Seroma

Hi Mimosa

i had exactly the same surgery as yourself . I also had seroma , three times . The BCN drained it each time . It swelled up again but nowhere near as much . I still have swelling now and it’s 7 months after surgery. It’s the axillary clearance that has caused most of my issues unfortunately. I would contact the BCN again ASAP. 
I now massage my arm with a soft baby brush in the direction away from where the lymph nodes were down to my thigh area. It’s a drag but I do it twice a day, very gently and it seems to help to keep the swelling down . Mine swells up more if I overuse it . I think it’s always going to be a bit of an issue that I have to learn to live with.  I always support my arm when sitting down and in bed . This is also supposed to help. Oh Joy !

take care and good luck with the BCN.

NannaJ xx

Thank you for your response.  The BCN is ringing me tomorrow.  The reason for their reluctance to drain it again is that there is an increased risk of infection and I am scheduled for further chemotherapy which they don’t want to delay.  Also not sure if I should rest my arm or go all out with excercise.  As you say, deep joy!

Mimosa x

Hi Mimosa

I didn’t need chemo so I can understand the reluctance to drain due to possible risk of infection . They did warn me about infection on my third drain appointment but it was so full we decided to go ahead .

mine started to swell again after a few weeks but apparently it was over exercising . I thought I needed to get back to normal but the exercise produces the fluids which obviously used to drain away in the underarm lymph nodes . It was too soon for the fluid to find another channel so I had a lecture from the radiotherapy dept and the BCN about keeping the exercise low key in so far as just doing the stretching etc in the literature they had given me. I think maybe if they had explained in more detail the expected recovery time I would have been more aware. Anyway, lesson learned by me ! 
Perhaps this is a question you could ask the BCN tomorrow. I’m sure you were going to ask anyway ! 
My boob, even after all this time , is still very lumpy and sore . I was told this can take up to 12 months to get better due to the high level of radiation I had received . 
We are all slightly different.

I hope you feel better after chatting with the nurse tomorrow.

Take care xxx