I had mx 4 half weeks ago, after 2 weeks my stitches were being pushed out, my bcn said that my body is rejecting them as it sees them as a foreign body. She then took them out.
Since then, half of my wound has healed but the other half is hideous, I have about 3 inches of puss, soggy blood and the wound is really wide. I get a lot of stabbing pains and I cant bear anything to touch it, so i cant even wear a baggy shirt. All my clothing stick, and so does my bed clothes. I was told that it will take several weeks to start healing, has anyone else had a similar experience and can offer any advise please.
I hate hate hate it! I feel so low, i look like something from a horror make up movie.
i had exactly the same experience and it didnt take several weeks ,my husband insisted on taking the dressing off and starting cleaning it every day , as after the op nobody had suggested this. salt water , dry well and in less than a week it was healed.
I have been laying in the bath every evening and cleaning with salt water but it hasnt seemed to help, i’ve tried searching through some of the threads to see if anybody has had a similar experience.
Thank you for your reply, take care.
maybe this,he insisted in not lying in a bath but having the shower head constantly washing it away,and wiping it with cotton.it wasnt pleasant but he insisted on getting the goo away.
I will try for a couple of days and see how it goes, ive stopped raising my hand above my head because its opening up the wound.
Hope it starts to heal soon,
You don’t say if you seen a doctor since the stitches were removed. Your wound sounds like its infected and you may well need antibiotics. It should be covered with a sterile dressing. If pus or blood etc is leaking through onto your clothes and bedding that is not okay!
Also if it’s not healing as it should you may need to have it resutured in theatre. That happened to me and after it was fine.
Please go to your GP or make an appointment with your breast surgeon as an urgent appointment. The last thing you want is a rip roaring infection.
take care, Elinda x
Hi Michelle,
It does definitely sound like it needs looking at. When I had my mastectomy 8 years ago I had a bad infection on the wound but I had district nurses visiting me almost every day for months after the op(as they then started chemo so the wound struggled to heal)but it did heal eventually but you definitely need advice and antibiotics by the sound of it or re-dressing every day - mind used to seep through a lot too and the nurses tried a variety of dressings to help. Don’t go on with it alone. Get some advice asap.
Take care
Anne x
My bcn took the stitches out last Monday and put a dressing on, she told me to remove it on Thursday and it should start to heal, but in fact its a lot worse.
Im going to ring the clinic in the morning as I cant cope with another week of it.
Thanks for your advise I’ll let you know what they say,
I did speak to her and described the wound, but tomorrow is the earliest that she can come out to the house, i offered to go to the breast clinic today but she said she wasnt available.
I rang my doctors and they told me to go down straight away, just come back and they could see by my clothing how much it was weeping, i wore a loose top and in the 15 minutes i had it on it had come through it. They have cleaned the wound, taken a swab and dressed it with some kind of iodine stuff, they said that it should be changed every day. Just have to wait until tomorrow…
I have to say Michelle that I don’t like the attitude of the BCN.Your wound does sound like it needs changing every day as they said at your GP surgery - do you not have access to the district nurses there as mine were marvellous? They used the iodine stuff on me too and it did work well in the end.
I do hope it improves soon but don’t wait if you’re at all concerned.
I hope to see you Thursday still.
Anne x
Glad you’ve had that looked at today. I think you need to be discussing a longer term plan with your BCN. As Anne has said, I would have thought the district nurses might be a better bet. They came out to me and were wonderful.
Please don’t be fobbed off tomorrow with a wait and see approach. That needs to be looked at regularly.
ALso, if it’s weeping that much is it a seroma? I had a seroma and that caused the wound to reopen. Another question for the BCN.
take care and hope it feels a bit more comfortable. Elinda x
Poor you! I’m not sure whether when you say ‘pus’ you mean the rather unattractive yellowy-goo? I had an open wound on my reconstructed boob after my MX and apparently what I thought was pus was actually ‘slough/sloff’(not sure how to spell it).
I was advised to keep it clean by washing it and getting rid of hte yellowy stuff by gently swabbing it with cotton wool and changing the dressing every few days. But the biggest benefit of all was using ‘medical honey’!!! Yes - given to me by the plastics nurse - it was AMAZING. Ask your nurse to give you some - it really helped.
It will take a bit of time (I’m not sure if you’ve had a reconstruction but with me it was becasue the skin had been scraped so thin that it was effectively ‘raw’). However you WILL get there. Just make sure that you’re being reviewed regularly. And GOOD LUCK!
Elinda, i dont think its seroma as my skin is very tight, would this make a difference? but i will ask tomorrow.
Maxpax, no i havent had any recon, just mx at the moment, yes the pus was yellowy yucky stuff, the dr’s cleaned this up with saline and put the iodine on now with a dressing. Already it feels better but its prob because i cant see it!
Anne, Yep i will be there on Thurs. It will be lovely to have a chat.
What if the bcn says tomorrow to wait a couple of days can i ring the district nurses if i wanted to? what i mean is have i got to have the bcn/hosp ‘authority’ before i ring them?
Your BCN will know if it’s seroma. Usually there will be swelling with the fluid although if the wound is open it will just keep leaking fluid - it may not be, it was just a thought.
Re the district nurses - I think you have to be referred. This could probably be by your BCN or by your GP. I would discuss with the BCN how much fluid and muck is coming out, about your soaked clothes etc and say would it be easier for your local GP practice to take over if it’s going to need regular review. You can say it in a way that seems like you’re being helpful to her rather than critical. Also explain that you did have to go to the health centre today due to the sheer volume of stuff soaking through.
Hopefully your BCN will be very helpful and understanding when she visits and you can have a plan of action that will enable you to stop worrying.
take care, Elinda x
BCN just left the house, she said that she didnt realise that the wound had opened so much! she did explain that the yellowy yucky stuff is in fact not pus but dead fat, she said its normal when the skin is trying to knit back together.
I have a couple of steri stitches on it as the wound is large she said that it needs closing so that i dont have such a thick scar. Got to go back to hospital on Friday to have dressings changed,but if it leaks through before then got to ring her.
So glad its not infected! Just told to take it easy.