Hi just after a bit of information. I'm having my armpit glands removed and I'm having a drain. How long does the drain normally stay in for? I'm supposed to be going to Paris 4 weeks after my operation and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go.
Hi littlenicky. I had full lymph node clearance almost 3 years ago, I did have a drain for a week then the nurse came to take the line out didn’t feel a thing, you should be ok to go to Paris it depend’s on how you feel yourself, check with the hostpital I was ok after about two weeks. Good luck
I had a mastectomy without reconstruction and full axillary node clearance at the start of January, and had the drain taken out after four days. I was to told to measure the amount drained every day, and once this got to below 50 ml, to ring the hospital to get an appointment to have it taken out. I felt more or less back to normal after about 3 weeks, although it was only after 5 weeks that I regained full mobility in my arm. I went back to work full-time 6 weeks after surgery. Obviously everyone is different, and healing depends on a range of personal factors (some people who had surgery at the same time as me had a drain for up to two weeks), but I would think that you should be fine to go on holiday after four weeks. You should normally have a review about three weeks after the surgery, so you should be able check with your surgeon then if you have any worries about going away,
All the best for your surgery - I hope that everything goes well, and that you have a speedy recovery.
