Drains help!!!

Mpar1904

I am 6 weeks 3 days post BMX and my drains are still in! Anyone else have a hard time losing these turds? Please don't respond with how short of a time yours were in. I dont mean to be a jerk it's just very disheartening and makes me worried.

Peacetoallcuzweneedit

Mpar1904 I will not tell you how long my drains were in....I am so sorry you are dealing with those turds at 6wks post!! One of the women in my support group had hers for almost 8, and they finally pulled them...she never hit goal as far as fluid was concerned, but they pulled them and she was ok. I have read other ladies on here having them longer than six weeks. Have you read the thread about drains or searched using "drains" as a keyword?

Moderators

Hi Mpart - Sorry you have to be here for this reason, but welcome!

Peacetoallcuzweneedit has given you a great suggestion. If you go to the Search function in the blue menu and type in "drain" (without the quotes), you'll see every time this word has been mentioned in our Discussion Boards, and can then check out the thread and make your comment, or even send a private message to a specific member if you have questions.

Here is some helpful information from our main site on what to expect After Mastectomy Surgery too, along with some general guidelines to follow at home after surgery.

We hope this helps! Please, continue to let us know how you're doing!

The Mods

Pcino

yes! I’m in the same boat. 3 weeks post op! What do we doing. I’m starting to lose it and panic- I have my first fill tomorrow- One is ready and the other just isn’t budging down. My heart feels so much for you

SpecialK

mpar - did you have reconstruction (expanders) placed at the time of your surgery? If so, some docs find that filling the expander can apply enough pressure internally that the drain output diminishes. There are many ladies on this site that have had extended time with drains, you and pcino are not alone! I know it is frustrating and drains are a pain, but they also keep that fluid from building up inside the surgical area and causing infection and/or a seroma. How much activity are you doing daily? If you are using your arms normally, which we all naturally want to do, it may be increasing your drain output too.

Nursepatient35

Oh man, I am so sorry you still have those awful things. My doc talked about someone who had them for 7 weeks when I was freaking out at week 4. My output was always around 50 cc on each side every day. It really never changed either. I took care of them meticulously and stripped the tubing's twice a day. I think the only reason my PS took them out is because I begged. I was really worried about the fluid buildup afterwards but never had any issues. If they haven't already, I would request an antibiotic just to be safe. When they do come out, it will be glorious! One little easy trick I learned was to put a little piece of tape a couple inches away from the insertion sites. They didn't seem to pull as much when i did that.

Anonymous

I didn't appreciate (I know don't laugh haha) those drains until they were out and then I ended up with a bad infection. So I know they're a pain, and mine were in for a few weeks, but they're doing something important. I won't go into the gory details but the infection was gross, took several different antibiotics and my surgeon draining fluid over 3 months before it was gone. I even saw an infectious disease Dr who could only tell me maybe it was gone, or maybe it's dormant and will come back (really??). Also- I now have permanent ringing in my ear from one of the antibiotics.

Hang in there!!