I had a double mastectomy last Monday. Now I believe I have a seroma developed under my arm. Should I ignore it and hope it reabsorbs or try to see if I can get it drained?
Seroma........different hospitals have different regimes, may be dependent on size ?? Some reabsorb , some need draining , maybe more than once ........you would probably do best to ring the centre you are treated at ....best wishes
Isn't it a build up of the fluid usually transported by the lymph system around your body.? I had mine drained by radiographers. The duty surgeon available on the Sunday when I went to a and e because of the pain refused to do it. He didn't want to interfere as it wasn't an emergency. He gave me morphine instead.
Apparently draining it off doesn't always work as it comes back. I was told to wear as tight a bra as I could cope with. In the same way I suppose they got rid of breast milk by binding.
First time round for me I had drain in for a week while I was in hospital. Those were the days. It built up when I came out and started to leak. I was told by a very confident doctor that there wasn't any fluid build up. So I sat up. Niagara falls comes to mind. The nurse rolled her eyes so far she must have seen the inside of her head.
A week later another doc said he'd drain the fluid with a needle but as he touched me the brown mucky tuck sprayed all over his nice white coat. That tells you it was in the olden days!
They don't like to drain it because it can give infection chance to take hold. Yes first time I got an infection cos the wound opened to let the gunk out.
I went to a and e with that. Doc said wait till Monday we can sort it with a general anaesthetic. Or I can sort it now with pain relief. As I wasn't well and in pain I went for the latter. So he gave me two paracetamol and opened the wound and cleaned it out. I think a stick to bite down on would have been more use. When he'd gone the nurse just looked at me and said" He didn't give you time for the paracetamol to kick in"
That's the golden age of the NHS.
Seriously though, if it's hot, you have a temperature ore is causing pain go in to get it sorted or give your BC nurse a call. Remembering of course that she only actually works Wednesday and Friday when she's doing clinic. I've only ever spoken to mine twice. Once face to face before surgery and once when she got back from her holidays!
Thank you so much for your reply it really made me smile. It’s so true but fortunately it’s not giving me any pain at the moment so I think I’ll just have to see how it goes. I have my follow up appointment next week so hopefully it’ll be ok til then.
Glad you don't have pain,do try to give the fluid as little room as possible.
Make sure you rest and horizontal is apparently the easiest way to help draining. You can give yourself lymph massage. They gave me a DVD, the good old days I'm surprised it wasn't a video tape. I'm sure if you look on YouTube you'll find some demonstrations. It's not difficult and it does help.
I'd notify your surgeon. But, personally I wouldn't have them risk infection by draining it unless it becomes painful and uncomfortable to you. But, most seroma's do absorb by themselves. If it becomes red and warm notify doctor immediately.
I have the same problem; it wasn't too bad immediately post surgery but now 17 days later the swelling looks like a misshapen breast (misshapen because the scar cuts across it so it's puckered). It's sore and I've also got a lot of pain in the skin on my arm but I think that's due to nerve damage. The consultant told me just to wait and it will go away but I've read about lymph massage so will have a look on line to see how to do it. Thanks for your advice (and hugs definitely need to be gentle...).
How r u doing? Any improvement? I’m still struggling with mine. I’m seeing my consultant who did the op on Wednesday so I’m hoping he’ll give me some advice.
