Swelling after bilateral masectomy with reconstruction

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rCarbee
rCarbee Member Posts: 3
edited November 2016 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hello all! I am new to the forums.

History: Diagnosed Stage 3a Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the right breast in July. I went through 12 rounds of Taxol first to get clear margins. I had my surgery November 1st for bilateral masectomy with reconstrution. 5 nodes of 19 were infected. I still have 4 drains.

Concerns: I am experiencing swelling of my left arm which is the side where I have all my lymph nodes. I am getting a bulge or looks like seroma that aches in my left shoulder/neck. I would expect this in the side where the Lymph nodes were taken out but not the other side. I have noticed the drains are not working as well on this side. Could this be anything else than a seroma? I have had a hemotoma on the breast cancer side after doing a biopsy of Lymph nodes. It felt different than this. It was more of a throbbing and swelling that happened within a few hours. I had an active bleeder and had to have emergency surgery to cauterize it.

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

    Dear rCarbee, Welcome to the community, although we are sorry that your post op concerns have brought you here. Here is a link to our main site about post-operative issues. Honestly it would probably be best if you saw your surgeon to address the swelling. Keep us posted on what you learn. The Mods

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  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited November 2016

    rCarbee,

    Did you call your surgeon? I had swelling a week after my second mx and it turned out to be a hematoma that ended up rupturing. It is better to be safe and see your surgeon post haste.

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  • rCarbee
    rCarbee Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2016

    I contacted and saw the plastic surgeon who did the reconstruction. He sent me for a dopplar sonagram. It was determined I had a blood clot called Subclavicular Vein Thrombosis . We went back to his office and picked up orders to be checked in the hospital. We were 3/4th of the way through when the doctor called me and said he had changed his mind after talking to the vascular surgeon. Here we had already paid the copay which had to be refunded. He called in a rx for a blood thinner xarelto. He said call his office around 10 am the next day to get info on the appointment with the vascular surgeon. I called and the appointment is not till the 29th. Meanwhile I am seeing veins under skin on the left side and the swelling has not decreased. Today I called the vascular surgeon and am having the nurse call. My family is freaking out. It hurts enough to take pain meds.

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  • rCarbee
    rCarbee Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2016

    Hello, I could not wait till the 29th so I made an appointment with the vascular nurse. They did another sonagram on me in the office. It turns out I had 4 blood clots - one in the jugular vein, subclavical vein and 2 in the auxillary veins. She said the one under my arm had disapaited which is good. I had one where the IV was put in which I think started it all. I am still swollen but it has gone down slightly. I was hoping to get off these pain meds but my arm hurts and I generally ache. I look like Osimodo with the shoulder lump. That's okay because I am starting to see my eyebrows coming back. Now it is the waiting game and taking blood thinners. I wonder when I get my port-a-cath taken out and 2nd part of reconstruction they will now have to worry about blood clots for every surgery here on out

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