Infection 7 months post mastectomy

I have not heard of infections starting that late. Stinks, I'm sorry. I had an infection after a ductal excision 2 weeks after surgery and that threw everyone off. Ended up in the hospital for iv antibiotics. Last month, when I was 5 weeks out of bmx I asked my surgeon what the chances were that far out from surgery for infection, after she told me she was worried I woukd get infected again. She said in 11 years she had only seen one patient with an infection that far out. Did they identify an abscess? And did they aspirate and culture it?

Feel better...

Sorry:( hope it's better soon!

Honestly, that sounds almost as if they left a sponge in by mistake. This rarely happens, but your situation tends to be a common sign that this has happened-the delayed infection. You kill off most of the infection, but there are still tiny bacteria clinging to the sponge or gauze that wait to grow.

Ask for imaging studies to see if something was left behind. I would seek a second opinion, too.

Sorry to hear it. Your post brought back bad memories. I had a delayed and long lasting bout of cellulitis after a LX, but it started after 6 to7 weeks, not months! The surgeon said it couldn't have been from the surgery, and I had had a post-surgical biopsy, so who knows. Oral antibiotics, IV antibiotics, several US-guided drainage procedures, breast "exploded", debrided, packed daily for a month or so, delayed chemo, C. Diff., more antibiotics. Nasty. Hope you feel better.

I hear you! I was just getting back to my "normal" routines with work and exercise. I had finally saved up a week of vacation time and was excited to plan a trip when . . .all of my time got eaten up by this crap. What a mess! And everyone is like, " you are just so lucky" I sure don't feel lucky. How about you? I know that this too shall pass and I will get through it. However right at this moment I am just annoyed as heck to have to deal with it. Hope your infection has now be decimated, never to return again!

Hi Karen,

I know you said you have had a number of tests, but were any specifically looking for a soft object like a sponge left in by mistake?? One little sponge left in my mistake might be easy to miss. Just saying.

If you think your immune system is under the weather so to speak, there are a number of things you can do to boost the numbers of WBC's in your body. Turkey Tail, also called Trametes Versicolor is a well researched Mushroom Extract that is know in several trials to boost WBC activity/levels and to have anticancer properties as well. Another well known herb is Astragulus, a Chinese Medicine herb that is very well studied and has been shown to improve immunity as well. I am including some links you might want to look at.

Increasing basic nutients like Vitamin C and Zinc is very helpful for immunity as well. I had Intravenous administration of Vitamin C , 50 grams on a number of occasions when I had infections with reconstruction. Avoided getting hospitalized with antibiotics by doing that, as the oral antibiotics don't work well for me anymore, had too many antibiotics lifetime, so affected badly by antibiotic resistence.

http://www.alsearsmd.com/2010/12/the-best-herb-to-boost-your-immunity/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/mushrooms-cancer_b_1560691.html

Sorry all this stupid misery has happened to you, hope it gets sorted out soon.

This does not directly apply to BC but to when an infection develops/occurs within scar tissue. In fact, it was an experience years ago that I fougbt with a horse.

Antibiotics can not cross into scar tissue to attack an infection. Scar tissue 'seals' the infection within it - IF it happens - unusual to be totally within the scar. With my 2nd C-section, I developed an infection in the scar from the 1st one before I left the hospital. I don't remember a lot of that time other than the Navy sent armed guard to University Hospital to pick up the drug needed.

It was many years ago that I had to deal with one of my Dressage horses who had a very severe injury to the front of his hock. We thought it was finally healed several months later - except it wasn't as somehow the scar tissue had 'sealed in' some infection. After my Vet did a lot of consultation with several big Vet Universities, more surgery was ruled out if Himsbad would ever be able to compete again. The answer was to try human tuberculosis meds along with antibiotics as they allow antibiotics to get into scar tissue. It worked. It was sort of funny when I picked up the meds 100 miles away as they 'had no idea that there was someone needing the meds in my town". Even more surprised that it was a Vet. who could order them.