Hard lump AFTER lumpectomy (+ seroma)

daisydaisy

Dear ladies, hoping to get any input or similar experience someone could share. Mom had her lumpectomy plus SNB on May 26. Clean margins, one node positive (was there from the start), so according to the most recent studies it is OK to stay with SNB only with 1-2 positive nodes. All in all 3 nodes were taken out.

In about a week after surgery mom felt a hard lump in her breast, closer to the axilla area. Plus she did not feel so well, so we rushed to the hospital. We were told it was seroma and a lot of brownish liquid was drained. But that lump is still there. Now 3 weeks after surgery mom again had her seroma drained, this time less liquid and it's yellow in colour. The ultrasound doctor told us that seroma was like a big lake with a small channel connected to a much smaller lake, which he is not able to drain through the same spot, but it should clear itself.

Mom is very upset about it ((((( She was told by at least three doctors that there is nothing to worry about, that this lump was not seen on her mammo right before the surgery. Does not help really.

Could anyone please share their experiences with seromas? How long does it take for them to go away? For the breast to be back to normal? She has no pain, only heaviness and discomfort, when liquid builds up. I understand it can last for months, but I simply want to tell her that there are other ladies with the same issue (well, I wish there were never any ladies with the same issues...), and that they are doing well with it.

Thanks to everyone here, reading this forum helps me as a caregiver a lot!

Manu14

I'm going on three years out from surgery and still have a seroma. Since there have never been any signs of infection and the seroma hasn't grown bigger, the doctors want to leave it alone. While it is annoying at times, I've decided to quit worrying about it. I think that for many women the seromas reduce in size over a year's time.

labscientistmom

daisydaisy: I had my lumpectomy surgery and axillary dissection 8 weeks ago. I had my drain in for 3 weeks, and got a lot of fluid out of it until it got a clot in the tubing. I still have a hard pocket of fluid near the incision that is quite painful if I muck around with it too much. reading about lumpectomy procedure now, they describe taking out the cancerous tissue, and if they take out a lot, they squitch around the good stuff left to make less of a sharkbite thing left behind. It's no wonder its painful and full of fluid. I think our bodies are trying to deal with the squitching and cutting and the fluid is part of the healing deal. It should go away with time. I think the surgeon can drain it again if its a problem, but hopefully your mom won't need to do that. Blessings, A

daisydaisy

thank you, dear ladies! wishing you all the best!