Back to hospital again

HI Di,

Thanks for your comments. Like yourself, I started to think that I had done something to cause this bleed. My surgeon reassured me that I had not which made me feel a little better. I was a bit teary because I had over a 4 hour wait until I went into theatre. Waiting on seeing my reconstructive surgeon tomorrow...crossing all fingers.

Feeling better now..

Rachel H

Hi Rachel

Hope you're home now - resting and recovering from this week's surgery.

I had a similar haemotoma experience about a week after my mastectomy/recon surgery. Like you, I was shocked. I thought I was recovering and healing really well, so finding out I needed more surgery was distressing. I felt more vulnerable than ever, fearing the worst outcomes and doubting my original decision (to have the extra surgery to reconstruct).

I wanted someone or something to blame for this new problem. I even blamed myself. Talking about my feelings to my breast cancer nurse and my surgeons helped immensely. They helped me put things into perspective and move forwards in a positive way.

Having this comforting reassurance was what I needed most - for both my physical and emotional recovery.

Take good care of yourself and keep in touch.

Di

Hi Rachel, I hope today went well and you are now resting comfortably. With any luck this will be just a small hiccup along the road to your recovery. Best wishes, Jane xx

Hi Rachel, hopefully by now you will have this procedure behind you. These setbacks can be so frustrating and I can't speak from experience in regards to blood clots etc. I have however had two revision surgeries. It does sound like in the long run to get rid of the clot will give you a better outcome. Hang in there. 

Paula x

Hi Rachael, I had this happen twice. When I had my first mastectomy I had a small bleed after  a week or two. It was about the size of a golf ball, and my surgeon chose not to do anything other than have me put hirudoid on it.( anti bruising cream) It did resolve, but it took about 8 weeks. 9 months later when I had my second mastectomy and insertion of tissue expanders, I had another bleed at the 3 week mark. This was much larger, and happened quite spontaneousy. I was about to get on a plane to fly to Sydney from Perth after a brief holiday. I had to have emergency surgery in Perth, where I had 800 mls of old and new blood removed, the expander washed out and replaced, and a new drain inserted. This then drained off another 200 mls of blood. This haematoma was very painful, but it all healed quickly, and I have had no issues with any of it since. My implant is soft and comfortable. You should find that your wound will heal very quickly once all the old blood is evacuated. My small non surgically treated blood clot took so much longer to resolve than my huge surgically treated one. 

Good luck with your surgery, and please let us know how it goes.

Love Chris xx

Hi Rachel,

I haven't had a reconstruction yet, but all the best with your followup surgery.  Thinking of you, take care,

Karen xx