Mastectomy Drains

Kat01

I had a right breast mastectomy with tissue expander placement Sept.27. October 15th was the first filling to the expander. My 2 drains are still in and going. One is very light amount the other still goes from 30 to 40 ml a day. Just when the active one seems to die down, nope, here we go again. Mostly straw to orange color .Is there any rhyme or reason to the drain stopping and starting? Is there lengthier drainage because my surgery was mastectomy and tissue expander ? I'm a little jealous when I read someones drains were removed in one weeks time.

Yogatyme

Kat, mine did exactly the same thing on bc/lymph node side. It finally stopped draining heavily after 3 weeks. I didn’t think they were ever going to come out!! So, so sorry you’re having this but hopefully soon! Once they’re out you will feel like you are finally going to heal

Kat01

Thankyou Yogatyme. I feel better hearing from someone who had to hang with it a while. It feels unending.

Osionisf

same here had surgery on sep 24 and expander placed no filling yet actually I don’t even want it filled. One drain still in draining over 50cc. Can’t wait for this to

Kat01

Amen. It sure gets old after 3 weeks.

Laurencl

Hey Kat

Have a right Mastectomy on 8/8 and had one drain for 21 days....thought it would never end. It does, and life gets better!

Lauren

exbrnxgrl

kat01,

I have been on these boards for 8 years. I have heard of drains being pulled in 1-2 days and others that remained in for weeks. It seems to be a very individual thing, in folks with bmx's, sometimes our dtsin gets pulled early on and the other takes weeks. Hang in there, it will end. I can barely remember what it felt like now, but I remember thinking it seemed bizarre. I never knew such things existed until my bmx was planned 🤷🏻.

Rrobin0200

Kat,

So sorry you’re experiencing this. Those darn drains were such a necessary evil... they sure did impede my recovery, imo. I had mine out at 2 weeks, only bc i begged my surgeon for the removal. I was draining less and less, but normally he doesn’t remove prior to 3 weeks. Drink lots of water to hopefully flush it out... that’s what I did. Hang in there. I know how bothersome they are.

Kat01

Thank you all for your kind, encouraging replies. Thankfully the drains are now out. After a month, liberating is an understatement!

HopeWins

kat01 - that's worth a celebration! Those things are hateful!