The last few weeks have been something of a whirlwind - witin a month of first going to my doctor with what I suspected was a lump, I’ve been fast-tracked for triple assessment, biopsy and then into hospital for a lumpectomy & lymph node removal on Friday. I came home on Sunday afternoon.
I’m feeling ok apart from being very sore & swollen under my arm, and having the weird sound of sloshing liquid in my breast where the lump was. I’m off to see the breast care nurse tomorrow to check these but wondered what other’s experience of this was.
Hi Philidel
Welcome to the Breast Cancer care discussion forums. I am sure you will soon receive lots of replies from the other users. In the mean time you may find the BCC information booklet ‘your operation and recovery’ useful as it gives details on what to expect after surgery. It can be found by following the link below.
breastcancercare.org.uk/server/show/nav.718/changeTemplate/PublicationDisplay/publicationId/100
I hope you find this helpful.
Kind regards
Sam (BCC Facilitator)
Hello Philidel,
Sorry to hear about the after effects of the surgery. I recently had a lumpectomy and Sentinol node 1st op., and then a axillary clearance 3 weeks later. Stitiches out on weds!Drain was in for 7 days and still filling merrily when it had to come out.So I, like you , currently feel like I have a tennis ball in my armpit,that seems to move about during the day.It feels very strange and odd rather then painful though, so that’s good. Seeing the Breast Care Nurses twice a week to have the fluid aspirated. For me, doing some activity helps, and not sitting still for too long,as it seems to stiffen up if I do. Keep going, we’ve done the scary bit and this will settle down,I hope. Keep smiling and good luck.
Hi Philidel
I had that sloshing and gurgling for about 3 days with soreness over the boob to the underarm. It disappeared by itself, but it felt and sounded very odd. You expect a certain amount of fluid to gather and then go away but if it doesn’t, it could mean you need it drained to help get rid of the fluid, or it could be a slight infection. Either way you’re doing the right thing going to your bc nurse.
And welcome to the site. Sorry you have to be here at all, but it’s a fantastic support!
Carole
Hi Philidel
Nice to meet you and sorry you had to join us. I had the sloshing thing and it turned out to be a haematoma that eventually broke through a weak point in my scar about 2 weeks post surgery and doused me liberally in red gunk. I then developed a seroma, but that didn’t slosh. I had the seroma drained because it was quite large (not a painful experience at all as they put the needle in through the scar, which is numb) and I felt much better after that.
My wound did take quite a while to heal as a result of both the haematoma and then the seroma breaking through the scar, but it’s fine now.
Thanks for all the replies.
The nurse aspirated the fluid under my arm, and the relief is wonderful! She didn’t seem concerned about the sloshing boob, so I feel more reassured.
It’s a huge learning curve and I thik some of the anxiety is not knowing what is “normal”.
Hi Philidel,
I had the same sloshing boob, well wierd took me 2 hours to find out where the noise was coming from…Made the nurses laugh, most had never heard it before, however 1 male nurse had heard it and put my mind at rest. Now 3 weeks later sloshing boob back to normal but swelling under my arms still hurts. Not enough they say to syringe off.
my chemo starts on the 23rd, bit scary but onwards I must go.
B xx