Mastectomy and Sentinol Node Removal a few days ago

Hello ThinkingPositive, Everything you've reported here sounds very normal to me. I had the swelling too and I also had a Seroma, which was drained once, but it filled again and my Surgeon decided to let it resolve itself.

It is a nerve wracking time after the surgery, waiting for the final pathology. It is very unlikely that they could tell anything during the surgery, it needs to be a Pathology report done on the tissue, to be sure of anything. My final Pathology took a long time to come back because my surgery was right before Christmas and the labs were closed over the Christmas break.

Try not to be worrying too much about the final Pathology, just try to relax and be kind to yourself, while you heal from this surgery. I know how easy it is to overdo it, when you think you're feeling ok, but your body will let you know that it is time to slow down again. I found, I could almost drop off to sleep mid sentence in the beginning!

I wish you all the very best! Write down any questions you have for your appointment, I always found if I didn't write it down, I'd be kicking myself on the way home, because I forgot to ask something. Take care and let us know how you get on.

Thinkingpositive,

You mentioned your drains are red.  My recollection from my mastectomy, which was in June, was that if you are getting a lot of bright red blood in your drains, then that could be a sign of infection.  If you have a little bit of bright red blood, that is OK; I know I had some.  But, if you have a lot, it may warrant a call to your doctor to ask them their opinion.  Don't be shy about calling the doctor; we called at least 2x while I had my drains in regarding changes we noticed.  Both times they said it was fine and not to worry.

I don't blame you for being nervous about changing the dressings.  I would have been also, but fortunately, my husband did it for me the first few days to week.  After that, I got used to it and did it myself.  I changed the dressings just once a day and emptied my drains 3x a day initially.

Hope all goes well.

ThinkingPositive - your surgery was so recent... everything you have mentioned sounds pretty normal to me.

Immediately after my BMX, I looked so swollen EVERYWHERE I looked like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.

Everything was swollen, tight, and uncomfortable. 

HOWEVER - You are doing all the right things by monitoring your temperature and taking your antibiotics. Now is the worst time for infection to set it, and if you have any questions about that, be sure to call your Breast Surgeon. Don't be shy... they get calls like that all the time. Better to be safe than sorry.

Many of us found that the more we moved around, the longer it took for the fluid in the drains to go from red to that pinkish/straw color. The docs want you to be up and around to prevent blood clots, but not so active that your tissues are putting out more fluid.

I never touched my dressings. Only the docs did at the Post-Op appointment. 

Re the Sentinel Node Biopsy and Final Path report... The way my surgery was done, the SNB tissue was sent down to Pathology while I was on the table. The Pathologist took a slice of each node, and reported back to the surgeon that all was clear. Had the Pathologist seen any cancer in the Sentinel Nodes, he would have reported that back to the Breast Surgeon, and she would have removed more nodes during my BMX.

However, that was just a small slice that was examined during surgery. The following day, every single bit of lymph node and breast tissue was examined extensively. Those were the tests that took a while to run, type up into a Final Pathology report, and sent back to the Breast Surgeon. I had my results within a few days.... I think.... and certainly before my one-week Post Op appointment.

Did you see your Plastic Surgeon today? What did he/she say?

Wishing you good healing!!!