Seromas

corky60

I had surgery yesterday to remove the seroma. On the ultrasound it looked like an encapsulated seroma but the surgeon said that it appeared to be a lymph node that was scarred, possibly from radiation. I'll know more in two weeks when I see him for a follow-up.

Jerseygirl927

keep us posted, my PT is working with the seroma and trying this shrink it, or get it to reabsorb into my body. I don't feel much difference after two weeks but who knows. Will work with her till she feels there is not much more she can do. MO does not want me to have surgery yet while on antibody for her2+ protein.

Guess you have some drain in, but maybe not?

Mayk

I developed a small seroma on my left side of my left boob five days post drains being removed. This is also the Cancer side. They drained a very small amount off yesterday during my first fill. It's not gone down or up they are just watching it. It's making me (the worrier) crazy. Are there any experiences with milder smaller spots you can share and if they went down or had to be drained or got infected which is my chief concern right now. It's not hot at this time. I'm now 13 days post surgery and still keeping my left arm pretty still. No issues on my left.

Thank you,

Mary

Jerseygirl927

Mary I have a suggestion, Keep the side that was drained bound with an ace bandage or a camisole that has spandex in it. I had to be drained 4 times and it's still quite large, I am in pt to see if they can reduce the size, but not much happening in that area, probably will be drained again in another month if it doesn't shrink more. The binding helps the fluid stay away, and I am learning this the hard way, also don't too much housework with that arm, makes it worse. Lesson #2.

Mayk

Thank you Jersygirl. I did get an ace bandage and we wrapped it twice yesterday. Once for about two hours and then again for about four. I'm also not using that arm for anything. I sat my butt on the sofa all day and only took two walks. It seemed better last night but I couldn't sleep in the binding. I will wear it again today. Fortunately its a very small area. About the size of a green grape.

ChiSandy

I got a small one at the site of the core needle biopsy that the radiologist noticed when she was placing the radioactive seed marker pre-op. It was removed along with the tumor, and symmetrical one filling the tumor cavity is keeping that breast the same size & shape it had been pre-lumpectomy...for now. Radiation will eventually shrink it, or it may just be replaced by scar tissue. At least I don’t have to pad that cup of my bras.

I then developed one in my SNB site directly beneath the incision about a week and a half post-op. Surgical nurse said it’d resorb and refused to drain it for fear of infection. It grew to the size of an orange before the incision ruptured spontaneously, (two days after I was told to remove the steri-strips) gushing at least a cupful of fluid and blood. Had to go back to the breast center on an emergency basis, where the surgical nurse (my own BS was in the OR) insisted it shouldn’t be closed and had to heal (and drain) on its own from inside out. The thought of walking around for weeks (maybe months, delaying radiation and totally upending my family life) with a gaping weeping gash was a non-starter, so the other BS came in and agreed that the very large size and weight of my breast had probably pulled the incision open and would keep it from closing. He expressed even more fluid (it kept making these disgusting gushing spraying noises) and sutured it closed. Stitches have been in nearly 2 wks and are due to come out Fri. RO determined the SNB site would not be within the area to be irradiated (I’m getting 16-session APBI due to start Mon., sim session this morning), so RT won’t be delayed...knock wood.

There’s still fluid there, but it’s staying inside and seems to be smaller than before. Perhaps wearing a bra 24/7 (and for the first week after rupture, an Ace bandage over the soft sleep bra) may be helping the edges heal before Super-Boob can jiggle and yank them open again. If it opens again, at least I have a spiffy (albeit disgusting) new party trick. (More interesting than just making armpit “farts” on pitch....)

knittingPT

I had a seroma post lumpectomy and pre-radiation. I had it drained several times but during radiation, the inflammation caused it to fill back up. It felt hot during all of radiation but was due to the inflammation. Every time we drained it the fluid looked clear/clean. So, no infection. Now that radiation is done, it is starting to decrease. My PT taught me to do manual lymphatic drainage and suggested a compression bra or tank top with an added foam pad over the swollen area (not a fancy one. She just cut me one and gave it to me). The thing that has helped me the most is exercise. Once I started back to yoga and running, the swelling started to go down. There is still some but it doesn't hurt or cause any problems.

