Hematoma

Trish50

I read using heat compresses helps to reabsorb the blood from the hematoma. My surgeon said use ice. Now I don't know.

MelissaDallas

https://edith.sanfordhealth.org/-/media/edith/files/education/011004-00221-brochure-breast-hematoma-3_7x8_5.pdf

SUPer52

Hi Trish50, I also had a hematoma after surgery. Ice was suggested immediately following the surgery, but after the initial swelling and inflammation went down, I was then advised by my surgeon to use warm compresses for about 15 minutes a few times a day to help the hematoma dissolve. I think I was about two weeks out from surgery before I was advised to try the warm compresses. Hopefully some others will chime in with their experiences also. Good luck!

Edited to add: That's a great resource that MelissaDallas posted! Wish I had had that after my surgery!

Trish50

Thanks you for the link Melissa. Now I understand why he said ice. My hematoma is quite large. And when I go tomorrow for additional surgery he said he would evacuate it instead of waiting for it to reabsorb on it's own. Since it's so large it would take a long time and would delay my radiation treatments. Thanks again 💕

Trish50

Thanks so much for replying. You confirmed what Melissa's link said on hematomas. Tomorrow it will be taken care of when my surgeon goes back in to make clearer margins from first surgery, and he will evacuate the hematoma 💕

MelissaDallas

Usually for anything the recommendation is ice for the first 24 hours or so, then heat. Glad they are doing the evacuation for you

Trish50

Thanks so much for replying. You confirmed what Melissa's link said on hematomas. Tomorrow it will be taken care of when my surgeon goes back in to make clearer margins from first surgery, and he will evacuate the hematoma 💕

Trish50

Actually my surgeon didn't see it till 10 days after surgery when I went in for my post surgery exam. I will continue to ice it. And hope by after surgery tomorrow it will be gone.

SUPer52

Trish50, Your situation sounds almost identical to mine. I also had it evacuated when I had my re-excision for clear margins. I did develop another smaller one with the second surgery along with a seroma, but I had two different areas of cancer that were treated as one larger area which is probably why I developed the seroma. The hematoma gradually went away and the seroma is still there but slowly decreasing in size. My radiation oncologist and surgeon consulted and determined there was no need to delay radiation, so the rest of my treatment plan continued as scheduled. Sometimes things take a little longer to resolve, but rest assured they almost always do resolve eventually. Best wishes for a successful surgery tomorrow with clear margins! Hugs!

smackan

Had anyone ever had a hematoma persist for a long time? I have 2 but one is quite large and hasn’t changed much in size since my surgery on July 31st. The PS said to massage it daily so it doesn’t calcify but that didn’t help and it’s now hard as a rock and about the size of a small banana. I am fearful that surgery is my only option but didn’t know if if would ever go away on its own. I am tired of wearing a sports bra but that is the only wear it isn’t uncomfortable.

wrenn

I had a very large hematoma (18cm x 13cm x 3cm) that was seen on a CT scan the day after my surgery. The home care nurse kept telling my surgeon that it had to be seen to or it would get infected but the surgeon kept ignoring her. 5 weeks later I was in emerg with a fever and my incision looking red and the incision suddenly started gushing blood. The hematoma had developed an infection and created a tunnel to the weak spot in my healed incision and burst through. I had to have the tunnel stuffed with gauze and medication to dry it up. It took over 2 months to heal and delayed chemo.

So I advise people to have them attended to and am relieved on your behalf that your surgeon is taking care of it. Mine left me in rough shape so I didn't tolerate the first dose of chemo and was cut off.

gb2115

I had a very large hematoma and it didn't delay radiation. Good thing too because it didn't really dissolve until a few months later. They tried to drain it during surgery but it had already thickened too much. The hematoma was caused by an additional biopsy a few days before my lumpectomy. It all worked out ok in the end.