I had periareolar top surgery about two and a half weeks ago. I had my drains removed a week ago, but I still developed fluid on the right side of my chest. My surgeon drained the fluid today, and there was about 40 mL. The fluid has come back. I have to go back again tomorrow to have it drained a second time. It's really frustrating because my left side looks great, and my right side keeps having this dang fluid build up!
Did this happen to anyone else? How many times did it have to be drained, and/or how long did it take to go away?
Are you wearing a compression vest?
Quote from: Alexthecat on August 03, 2017, 08:10:08 PM
Are you wearing a compression vest?
Yup, I've been wearing it religiously. Only take it off to shower and to massage my chest, which my surgeon said I should do at least 3 times a day.
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Jacqui
Hi! I'm currently 3 weeks post op DI and I've got alot of swelling in one side compared to the other. I assume it's like what you're describing. My surgeon did say that there was just excess fluid and that he'd drain it when I see him again. One side is about twice as swollen as the other, which is quite flat. How did things end up going? Did you have to get it drained a second or third time? Did the swelling go down right after being drained?
Yes, I've had seromas following surgery. They can be so persistent and annoying. All you can do is have your doctor drain it and apply pressure to reduce the space into which body fluid wants to accumulate. Eventually the seroma will shrink to just a few ml and finally disappear. Seromas shouldn't be left to heal on their own, though. If it is not treated your body will form a scar tissue capsule around the fluid similar to the one that forms around breast implants, and the skin will not adhere to the underlying muscle tissue. This condition can only be corrected with surgery.
How do you know if it's a seroma or just swelling? I see my surgeon again in a week and he did say he'd have to drain my more swollen side, but he didn't say anything about a seroma. I know it's normal to have more swelling on one side than the other, but mine seems quite a lot more than other guys' I've seen, and Ive seen plenty of pictures. I know I'm probably worrying over nothing but I'd like to ease my mind a bit until I can see my surgeon next.
Sorry for not updating in a while.
Hey, it's me. Seroma guy.
I'll briefly reiterate everything I've dealt with since top surgery, so if anyone else is ever dealing with something similar, they'll have an anecdote to relate to.
I had top surgery in July. I had a hysterectomy scheduled a week and a half later, so even though my drains were outputting slightly more than they would have liked in a normal situation to have them removed, I asked for them to be taken out so I didn't have to deal with them during the hysto.
A couple days after the drains were removed, I noticed fluid in the right side of my chest. Over the next month, I had it drained 1-2 times a week. I also had to wear my compression vest that entire time.
The fluid finally stopped coming back, but I was left with scar tissue. It's noticeable enough and it's not going to go away on its own, so I'm going to go in for a second procedure to remove the scar tissue. Normally, revisions are done in-office under a local anesthetic. My surgeon offered to try it this way, but was unsure if she'd be able to get it all out. I opted to just go under anesthetic again so she can be sure to fix it in one shot and get it over with.
I'll hopefully be getting that done late next month. I'm frustrated with having to go through another surgery (albeit with a shorter recovery time), and I wish I had just dealt with the drains for a little longer. But I'm glad I'm going to finally have the issue fixed.
Big hug! Different deal but I'm having healing issues from my orchi and I totally understand the frustration of not being able to move forward.
Hugs, Devlyn
Hi, I'm almost 4 weeks after surgery, and last night I noticed my left side got bigger. I couldn't reach my surgeon today, just wanted to ask if anyone else noticed this after weeks of surgery? The doctor said there isn't fluid in my chest until yesterday (?) so there wasn't draining for me.
@queertransjew That sounds really annoying, especially having to undergo a second surgery. I'm glad it all settled. How long roughly did it all happen for? My surgeon ended up not being able to get much fluid out via needle and syringe, he said to come back in 4 weeks time because the fluid wasn't ready yet. he never mentioned a seroma to me so I guess Ive just got a lot of excess fluid?
@jared my left side is bigger than the right, it has been since day one post op. That side drained at least three times more fluid than the other, but this is normal. I found that the swelling got worse at around the 2 weeks mark, and after about a week and a half the swelling reduced itself to what it was before getting worse. I'm just over 5 weeks post op now and I'm still quite swollen, it's all normal so unless you've got pain or something I wouldn't stress too much :)
Thanks man, your comment eased my mind. I can't reach my doctor, maybe he's on vacation or something. In the meantime I won't stress that much now :D
Definitely not worth stressing just yet, I'm now 6 weeks post op and still very swollen. Been wearing the compression vest the whole time and I feel like its helping. The swelling is slowly starting to go down now, the more swollen side has actually gotten smaller than the other side is. It can take months to completely settle, so it's just a matter of being patient