Advice on chest drain pain please
Had a mastectomy on Wednesday, no reconstruction. I'm experiencing a lot of pain where the drain tube enters my body. I'm on round-the-clock painkillers already. What else can I do to make it less painful there?
Comments
-
I didn't feel any pain until near the time mine were taken out so difficult for me to say. I would ask if there is anything you can do to better support the drains? Any pulling, hanging, etc. will add pressure in different ways.... When I went back to have the first two removed they cut the length on one of the other two b/c I could start feeling pulling - I had to keep the other two for several days after the first 2 were removed. If they continue bothering you call your surgeon and see if there is anything they can do to tape them up better (or something....) - the drains just aren't comfortable regardless....
-
Is the area swollen or hard at all? Is the drain still draining a similar amount of discharge? You need to rule out any signs of infection or clot formation - sometimes a clot plugs up the drain and it starts backing up a bit and it hurts because the discharge is accumulating there. But if it otherwise looks good, you could try using cold packs. Not directly on skin, it has to be wrapped in fabric. Cold therapy can be very effective in controlling that pain.
I hope you feel better soon!
-
I’m so glad Moth gave advice! I feel such sympathy, the drains were the worst part! That area is still tender 5 months later.
-
Thanks for your replies.
In answer to your question Moth, I don't think there's swelling or hardness, but the tube is going into quite a firm bit of my chest anyway. There have been some clots but they have eventually passed. The flow has been irregular: 2ml the first morning, 11ml the second morning, then that evening after I had been doing a bit too much with the arm on that side, I noticed the drain bag was very heavy and so I emptied it again and it was an additional 83ml of blood. Maybe all that movement cleared a partial blockage or just got things flowing again? I don't know. Anyway, today is the third day and this morning it was down to 24ml. And it's a little less painful but I'm still needing codeine on top of paracetamol and ibuprofen for the pain from the drain tube to be tolerable.
I'm due to have the drain removed at the hospital tomorrow. I hope they'll deem it ready to go despite the up and down of the flow rate. Fingers crossed.
-
it’s been a year and a half and I can still feel where my painful drain was. And it bothers me at times. Not horribly, but to the point where I have to rub it. And my surgery recovery was completely uneventful.
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team