Seroma and staph infection after lumpectomy.

gailpet

I had my lumpectomy on 8/17/16 and had radiation for 4 weeks in October. I have a big, hard, painful area that takes up about half of my breast where the surgery/radiation was focused. I had an u/s and was told I had a seroma (fluid filled). They drained a bunch of fluid from it and cultured it and I had a staph infection. Finished heavy-duty antibiotics last week. It's not as painful now but I still have a large, hard area on my breast. Am going in for a 2nd opinion at a different clinic for an u/s on Monday.

Just curious if anyone else has had this happen and how long will it take for the hard area to go away? It's about 4" in diameter now.

Smileyt8

i am still in pain after a lumpectomy 4 weeks ago. I just started an antibiotic for some type of infection. They drained 50cc of fluid from my breast that was infected. I would love to know an answer as well.

Moderators

Hi Gailpet and Smiley-

We're sorry for the complications you're having! Seromas can be painful and inconvenient, and can take months to resolve in some cases. They can be drained, like in both your cases, and sometimes will require more than one drainage procedure. You can read more about them here: http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects....

Hopefully you both find some relief soon! Please keep us posted!

The Mods

Zircon

Hello. I had a lumpectomy July 2017 and 30 radiation treatments. Later part of radiation I developed a seroma.

I was told it would be reabsorbed. Over eight months and I still had it. Recently I had a flu and eight days later my breast was red,hot,and seroma very swollen. My bs started me on antibiotic and so far I have had two needle aspirations. Changed antibiotic as well due to bacteria/staph infection. I am moving in the right direction ,but still have a noticeable abscess/seroma which has not gone away. Wondering if this should be lanced or have third needle aspiration. Getting discouraged and now I’m told to see an infectious disease doctor. How did your seroma clear up. Thank

mustlovepoodles

Zircon, this thread is about 15 months old. You might have better luck if you make an entirely new post.

Incidentally, I had a large seroma after my LX. It was huge. Kept breaking open and refilling. What a mess. Finally my BS put in a drain. It got infected with two serious bacteria. I was out of work and on antibiotics for 6 weeks. It eventually healed, but it was really a mess there for a while.