Things were going so well

Hi Mariella welcome to the forum.

If the area is swollen it could be a seroma (a collection of blood that forms a lump/swelling etc)  common after surgery.

However, if I was you i would be tempted to call out of hours for some medical advice and they may want to see you just to check you out and hopefully this will also offer you some much needed reassurance.,

Please do come back and let us know how you get on as we will be thinking of you.xxxxx

Hi 

I had a mastectomy and axillary node clearance 15 days ago, and found that the the area under my arm and around where the drain had been taken out also began to swell up a bit after a few days, and became more painful.  My BCN had told me that this might happen, due to the hospital anaesthetics wearing off (some of the area had been numb for the first few days) and to the fact that the fluid previously going into the drain might build up under the skin. She said that a swelling was most likely to be a seroma (fluid containing plasma and some blood, which the body creates in any voids where tissue has been removed), but might also be a haematoma (blood).   I had my dressings taken off at the hospital yesterday, and the nurse drained the swelling of fluid by syringing it (it was a seroma), which relieved the tight feeling.  She said that the body is designed to absorb the fluid, but after an op it can be too much for the body to deal with, and so the area swells up.  She said that it was important to watch out for the area becoming hot, red, hard or very painful, as that could be a sign of infection (also that if you have these symptoms plus a temperature, to get checked out immediately).  

As for the actual wound/scar feeling tight, I was told by the hospital nurse before I was discharged that this would happen as the scar began to heal, and just to be careful not to put undue pressure on it (e.g. when doing the arm exercises).  Now that I have the dressings off, I can see that the areas of slight tightness are indeed where the skin edges have already knitted together completely and have healed. 

It would be a good idea to ring the hospital ward from which you were discharged, or whatever other follow-up contact number you have been given, to get your symptoms checked out and make sure everything is OK.  All the best with getting it sorted.

Blackcat xx

Thanks Blackcat that is very reassuring. I have an appointment first thing tomorrow morning so I’m feeling a bit calmer now. X