Doub Mast/Lat Dorsi,Reconstruct,Seromas,Infection,Swollen nodes

HI Everyone,

I never write on these sites but I think it is important for all of you fighting breast cancer to know my story. In March, 2015 I felt a swollen gland on my LEFT side. It was sensitive, but not hard and was palpable. I had had a lumpectomy and radiation (no lymph node involvement) 30 years prior to this and thought that I'd be one of the lucky ones who would never have to deal with this again. However, this swollen gland was a reaction to another tiny cancer which was in the same breast, but which I could not feel, because of the thickening of tissues that take place after radiation. I am a tiny girl - 95 pounds and 4'11", always in good shape physically, and not much fat, so feeling abnormalities is not difficult, but with radiated tissue, it's not so easy to decipher any abnormal lumps. Mammograms done 30 years ago and again last March showed nothing. This time I asked for an ultrasound, and after doing a core biopsy, the results came back with another small insitu cancer 5mm.. No chemo was needed because I caught it so early. I opted for a bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction which was done on May , 2015.

Because I had radiation 30 years ago on my LEFT side, I needed to have my reconstruction done with my Latissimus Dorsi flap, which was done on both sides for symmetry purposes. Expanders were placed in the new muscle immediately. Drains in my back were kept in for 2 weeks, front was 1 week. Within one week after removal of the back drains, I stated to develop seromas for the next 6 weeks. These had to be aspirated each week on both sides of my back. Once that stopped I developed Cellulitis on my right breast on June 24, 2015. NOTE: my RIGHT breast (non cancer side) was always an issue because the cavity which held the new muscle and expander was cut much too small, thus resulting in the muscle feeling so very tight and also, the expander feeling collapsed on the bottom, with a protrusion on each side of the breast near the incisions. Imagine taking wire rimmed bra and pushing the wire up so it's flat and notice how the sides would bulge . I would always have my PT work extra hard on the right side to help ease the pain the tightness, even though I never got relief. What I did get was that infection, from all the manipulation ...and I'm not blaming the PT as it could have been me, the PS or anyone who had their hands near my incisions. I immediately went on an antibiotic and over the course of 2 months, had numerous bouts of pain, oozing, and surgeries. My infection was considered low grade - it seemed to be controlled to a degree by my antibiotic and only the inside of the RIGHT breast was affected. In August, I had a second surgery which was to clear the infection and replace my expanders and I thought was to expand the opening in the right breast area so there would be no more collapsed expanders problem. That expansion never took place and I was now dealing with an even tighter breast opening, with was literally bursting from the new expander. The infection was gone, but my discomfort was horrible. So, after seeing that the expander was about to burst, I had my third surgery on Sept. 4 2015, and finally my PS removed much scar tissue and enlarged the opening, replacing that side with another expander. While all this was occurring, I did notice swollen glands right up against the rim of the expander closest to my arm pit, but actually on the side of the breast area. The expander had always been in the way of these nodes so I could not really see swelling but felt it. I attributed these swollen nodes to my infection - which did last about 10 weeks until that second surgery cleared it out for good. Also, after all the surgeries, I was sure that my PS would have noticed these nodes and said something if he was concerned.

On Nov. 30, I finally was able to swap the expanders for the implants and was so excited to finally have boobs that were softer and moved.

The surgery went well and my PS was able to revise the RIGHT side even more so that the result is wonderful. However, now I could see and feel the swollen lymph nodes on the RIGHT side, so my happiness was immediately tempered. Again, this is the non-cancer side. This week, after my appt. with the PS, one week following the implant surgery, I showed him the nodes and was immediately sent for an ultrasound . He never saw the lymph nodes in any of his surgeries- Of courses I should have mentioned it to him prior to each of the 3 surgeries...a lesson for anyone out there. Today I had two lymph nodes excised. They look normal under the ultrasound and my PS assured me that he saw nothing irregular. and that it is highly unlikely that cancer could spread from the left side to the right side in such a short time. I still have to wait until next week for final pathology results.

In summary, I searched the internet for anyone having swollen lymph nodes for a long period of time following infection, or repeated surgeries, or reconstruction,,,,etc and could not find one post other than swollen lymph nodes after 2 weeks could mean cancer.

That is why I am writing my story because there are always anomalies ....I have had the nodes since June - almost 6 months and because of all the trauma to that area, they remained and could not subside. Of course anyone having swollen lymph nodes after breast cancer needs to be examined but there is hope that this could happen and not be cancer. Good Luck to all of you out there.