I had my breast cancer surgery on 4th July. A wide local excision and sentinel lymph node removal. (4 nodes were removed). Everything was healing well until I developed a large seroma under my arm which was drained earlier this week as it was so painful but it immediately filled again and became painful as well as pain from my armpit to my elbow, really tight felling there. I've managed to keep walking and I've done all my exercises but the huge lump under my arms is really getting me down and the arm pain too. Before this I exercised regularly with weights and cardio and now I just feel feeble and pathetic and that I will be like this forever. I've just cried and cried today as it just seems that ivd been told this is what happens and it will get better over time so just learn to live with it. I worried about how I will manage when I go back to work in a weeks time. I'm trying to be positive and doing exercises, stretching, massage, meditation and breathing exercises but it all just a bit too much today.
Hi Fiona31 welcome to the forum. It is very early days yet and only 10 days since your surgery and seromas can happen soon after surgery which sounds like what may be happening to you. Its the fluid draining and may need to be drained two or three times which again is normal and does happen and it will settle but maybe it does need more time than you are allowing yourself to go back to work.
Not being able to exercise ether will be having an effect on your mood and the way that you feel but it will improve and your ar neither feeble not pathetic but you are a person who has recently undergone a major piece of surgery and need to time to recover, so allow yourself that. If that gets any more painful please don't put up with that, but do get in touch with the team in the breast unit and ask to see them as they can drain that again for you ,so you don't have to put up with that.
Can you see any sign of whats called cording which may look like a piece of string pulling on the inside of your arm but visible on the outside ? If you can and you think this is what this could be, you need to get back in touch with the Breast Team and see if they can assist you with this as it sometimes needs a physio to resolve the cording.
Meanwhile it sounds like some huge big hugs wouldn't go amiss, so I'm sending some your way for now. xxxx
Thank you for your reply. I did ring the breast team today and i have an appointment next Tuesday. I mentioned about the cording and they just said to take painkillers and do the exercises. I know its early days. I'm just not a patient patient