Jerseygirl927

my right arm and seroma area are kinda painful today, did a bunch of work today and that must have agrivated it. It's kind of numb in that area too, but definitely uncomfortable, cause I can still feel he fluid in there. Next week is 4th week of pt, and don't see much improvement, probably another draining in the foreseeable future.

corky60

I had surgery two weeks ago to remove the seroma. It was diagnosed a seroma from ultrasound. But that was wrong. It was a pseudocyst, It had a fibrous capsule and was filled with "proteinaceous necrotic debris" as well as watery yellow fluid. My surgeon wants me to not use my right arm for two more weeks.

There have been complications unfortunately. I'm allergic to the adhesive on regular tape. Also to the adhesive on steristrips as well, but "everyone gets steristrips." The area where the strips had been located turned bright red. And then strangely the redness started progressing down my underarm, the side of the breast, and the underside of the arm. It itches like crazy and has also produced a huge welt. The surgeon wants me to take Benadryl, not any of the other OTC anti-histamines, and use hydrocortisone cream on it every eight hours. If no improvement after 24 hours I will take prednisone.

And on top of that I developed cording under the arm. He says that it will resolve in 3-6 months.

Phew! I hope in the end I will think it was worth having the pseudocyst removed. The pain from it is gone so that's a good thing.

Jerseygirl927

I am going for another drainage. If it doesn't help, back for another evaluation. Sorry you had this, hope it's gone forever. Don't even want to think about a pseudo cyst.

Eve7777

Hi, you are going through a lot right now, and I wish you well.

I had a seroma for about 8 months after surgery.  

HUGE!,  my doctor said I would just have to live with it after she aspirated it 3 -4 times.  I could not deal with this huge bubble all the way down my back so twice a week I would go have it aspirated and immediately put an ace wrap on and keep it on till I saw her again.  It finally went away.

Heard there is also a sclerosing agent out there they can inject.

Hope this helps.  Be well dear

Jerseygirl927

sorry it's been awhile, going Tuesday for aspiration, hope it works this time, but since it's feelin fairly solid , we will see. Wish me luck.

Jerseygirl927

had my aspiration and they took out almost 200 cc of red blood fluid. Dr thinks I had a slow leak. It took awhile also, had them bind my chest for about 2-3 days. Have not had ace bandage on for a few days and I think it's filling up again. Have tried not to do any heavy lifting, but it seems to be swelling again. Going to stay still tomorrow to see if that helps.

ChiSandy

I didn’t even notice the seroma in my tumor cavity until after my second radiation treatment, when at our weekly visit my RO mentioned that I had a “large seroma” there. Over the next 3 weeks it swelled up to the point where the breast feels warm & tender, but the RO said it’s not infected. I finished radiation earlier this week. My SNB incision seroma, which had its stitches removed Oct. 30, is healing well--it, too swelled during rads (at times I felt I was wearing a shoulder holster) but has started to shrink again. The incision itself has hard scar tissue beneath. But both my RO and the nurses and techs confirmed it might take at least a year to lose the breast seroma and find out my treated breast’s final shape. I had always assumed it would be even smaller post-op than it was before (it was always the smaller one), but it looks huge compared to my left breast. However, it is fuller on the side, whereas the left one hangs lower, so my larger bras still fit the same.

I refuse to entertain the thought of having it aspirated--I have enough going on in my life (and am about to have more problems once I start that AI) that I don’t need to keep going in every week (or oftener) to have it drained only to fill back up again. I figure if it’s going to fill and refill it was destined to be full, and as long as it doesn’t get infected I’m going to leave it alone.

Jerseygirl927

good for you, glad it's not bothering you. Mine just was very uncomfortable att the end of the day, and the more fluids I drank, it seemed the more uncomfortable I got , so now that it is normals size again, I am not doing anything with this right arm, since mine was in the armpit area and was uncomfortable got it removed. There was no pain from the needles as this was all blood pooling inside and just had no where to go. I think also that this Dr did it 3 times before she was determined to drain it especially well. Feels so much better now.

Jerseygirl927

ok I posted last, but my seroma is back, going to the lymphadema PT specialists for measurements and to see if anything can be measured, and drained for the 6th time. Just checking in.