Hi, I am having a double mastectomy soon and wondered if others have experience of buying bags for drains. I've seen a quite a few online but don't know what's best - ones with shoulder straps or clip ons?
I made my own. I’d made my own cushions so the bags were easy. I started with them fastened to my pyjamas with 40 year old nappy pins. After a couple of days I twisted some wool straps to hang them round my neck. That was better when I was moving about more. The safety pins were good when I had drip, drain and oxygen tubing in the hospital. I had double mx and a full node clearance at one side . I was in for 24hours.
It's hard don't let anyone tell you it isn't. It is major surgery. However the ordinary mastectomy side was pretty good. I had a reasonable amount of movement from the beginning. Keep a close eye on your drains and keep a record of what you pour out. Nerve pain is a bit eyewatering but easy to recognise. When someone is trying to screw your nipples off and you don't have any, that's nerve pain. Normal pain relief like paracetamol don't touch it. Ring the BC nurse and she will suggest one. I rang my GP and the reception gave me an emergency appointment that afternoon and I had prescription by tea time.
BC is a bit like a wedding. As soon as you start looking suddenly you need the most rediculous and expensive things, like the drain bags. The main thing I bought and couldn't have done without was a wedge for my pillow. It had two sections to vary the slope. I'm still sleeping on my back so I'm still using it.
Hey! big hugs, it is scary. I had a double mastectomy four weeks ago. I also had full lymph node removal so I had three drains to manage in the early days. I had them in at home for 10 days. After a week I was fed up and I felt they needed to go but they stayed in a bit longer.
My advice is don’t buy too much in advance. See what you get in hospital as many charities donate drain bags and cushions which are hand made. Plus Amazon is never far away! My movement on my mastectomy side was not bad at all but it was the lymph side that was tender and still now I don’t have full stretch. I wasn’t as dinosaur arms as I thought I would be though. Having things in easy reach from bed, is useful.
For a drain bag you could get away with one of those canvas/ light weight cream bags with a long handle that you may have been given as a freebie. It wasn’t as bad managing the drains as I expected, emptying them and measuring the contents was a bit ick, but day to day you just have them in the bag as you potter up and down.
I know they say get moving quickly, but I took that first week very very gently indeed. I was exhausted after the anaesthetic and drugs but I didn’t feel like doing much, so it was only in the second week that I started to move more and need the bag. Obviously it depends on support at home, I was lucky my other half took that first week off work to help me.
I did buy a large mastectomy cushion and I still use that now for the car rides. When I'm in the car going over bumps is still uncomfy,
Other buys: front fasting pyjamas are a must and front fastening tops. I found a few cheap tops from next - I got two. Four weeks on I am wearing normal clothes so long as they are baggy to allow arms, but front fastening was helpful in the very early days. Zip up jumper or fleece too is helpful.. don’t go nuts though because it is only for about a month or so.
Hi, thank you so much, that's really helpful to hear of your experience. I have bought a couple of zip front hoodies now, and front opening pyjamas, but it's good advice that it's best to wait and see what's needed in terms of the bags when out of hospital. I definitely don't plan to do much in the first week!
Sounds like you have had quite a time of it. Wishing you all the best for your recovery. xx
