Hi everyone
I just found this website - what a wonderful resource. Forgive me if I fumble a bit with this first post.

I had surgery May 22nd. Everything went well, at the week one check it looked really good. My left side was a little more bruised and the drained blood was a lot darker. But drains were taken out and I was good.

At my two week check this morning, they opened my vest to find a hematoma on my left side. It was so swollen and bruised. The doctor immediately started shoving a needle in to drain it. He got out about 150ccs of really dark blood. I have to go back tomorrow so he can try for more. If he can't get to all out he said he will have to cut me back open and flush it out.

I'm terrified. Everything looked so good at my first check and now it all looked so much worse. Has anyone has this happen before? Did it affect your overall result? I was told it would not by the doctor. It's still unsettling something is wrong.

Any advice would be appreciated. If I can figure it out, I'll post pictures. Thanks.

Did you measure the output every day? If it was above a certain amount then they shouldn't of taken the drains out.

Yeah I kept track of the drain outputs and they were both around10-15 cc's each when emptied every twelve hours, which was what they were looking for. The left side had much darker blood though...the doctor said it was old blood and the drain likely prevented a hematoma....I guess there was still bleeding since I have one now?

How do I upload pictures? I'm trying to do so from my phone...

This is maybe the most common complication. They need to get this cleared up. It's not usual to have to reoperate, but it can happen. I know of several people that this happened to and they are okay, and in most cases it hasn't hurt the look of their chests. But you absolutely need this cleared up. I'd say if it takes surgery, then you need to get it done. Only so much fluid can be taken out via a needle. Hang in their, I'm sure you'll be fine. (It's a complication but not in any way life threatening.)

--Jay

Hi pictrig, Welcome to Susan's.

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I've heard of other guys who have had hematomas and are fine now. It can take a while for the blood to be absorbed into the body, though.

Ok here is a link to the pictures - hope it works. The first is my week one reveal, followed by the week two check where the hematoma was discovered.

http://imgur.com/a/0Ej1X

Thank you everyone for your input - I will reply in more detail later, my appointment is in 45mins.

It looks very flat at least.

Well, today was hopeful. Took 40cc's of more dark, old blood out. He said what was clotted is liquifying. Compared to yesterday's 150cc's. Needle went in WAY easier. Yesterday it felt like he had to use all his strength to break through my skin - he said he must have hit a stitch. Today I didn't even feel it go in. He used a 14 gauge needle. I am going back tomorrow for the same routine (yes, he's coming to the office on a Sunday). Depending on tomorrow, it may be okay to leave alone to heal or if there is still a lot of fluid he talked about putting a drain back in. And injecting some antibiotic to agitate the area and make it fuse together so there isn't a cavity formed there where all the blood was. Trying to be positive. The worst part is that he is having me wear extra foam on that side under my compression vest to keep a lot of pressure on the area and it is super uncomfortable.

Alexthecat - thank you for saying it looks flat - that two week picture was taken after the blood was drained. Before it looked like I had a small breast again. It was very unsettling looking down on. But it's flattening out the more we take out.

Arch - yeah, some people told me that hematomas do just reabsorb by themselves after time but I guess this was just too much? I don't know. My doctor seemed very anxious to get it out, that there was no waiting. Which is fine I guess if it fixes things faster.

LordKAT - thanks for all the helpful info. I'm glad I could get pictures out there.

aleon515 - thank you for the reassurance that this is a common complication and often doesn't affect people's results. 

I'll keep posting updates. Maybe this can help someone else who has the same issue. It's been a huge help to me. Thank you everyone

Talk to Jack, he had an idiot pull his arm and got one. Yours was just natural. https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,156574.msg1327184.html#msg1327184

Day three of hematoma draining - doctor got 27cc's out today, so it is going down quite a bit. Back for the same thing tomorrow am. Here are some pictures from today:

http://imgur.com/a/kNZWU

Has anyone experienced a weird feeling of like a crawling popping or bubbling under the skin in their chest after surgery? Especially when you walk or move your arms?

