Lump haematoma scar tissue seroma

[Debster2016]

Good morning all you lovely ladies out there hoping you are as well as can be expected? And jolly well done if you are doing better than that ☺️.

So the lump that appeared beneath my scar 3 & 1/2 weeks post mx. It was the length of the scar and it raised the skin very noticeably and was very very firm. It felt like pastry when pushed hard enough as it gave a little bit. Phoned BCN, pushed back: “its only scar tissue forming all part of the normal healing process.

Then fluid started to collect above it near my armpit and made the skin bulge out even more(2nd phone call to BCN and 2nd push back).

Then another bulge started to form. 3rd phone call, and an appointment with my surgeon week n half later.

So! It was a late haematoma! I had managed to shear the healing tissue under my skin (7 month Old lurcher puppy....)and had bled into the scar cavity which luckily had healed well - 3 & 1/3weeks post op! - and the blood had clotted hence the pastry like bulge. Ultrasound confirmed this. We are not removing it with surgery as it is expected to resolve itself over time - a long time, poss a year methinks? Anyhoo luckily my lymphodema nurse is going to help with that and she is also fantastic.

So the moral of my story is this. Don’t accept being pushed back when there is something that is obviously not normal going on.

Both the nurse and my surgeon who saw me said “You did the right thing coming in” to which I relied “well it took me 3 phone calls to get an appointment. Hi I not got one I was going to turn up in a&e” and so they kindly said “Indeed next time phone and and ask for and insist I n an appt and say your surgeon has advised this as she trusts you to know when you need to be seen”.

Hope this story helps someone as at the time I could find no information about a large hard lump forming post surgery. It definitely wasn’t a seroma - well actually it was but it went from fluid to solid and as such went from seroma to to haematoma and as such none of the usual information applied.

Wishing you all well xx

[Hidden]

Hi Debs

You shouldn’t have had to push so hard for an appointment but at least you have the way forward if you ever need it in future.

Hope the issues resolve more quickly than you anticipate.

Best Wishes 🌺

MrsN

[MRK-3 in reply to Hidden]

Hope it gets better much sooner than you think. Good luck xx

[Debster2016 in reply to Hidden]

Hello Mrs N I’m just doing some catching up on here and yes my lump has almost gone now. I’m due to see my surgeon for a follow up appt in April when I will also ask for - as suggested by the (for once helpful) receptionist - an ultrasound on my mastectomy scar instead of a mammogram for obvious reason lol 😆.

Wishing you good health xx

[jamaica2]

Glad you pushed for your appointment and the health staff agreed that you needed to be seen in the end. Hope it continues to resolve itself.