Hi
I have never used the forum before so here goes.
I had mastectomy and lat recon april last year, since then I have had ongoing seroma in m back which is very uncomfortable. The hospital keep draining it but it comes back, I also hemorraged into the back last year and yesterday the dr said that there was some clots floating in it which made t very difficult to drain.
Has anyone else had this experience and when can I hope to be ‘normal’ again?
Welcome to the forums teapot, although I am sorry to read about your current problems. I wonder whether it might be helpful if you ask to be referred to a lymphoedema clinic. They will be able to show you a massage in which you stimulate your lymph nodes and then massage across your back towards the nodes on the unaffected side. (Hopefully you have someone who can do this for you, but if not it is even possible to do it by rubbing against a chair in the required direction. The other thing that might help would be to wear a bra with as deep a back as possible (sports bra?) so that you are getting some compression over the area where the fluid collects. Thirdly, if you are comfortable to do it, sleep as much as you can on your side with the swollen side up, and this can also help with drainage. Unfortunately, when seromas are drained, there is a space left, and of course lymph tends to fill it again. It might be that with your doctors’ agreement you try to go a while without draining it, and see if by using more conservative methods it begins to settle down. I have not had this experience myself (had WLE), but worked as a nurse in a lymphoedema clinic. You are not alone, and these are some of the things that seemed to help people (another would be to investigate having some manual lymph drainage). Do hope that you will feel more comfortable soon, and that some others come along with their suggestions. Good luck! Sarah
Hi Teapot,
I had a very persistent seroma too, though not as long lasting as yours. I had a bilateral mastectomy in September last year (without reconstruction) and developed a seroma on both sides. The one on the lymph node side was still being drained weekly in April this year, on some occasions producing a litre of fluid, but mostly about 600/700mls.
They tried draining it less frequently, and then more frequently, but nothing seemed to make a difference. Eventually a doctor who I didn’t see very often suggested a compression bandage. I had to do it myself because he was reluctant to go ahead while my skin was still sensitive after rads. It certainly wasn’t comfortable but it worked.
I ended up wrapping the bandage very, very tightly over a tight T-shirt because my skin was reacting to the latex in the bandage, and left it for as long as I could tolerate it without risking damaging my circulation. By applying the bandage for the first two days after aspiration it prevented the fluid building up to such an extent. After the second time it stopped altogether.
It’s a bit drastic and I wouldn’t do it without checking with your doctor first but it might be worth trying.
Julie
That sounds a good idea Julie, glad it worked for you, and hopefully it might for Teapot as well.
Thanks for the comments.
I will try the sleeping on that side, as I have been avoiding it as its so sore in the mornings if I wake up on that side. At the moment it itches so much as the skin is tight.
I have been to the lymphoedoema clinic but when they said that there was very little lymphodoema they refered me back to the breast clinic!! I think I’ll have a go at some self massage and also leave it awhile before going back. They have given me an appointment for 3 weeks but said to go back sooner if it filled up again.
Thank you for the replies it is really helpful as I keep thinking that by now all this should have stopped.
Hi again Teapot - I might not have been very clear, the sleeping position that might help with drainage is with the swollen (operated) side upwards (ie not pressing on the bed). Only a small thing, but might help a bit. Sorry that this has all been going on for such a long time, it will settle down eventually, but must seem an eternity at the moment. Good luck, and please let us know how you get on.
Hi Teapot
Just a thought - do you swim/like the water?
If you feel up to it, swimming or not too strenuous water aerobics might help.
S
Hi
Thank you all for the support. I did misunderstand and slept on the operated side last night, very sore! I do a very active and strenuous job and have thought that maybe that’s not helped.
I’m sure it will settle but all the time its there It reminds me of what has happened. I’m having the last part of the recon. done in August so hopefully that will help.