Thanks for the contact Alex, I sent him a message.

Hey, Pictrig18.  Sorry this is happening to you.  Things do seem to be hopeful, though.  I think it is great that your surgeon is staying on top of this.

Thanks for keeping us updated with pictures; like you said, this thread could be helpful to someone.

Day four of going in and having the doctor aspirate - 20cc's. Going back tomorrow. The fact it continues to lessen means the cavity is healing together like it should. Hoping each day will be less and less and this will all be over with soon. Here are today's pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/wYb8k

My skin is so broken out, it's even moving down from the taped area toward my nipples/incision. Is this normal or has anyone had experience with it? I'm worried it will affect my nipples and incisions from healing properly.

Brett - thanks for the encouragement. Yes, my surgeon has been great with seeing me everyday, even through the weekend, to get this taken care of. I'm sure it would have been more convenient for him to put a drain back in but I'm glad he didn't. The less invasive we have to be, the better as far as I'm concerned. The aspirating everyday is uncomfortable but painless.

Those just zits? If they are not cystic I think it would be okay. All the zits I have had didn't leave a mark after awhile. I didn't get zits like that after surgery. Are you cleaning yourself? I used baby wipes but they need to be kept far away from the incision and nipples.

I think so? I'm not exactly sure. I haven't been able to wipe that area because of the tape and bandages/padding that has been there. Maybe I'll take the wipes I've been using and clean it while everything is off tomorrow at the appointment...

Update on yesterday's draining. 20 cc's again. The appointment was later in the day, so hoping that accounted for the amount not going down. Still looks like everything is healing well, just need to get that last little pocket to heal down. I still have my vest on with extra padding over that area to keep pressure on it. My right side is bandage free and feeling good. I was given the okay to shower yesterday which was wonderful. Washing my vest made a huge difference too. Going in again this morning. I guess we'll see what the numbers are. It's sounding more and more like it's going to resolve itself without further surgery. Here are pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/WHRHw

Quote from: Pictrig18 on June 11, 2014, 05:40:35 AM
Update on yesterday's draining. 20 cc's again. The appointment was later in the day, so hoping that accounted for the amount not going down. Still looks like everything is healing well, just need to get that last little pocket to heal down. I still have my vest on with extra padding over that area to keep pressure on it. My right side is bandage free and feeling good. I was given the okay to shower yesterday which was wonderful. Washing my vest made a huge difference too. Going in again this morning. I guess we'll see what the numbers are. It's sounding more and more like it's going to resolve itself without further surgery. Here are pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/WHRHw

To me it look a lot better, Pictrig.   

Oh, you're looking a lot better now! Sorry it has been so onerous. Are you getting enough rest?

Today went really well - only 10cc's were drained. Doctor is very optimistic that this is almost over. I go back tomorrow morning. Here are pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/NpibO

Thank you for the complements.

Arch - I think I'm getting plenty of rest....I sleep all night, usually nap at some point in the day. I'm not back to work or anything like that. I'm actually going stir crazy not being able to do much. The doctor said this likely happened during week one - at my week one reveal and drain removal, it wasn't apparent because the drain had been preventing it from forming. One thing that did happen - the fluid from that drain did start to lighten up, but a few days in it turned back to dark red. While my good side continued to lighten. He removed both drains at week one because the amounts being drained were minimal, around 10-15 cc's every twelve hours. The amounts from each side were very similar. He said at some point something happened to break a blood vessel. It could have been as simple as me coughing or sneezing.

One other thing about the drains - my bad side drained a ton at first, having to be emptied several times the first night. The other side was lower and more constant, but a couple days in we stopped stripping the tubing because while it was being done once I had incredible pain with it. I was told some tissue could be getting pulled in and to stop stripping and that side turned out fine. Just some more random variables.