Swollen ankles and legs

Hi
I had WLE and SLNB last Wednesday (20th).
When i woke up this morning both my ankles were swollen and both my lower parts of my legs both hurt .My husband took me to hospital and the doctor gave me blood thinners as he believes it could be a blood clot due to the surgery. Could this be the case or could it be lymphoedema. Thank you x

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Hey Tracey, Hope you get a reply from one of the nurses soon. Was just going to say I had a similar thing happen to me after surgery but just in one leg. Went to hospital same as you and they thought it may be a clot so gave me a blood thinning injection. They asked me to come back the next day for an ultrasound of my leg (Doppler scan) which ruled out a clot. They advised I move more i.e calf raises and walking to get the fluid moving and also to wear compression socks to help the fluid move back up to the heart. The swelling resolved a week or so later. Hope things get sorted for you soon! X

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Hi, I don’t think you would get lymphoedema in your legs after breast cancer surgery.
It’s lymphoedema in the arm that’s the concern.
Deep vein thrombosis in the legs us a risk after any general anaesthetic. Usually one sided though.
Hopefully results soon. Good luck xx

Thank you that has put my mind at rest a bit, it jist seems like one thing after another and Google does not help, iam reading all sorts of horror stories x

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Tracey, wishing you well, one day at a time at the moment. Please try not to read to much especially google.

Keep posting, lots of lovely ladies are here to help, you can also call the nurses who are very kind and caring.

Tili :rainbow::pray::rainbow::pray:

Hi @tracey1, at the hospital I went to (had WLE and full node removal on 15th Dec) we were advised to wear the anti embolism stockings daily for 2 weeks and were given a second clean pair to make this easier. At first I wore them day and night, but then Google (! - know that’s dangerous) seemed to say only necessary during the day. So I stopped the night time wear after 2 or 3 nights. I think the key is to keep active - walking etc, but that’s easier said than done!

2 weeks is up for me on Friday. I’ll be pleased to see the back of them!

agree with Jess as same happend to me, hospital gave me thinners and did a scan to rule out a clot. Same advice given too

Hi tracey1,

Thank for posting. It’s understandable you have questions about the swelling in your legs and it’s good to hear you’ve had it checked out at the hospital.

As @Vibby says it’s unlikely that the symptoms you are getting in your legs are due to lymphoedema as this usually affects the arm or chest area following surgery for breast cancer.

Blood clots in the leg (deep vein thrombosis - DVT) can occur after surgery. Although they usually happen in 1 leg, clots can occur in both legs but this is quite rare. However, it’s always important to get symptoms checked out as @pearly1960 and @Jess_1 did too. .

Because the doctor thinks you might have a DVT, it’s important to keep walking about and to drink lots of fluid as @Jess_1 and @suedot suggest. You can ask your treatment team or GP if you should be wearing compression stockings.

If you haven’t got the details already, it would also be useful for you to check that you have a follow up appointment to check on your symptoms.

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