About I'd arrived home we had noticed some fluid build up along the scar and up into the space where the sternum was. I had my 4 week post-op video call with the surgeon and had mentioned that it seemed to be getting quite full. She sent a request for a X-ray to be done so she could see how much of an issue it was. However, by the evening, I was very swollen in the centre and looked fit to burst through the scar, so we went to A&E.
We were there for nearly 12 hours -the doctors didn't want to touch it because it was something they are not familiar with on a day to day basis. But eventually the oncoming shift doctor had a chat with my surgeon. They used a canula inserted into the gap where my sternum was and drew off around 600ml of creamy-coloured fluid.
Two weeks later I was in the thoracic unit at Leeds St James, having the same done and two weeks after that, my face to face catch up with the surgeon saw me having the same process.
The problem with the fluid build up is that it was stopping the gap where my ribs and sternum was from closing up. This meant an increased risk of infection and a slower recovery. After draining it, the surgeon advised that we leave it for as long as possible and see if my body would realise and regulate itself to reduce the fluid and allow the healing inside. the last thing she said to us was "don't worry, it won't come through the scar - it's well healed." Unfortunately she was wrong!
Three weeks later and the swelling was bad but we were sticking with the advice. Then, while showering before bed, I noticed a dark fluid in the bath - the corner of my scar had burst and the seroma fluid was leaking out. With a hasty towel to stop the leak, we went back off to A&E, this time in Leeds where the thoracic unit was. One of the heart surgeons spent 40 mins emptying the fluid through the hole in the scar. After that a new chest drain was fitted. This involved the cavity in my chest being stuffed with gauze, along with a chest drain tube. Every 4 days I would go back in and they would pull out the old gauze like a magician's hankies trick, clean the area and push a new dressing back in.
The chest drains are just an inconvenience; the tubes are so long they catch on every available door or cupboard handle, they're bulky, the tubes get knotted and tangled, you have to plug in to recharge and you forget you have it or that you're plugged in and start to walk away, only to be pulled up by the cable. They're also prone to getting blockages or leaks, so for the past month my life has been disrupted by regular hospital visits.
As the cavity was so large and I had the seroma issue for so long, the hospital decided to use a technique usually used on collapsed lungs or hernias - putting in a medical talc which glues the two edges together. Instead of wearing the chest drain and hoping the cavity healed itself which could have taken weeks, I'd only need the chest drain in for a few more weeks.
