I had a lumpectomy just over seven weeks ago and four lymph nodes removed. There was a kind of blood blister in the middle of the breast wound which burst once and then healed over again. Last week it started bleeding again and there was a little hole about half a centimetre across that kept weeping with blood.
My GP checked it for infection last week and was happy I didn’t need any antibiotics.
I was supposed to start my chemo on Wednesday but it has been put on hold. I saw my breast nurse and consultant on Monday and he sealed it with some solution which he said might help the healing process.
I just wondered if anyone else had had this problem. Has anyone started chemo when the wound is not properly healed? What happens if you start chemo and then get an infection in the wound?
Fingers crossed it will sort itself out soon as I am keen to crack on with the treatment. (Never thought I’d hear myself say that!)
I was in the same boat as you, way back in Jan - I had a mastectomy which just didn’t want to heal up, Ended up having dressings by district nurses and eventually started chemo in April. I know exactly that feeling of wanting to get on with the treatment, fancy actually wanting chemo!!
I have heard of people starting before they’re fully healed, but my onc wouldn’t go there - he said it was important to be fully fit and that waiting until properly healed was ok.
Finished chemo 7 weeks ago and it wasn’t all bad, alot more good days than yukky ones, Good luck with your treatment and hope that you heal up soon.
My story is slightly different but to give you an example of what can happen if you have an open wound. The day before I started chemo I had my portacath put in in my right breast (the unaffected one) and after my first lot of chemo I ended up in hospital with an infection in the wound area. I had no white blood cells so they kept me in for a week and gave me intravenous antibiotics. After the 2nd lot of chemo I again ended up in A&E with an infection in same area - same treatment. After 3rd lot of chemo - same again although this time they decided that they were taking the port out as it was more trouble than it was worth. The wound would just not heal up and kept opening up. This doesn’t happen to everyone but it seems that wounds are much slower in healing when you have chemo so your consultant probably doesn’t want to risk anything happening as an infection during chemo can be extremely serious.
So Anne’s oncologist’s advice is extremely sensible as horrible as the waiting is it’s better to be fully fit and healed.