Forum Discussion
Experience with suction/negative pressure dressings
So last Thursday I had a bilateral "Goldilocks" mastectomy - it's Tuesday now, so today is the fifth day post-op.
I had three nights in hospital and was discharged on Sunday, and every day has felt like a battle with these dressings. It's a system called Prevena that puts a foam layer over the sutures, and then a plastic dressing over that so that the attached pump can then apply a gentle vacuum.
Even in hospital, every day has brought patches to the edges to try and maintain a seal. It holds if I'm sitting down but the moment I stand up, the pump goes off, and I hear a little whistle from a new leak somewhere in the dressing. It's getting pretty frustrating - I can't shower without it going off and even just doing a wash at the basin triggers leaks. And forget going for 'gentle walks' - I want to, but not if the dressing's going to leak the whole damn way.
I'm due to have them removed on 9 December, so six more days with them. If I thought I was happy to have drains removed, that'll probably be nothing compared to the joy of getting rid of these dressings.
Has anyone else had experience with suction/negative pressure dressings like this?
17 Replies
- Keep that sense of humour going @terrianne xx I get the frogs (SO LOUD) every night .... I wear an ear plug in one ear, to deaden a lot of the noise! It helps! ;) I still wake up to anything 'unusual' tho - and those burping noises would have done it! LOL. ;)
I hope you are sleeping better now ... make haste slowly with the exercise - you'll know when you are 'up to it' :)
take care - Ha, I called its noises "frog sounds" - these odd little burping noises every three to five seconds.It's funny, we used to live out of town and I'd fall asleep to the loudest chorus of everything from frogs and cicadas to owls and foxes, never kept me awake. But those little burping noises... :D
- It is tough. I am 8 weeks post DMX and feeling so much better- your post brought back a lot of memories. My pumps did this random growling/purring noise- the first night I kept thinking I was in bed with 2 kittens! Hang in there- you will feel a tiny bit better each day.
- Thank you 😁
- I was very similar to you, with one surgery back in 1990, and then nothing until all this started in 2020. I went through everything you’ve explained. We just need to keep finding our way. I think you’re doing really well 😊🌸.
- FLClover said:I understand your worry though because it’s different when we’re out of it and see things in hindsight, but a whole different ball game when we’re in the midst of it and it’s fresh. It is scary and we worry about every little thing, and we need reassurance that everything is going the best it can. Sometimes we’re too consumed by fear to be able to see clearly and it’s also new for us so we don’t know what’s what.I have so little experience of surgery - I had one op when I was in my early 20s and broke my leg, and that was it for 30 years until all this came along ('all this' is also an excision in August which went almost perfectly). So everything is pretty unfamiliar - I'm rapidly recalibrating my expectations for myself and how much energy I can reasonably expect my body to have each day, how long dressings should be on, how fast bruising should heal, all that. I will say, I'm very happy with how much bruising has cleared up - one side of me looked like I'd been kicked by a horse, but that's almost all gone.Thank you :)
- ruralmum2 said:
Terrianne, I had a prolonged experience with dressings after my lymph node clearance. It was so frustrating, especially as I’m a nurse & thought I’d be all over it! Make sure that if your wound is still oozing that the skin around it is well protected with barrier wipes (ask the wound nurse). Mine kept breaking down at different times, especially if the wipes weren’t used. I’m healed now - with an ugly scar, but it was a very trying time. I wanted to exercise, but didn’t want to risk my dressings getting sweaty or coming off. Hoping you don’t have the same dramas, but if you do, feel free to message me if you want to vent xo
Thank you :) I'm pretty ooze-free now - there's one little spot that the nurse thought might have been an issue, but only that little bit, and I'm not having any problems with it.I'm still not at the stage of wanting to do much exercise - I went for a lap around the backyard several times yesterday, and today we made a very quick trip to see if the bra place had another of the post-surgical bras in stock (they don't, but one should be coming in today, so she'll hold it for me); those are enough to raise the heart rate a little and feel like I'm doing something. - I know what you mean, it’s all a bit traumatic isn’t it! That beeping noise still triggers me 4 years down the track 😄🤦🏻♀️😐.They are used for 1-2 weeks only, and you made it almost to a full week, so that’s great. If the incisions are healing well, that’s the most important thing.I understand your worry though because it’s different when we’re out of it and see things in hindsight, but a whole different ball game when we’re in the midst of it and it’s fresh. It is scary and we worry about every little thing, and we need reassurance that everything is going the best it can. Sometimes we’re too consumed by fear to be able to see clearly and it’s also new for us so we don’t know what’s what. Good on you for reaching out.I’m also not a back sleeper so I get how uncomfortable that is too 😩. I will say though, it all passes eventually and things can definitely get much better, so just keep swimming (my motto 😄) 🐠🍀.
Thanks for the positive comments. I’m on my 2nd day post op after a bilateral mastectomy with a prevena plus pump! I think it’s worse than the drains! Going home tomorrow. Love the “frog” comments. Hope to have it removed with the drains in 5 days.
All going well so far. I’m really happy so far with Flatabulous chest!! Early days I know but in my mind I had pictured it looking far worse than it is. Great to have a support network like BCNA.
Terrianne, I had a prolonged experience with dressings after my lymph node clearance. It was so frustrating, especially as I’m a nurse & thought I’d be all over it! Make sure that if your wound is still oozing that the skin around it is well protected with barrier wipes (ask the wound nurse). Mine kept breaking down at different times, especially if the wipes weren’t used. I’m healed now - with an ugly scar, but it was a very trying time. I wanted to exercise, but didn’t want to risk my dressings getting sweaty or coming off. Hoping you don’t have the same dramas, but if you do, feel free to message me if you want to vent xoterrianne said:So last Thursday I had a bilateral "Goldilocks" mastectomy - it's Tuesday now, so today is the fifth day post-op.I had three nights in hospital and was discharged on Sunday, and every day has felt like a battle with these dressings. It's a system called Prevena that puts a foam layer over the sutures, and then a plastic dressing over that so that the attached pump can then apply a gentle vacuum.Even in hospital, every day has brought patches to the edges to try and maintain a seal. It holds if I'm sitting down but the moment I stand up, the pump goes off, and I hear a little whistle from a new leak somewhere in the dressing. It's getting pretty frustrating - I can't shower without it going off and even just doing a wash at the basin triggers leaks. And forget going for 'gentle walks' - I want to, but not if the dressing's going to leak the whole damn way.I'm due to have them removed on 9 December, so six more days with them. If I thought I was happy to have drains removed, that'll probably be nothing compared to the joy of getting rid of these dressings.Has anyone else had experience with suction/negative pressure dressings like this?- Thank you. And I swear, I can still feel the tubes and hear the pump buzzing, even though it's all gone!I realised I was stressing about it a bit last night and kept telling myself that the nurse was saying the incisions are looking good, plus the dressings made it to six days, and they're usually used for one to two weeks. So got a halfway decent night's sleep (I don't usually sleep on my back, so that's being a bit of an adjustment too), and feel a lot better today!
