Drain after surgery

Joarden

Hi..has anyone had lymph nodes removed, as well as breast excision?? Breast care nurse spoke of drain, and gave me a shoulder bag to be more discrete, and allow easier activities, bathroom visits, etc..forgot to ask, how long does drain stay in please, if all going well??..thank you, hope everyone is doing well..:-))

Blossom1961

I had two drains. One for mastectomy and one for lymph nodes. My lymph nodes drain came out after five days. The other came out after ten. It should have been reversed but I had trouble with the lymph node drain site so they took it out early and left the other to do the mop up.

Afraser

Hi there
i think it can vary a lot. My surgeon wanted them to stay until all fluid stopped draining and that varies a lot from person to person (days or weeks). Best to just stick with it until all clear. Best wishes. 

jamavon

I had surgery on the Tuesday for a mastectomy. I went home with a drain which was removed by the community nurses on the Saturday. I had to have 2 consecutive days with less than 50ml of fluid. Everyone will be different though. 

Joarden

Wishing you a speedy recovery, thank you..:-))

kezmusc

Eeeww...drains yuk. @Blossom1961 two drains is just not fair.     I was discharged on the Wednesday after lumpectomy & axillary clearance.  The drain came out Friday thank goodness.  It can vary though of course. 
All the best for speedy drain removal @Joarden.  xoxoxo

Blossom1961

@kezmusc My drains always gave me a good laugh. I would tell them to stay as I just needed to duck into the kitchen for a second. I wouldn’t be long. But they always followed. Or I would place them on the floor at night before bed but they always climbed in with me during the night. 

Joarden

:-))...

Gears0715

@Joarden I had Lumpectomy & Lymph clearance 12 days ago. And my good little draino is still with me . I was given instruction that I must have 2 consecutive days with less than 40mls & then the Home/Community nurse can take it out (so far not a single day under, most of the time it's still up around 90ml per day). On my hospital follow up last Friday the surgeon said that if I get to this Friday without it dropping to 40ml then it MUST come out regardless of the output level (leaving it in too long runs too much risk of infection so 2 weeks maximum).

Afraser

That’s the toss up - fluid out but not at the cost of an infection. Might be worth enquiring about massage if the fluid has not stopped when the drain come out (it can assist in dispersing fluid). Best wishes. 

Gears0715

@Afraser Yeah I'm looking into lymph massage now to get a good handle on it so that when the drain comes out I'll stay on top of any remaining fluid to minimise the chance of Seroma afterwards.
@Joarden As with all of this stuff there can be so much difference between all of us. Hopefully yours settles much sooner than mine has
Hugggggzzzzxzxzxzxz  

jintie

I had my drain in for 24 days!  It was such a drain!

ddon

I had I had two drains post mastectomy and axilla clearance - breast drain came out after 24 hours, then axilla drain on day 3. I had one lot of 20ml drained out 10 days later but otherwise no problems with fluid at all. It seems everyone is very different. 

iserbrown

Mine came out on Day 7 to avoid the chance of infection. All good!  But as mentioned already we are all different! 
Best wishes

Ahnn

I had bilateral mastectomy on a Wednesday so drain on each side which made sleeping and showering awkward as i had to hold both together to wash! As others have said it's as unique as we all are. Mine were out by the community nurse 5 days after surgery. 

Joarden

Ouch!!! Hope you recovery quickly.. The idea sounds yuck, just not sure how to care for myself and family with a drain..hope its out sooner rather than later..take care :-))