having so much trouble with your seroma. I hope it heals quickly now that you are getting the right treatment. It seems odd to me that your health service have put a limit on the amount of time the nurses can visit you at home. Surely these things should be based on need.
There have been reports on TV today about the inefficiency of the health service here in Scotland saying we don’t get value for money. I certainly haven’t found that over the last 9 months. The District Nurse who originally came in to give me GCSF injections early on in my chemo has kept in touch and visited regularly throughout my treatment. Her support has been fabulous and I got lots of advice from her as well as the practical things like changing dressings. I must admit I had taken it for granted because I assumed that level of care was universal throughout the health service.
The first sign of a problem was the skin going pinker than normal and becoming warmer than normal.Over a few days they both gradually got worse until the area was bright red, swollen and hot. Also I felt very unwell to the point that I did not even have enough energy to eat.
I’m so sorry to hear all that you’ve been through. Thank goodness you kicked up a fuss on New Year’s Eve! Hopefully this will all settle down for you now and heal up well.
hi my seroma seems to not last 2 days b4 its swollen again is this normal? had it drained tues, thurs n swollen n uncomfortable again should i try n leave the swelling or go bac again the breast clinics shut on a weekend would hav to ring hospital ward. xxx
Hi Andie, what a nightmare for you. I too had a lot of problems with a seroma and had it drained every few days for several weeks - I thought that was bad but it’s nothing compared to what you’re going through. Just shows that doctors don’t always know best unfortunately, so pleased you insisted. Hope it heals as quickly as possible, my BC nurse used to say ‘better out than in’ every time she drained my seroma so there is that Take care, Di x
P.S. Sorry Rozita, in reply to your post I used to have problems at the weekend when the surgey was closed and used extra thick sanitary towels to get me through to the Monday. If you are at all worried about infection though I would go to A & E to be safe.
Just goes to show how things have changed… 14 years ago i had an ectopic pregnancy and unfortunatly picked up an infection in theatre so the wound burst open after 2 weeks… i had to have that packed each day (they used to use a seaweed based dressing then…) and i had the district nurses in 7 days a week for 6 weeks to do it… is it a long trip to your practice…? 
Take care, Di x