seroma after surgery: a cause to put radiation on hold?

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yan123
yan123 Member Posts: 13
edited September 2016 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hello!,

My mom developed seroma after mastectomy, and there is still fluid coming out of her incision. I wonder if it means that the start of radiation treatment will be on hold. I worry that delaying the radiation is not a good thing. It has been three weeks after the surgery.


Thanks!

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2016

    BUMP!

    Can anyone weigh in with some advice for yulya?

    Thanks!

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  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited July 2016

    Hi!

    I developed a seroma after my lumpectomy. My radiation oncologist (RO) refused to start radiation until my surgeon drained it. Has your mom had a follow up visit with her surgeon? What does he/she say? My surgeon drained mine pronto after the RO gave his office a call.

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited July 2016

    There is a 3-month window after surgery where radiation should start. My incision from January was still weeping when I started rads in April but we had to go ahead. The rads dried out the area quite nicely. A seroma, on the other hand, will fluctuate as fluid fills and absorbs and might change the setup of the rad machine.

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  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited September 2016

    I'm curious about this, too. A small seroma from my November (!!!) MX was just found and drained because I wound up in the hospital with an unexplained fever. I kept complaining about my arm and side hurting and finally they did an ultrasound and bingo, they found this little nasty, drained it, and the fever went away immediately.

    I finished chemo Aug 4, so technically should be starting rads any day. I was scheduled to do simulation the day after I wound up in the ER, but obviously that was canceled. Late last week Rads called to schedule an appointment, but then the nurse wanted to talk to the RO and the appointment still hasn't appeared on my online schedule. I wonder if it's because of the seroma, or the hospital's screwy scheduling system. Usually appointments show up pretty quickly. I'm not in a hurry to start rads, but I have to travel to the hospital, so some communication would be nice, lol, and not from me calling to say....ummmm, what's going on?

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