organising seroma

Hi Mich

sorry about the late reply to your post.  I am on the gold coast - currumbin qld.  Hope things are going well for you I am off to oncology today for planning appt re: radiation. 

Take Care and HUGS Georgie

Hi Georgie, I think you will find that the aspiration of your liquified clot won't hurt you too much. The area is probably still quite numb from your surgery, and this clot will be occupying a space between the skin and your tissue, so when the needle goes in, there should be little sensation. Good luck with the procedure. I think my surgery was required because I needed to travel. They told me that usually these things settle down by themselves. I was worried that the pressure from my clot was going to push my expander out of my chest through the excision line, and I didn't want to be between Perth and Sydney if that happened. Love Chris xx

Hi Georgie, I think you will find that the aspiration of your liquified clot won't hurt you too much. The area is probably still quite numb from your surgery, and this clot will be occupying a space between the skin and your tissue, so when the needle goes in, there should be little sensation. Good luck with the procedure. I think my surgery was required because I needed to travel. They told me that usually these things settle down by themselves. I was worried that the pressure from my clot was going to push my expander out of my chest through the excision line, and I didn't want to be between Perth and Sydney if that happened. Love Chris xx

That is so beautiful.  It is the special times that make all the other mundane chores etc, of little importance.  You lucky thing.  Enjoy your obviously lovely hubby and children.  Oh and of course your cool doc hee hee  I wasn't so lucky to have such a cool doc but they were all really lovely.  :-)

Which state are you in in Aussie?

Mich x

Hi Mich and thanks for your response,  at this time I am try hard not to think about the aspiration (it's my needle thing )  I think Nic - my surgeon was proposing to do it in his rooms but I'm really not sure at this point. As I have not yet started radiation I believe it will be put on hold for a short time until the breast is completely healed.  From my understanding there is a fairly large window from surgery to radiation treatment, between 4-12 weeks post surgery though will discuss this with Nic when I see him on Monday.  And yeah he is a pretty cool guy for someone I never wanted to meet.  He has a lovely sense of humour and is about 6 foot 8 tall and needs to duck when walking in and out of his office which I find comical.  He spent alot of time talking to us during my first consult not just about treatment but general things me, my work, my husband, his family, our dogs and sailing.  He apologised for being smelly as he had just come from cleaning his boat - I told him he should not have come in and he said it's the reason he gives to his kids about not becoming a Dr.  He kinda reminds me of Stephen Fry on tv he just has this lovely manner about him.

Hope things with you are on the up and up and yes spending time doing lots of nothing and trying to get my husband to do things he doesn't really want to do, washing, tidying up, making beds, emptying dishwasher etc,etc, however he has just come home with the biggest bunch of sunflowers ever and we are trying to find a vase strong enough and tall enough to hold them.  Take care and hugs to you Georgie

Hi Mich and thanks for your response,  at this time I am try hard not to think about the aspiration (it's my needle thing )  I think Nic - my surgeon was proposing to do it in his rooms but I'm really not sure at this point. As I have not yet started radiation I believe it will be put on hold for a short time until the breast is completely healed.  From my understanding there is a fairly large window from surgery to radiation treatment, between 4-12 weeks post surgery though will discuss this with Nic when I see him on Monday.  And yeah he is a pretty cool guy for someone I never wanted to meet.  He has a lovely sense of humour and is about 6 foot 8 tall and needs to duck when walking in and out of his office which I find comical.  He spent alot of time talking to us during my first consult not just about treatment but general things me, my work, my husband, his family, our dogs and sailing.  He apologised for being smelly as he had just come from cleaning his boat - I told him he should not have come in and he said it's the reason he gives to his kids about not becoming a Dr.  He kinda reminds me of Stephen Fry on tv he just has this lovely manner about him.

Hope things with you are on the up and up and yes spending time doing lots of nothing and trying to get my husband to do things he doesn't really want to do, washing, tidying up, making beds, emptying dishwasher etc,etc, however he has just come home with the biggest bunch of sunflowers ever and we are trying to find a vase strong enough and tall enough to hold them.  Take care and hugs to you Georgie

Hi Chris

Thanks for responding to my post - I think that what have is very similar to your describing it as a third breast is EXACTLY how I describe mine.  It start over the suture line and has since expanded down to my nipple and up to my collar bone, it is hard and painful and to be honest I thought it might break the skin. After phone calls to my GP including two visits and a number of calls to my lovely breast care nurse Annie who managed to track down my surgeon who is on annual leave I was told to present at the A and E at the same hospital I had the surgey done.  After numerous blood tests and loads of prodding and poking and a visit from my surgeon ( who was on the way home from cleaning his boat) he and they have decided to treat it conservatively.. what that means is they have sent me home with a collar and cuff, bed rest and are hoping it will turn into "port wine" gotta love my surgeons desciptive  words!! and then he will aspirate it in a number of locations as it has compartmentalised.  More needles - bring on the valium to cope with that.  Surgeon said collar and cuff is to remind me (and those around me) that I am not to use the arm.  So I'm back at home on the couch with books, bad tv and some dvds.

I feel better emotionally now that he has seen it, now on more antibiotics and pain relief.  Back to see him Monday for reassessment.  Thanks again hugs Georgie

Good on you, Chris, I was hoping you'd pop in! :)

Di

Hi Georgie, you sound like you have the same thing that I had, and I wouldn't be wanting to wait till the 16th to see your surgeon, especially if it is getting harder and more painful. Mine grew very quickly, and it felt very weird. I may have had a slow leak happening over the previous days, but must have torn something while sleeping on my side for the first time. It scared me, as I could see a "third breast" appearing between my suture line and upper chest/ shoulder area. Because we were in Perth, and I was getting ready to go to the airport, we rang both my plastic surgeon and breast surgeon in Sydney. My PS said to go to the hospital and sort it out, and my BS said jump on the plane and come home. Because it had grown fast, I was worried about flying and what it would do, so did as the PS suggested and went to hospital. While they fiddled it just continued to grow till I couldn't put my left arm down. They talked of taking me to theatre and removing my expander, to which we baulked. We convinced the Perth plastic surgeon to speak with my plastic surgeon, and when we were comfortable that she would do the same as my fellow in Sydney, I went to theatre. They did remove the expander, cauterised the bleeder, removed the large clot, and replaced the expander. I spent 2 and a half days there, and came home to Sydney with another drain for a week. It was all treated seriously, and yours sounds like it is even bigger than mine was, so to have to wait another 3 days is a big ask. If you are interested, I can send you a photo of what mine looked like just before we went to the hospital. You can give me your mobile number either on here, or on a private message and I will forward it to you. At least it will give you an idea. All up I had a collection of about 1.2 litres of old and new blood. Good luck with everything. Love Chris xx

Hi Georgie, I remember Chris blogged about her experience with a post-op haematoma a little while back.  You can read her blog here, if that helps: http://www.bcna.org.au/user/5378.

Good luck!

Di