Infection in breast after lumpectomy/radiation-update

Dear Barbara, Adding my regrets for the difficult and frightenig time you endured during your treatments. I had a lumpectomy,  two lymp nodes were removed and biopsy was performed while I was on the table..when results were in, the surgeon knew how to procede, no second surgery for that was necessary. Four days later another  outpatient surgery was performed implanting a device for internal radiation, but in a different location from the first incision. There were 10 internal radiation treatments, 2 daily for 5 days. There was a problem with this site, as it stayed damp and developed a rash, which took a couple of weeks to clear with cream and 4 weeks of anti-biotics prescribed by the radiologist.  The chemo began later and there are 12 Taxel treatments and 13 weeks of Herceptin, since I have an Her2 positve duct.  There are good prognosis and good medical teams.  It began in Kansas City at a teaching University and is being completed at Moffitt in Tamp.  Good medical teams are  important, but each individual's chemistry and life style impacts the results as well.   Good luck to you. Hugs, too.

Was helpful to read others' experiences here. i landed in the ER and was hospitalized for 6 days with staph infection in my breast 3 weeks after partial breast radiation (5 days, 2x). The radiation oncologist had just checked me on Monday and by Friday i was feeling really bad. Went to surgeon's office (she was in surgery) and told her staff i wasn't leaving till she came. Her PA came and aspirated my beet red breast, then called in an antibiotic at the hospital pharmacy (all in the same complex). i was shaking and nauseous, feeling so bad i lay down on the bathroom stall floor and it was comforting! After the Rx came i started walking toward the ER and 5 minutes later checked myself in, losing my lunch during the registration (nice handy buckets nearby). The nurse on the ward said i had set off a sepsis alert in ER due to high fever and heart rate. My surgeon was certainly sobered by this as she'd seen me at the end of the aspiration in her office. It's true that i've been in and out of hospitals, radiation and medical centers a lot, as i've had both a hysterectomy and a lumpectomy in the last 5 months, so i'm guessing i got the staph infection in one of these places. i had never been hospitalized before this and i'm 66. After 6 days in hospital, i was able to go home on oral antibiotic, but 4 days later in the follow up appointment with my surgeon, she said my breast needed to be aspirated and irrigated again (it was also aspirated while i was in the hospital so this was the 3rd time). She said the blood circulation in breast is not as good after radiation and the thickened tissue near the original incision was due to inflammation. She then sent me to imaging where a radiologist inserted a drain using 10 cc tubing. Am home and being careful. My surgeon showed me how to empty the bulb and write down the amount that drains each day. i just want to share this as i think it may happen more often than the surgeons and radiation oncologists admit. They didn't tell me what would happen if it got infected except "red and pus coming out." i don't have pus. i have an amber liquid coming through the drain. The drain freaked me out initially. i didn't want to see the site where she put it, so i stayed in my bra for 48 hours till i saw her. But i'm used to it now and, though it's painful at times, it's better than the alternative she gave: to open the site in surgery, pack it with gauze and whatnot, and get treated at the Wound Center! i don't know how long i'll have to keep this drain, but it's doing what she wants, which is encouraging, even though it's been a bump in the road to recovery~

CancerFreeMe said:

Staph infection in breast 3 weeks after radiation

Was helpful to read others' experiences here. i landed in the ER and was hospitalized for 6 days with staph infection in my breast 3 weeks after partial breast radiation (5 days, 2x). The radiation oncologist had just checked me on Monday and by Friday i was feeling really bad. Went to surgeon's office (she was in surgery) and told her staff i wasn't leaving till she came. Her PA came and aspirated my beet red breast, then called in an antibiotic at the hospital pharmacy (all in the same complex). i was shaking and nauseous, feeling so bad i lay down on the bathroom stall floor and it was comforting! After the Rx came i started walking toward the ER and 5 minutes later checked myself in, losing my lunch during the registration (nice handy buckets nearby). The nurse on the ward said i had set off a sepsis alert in ER due to high fever and heart rate. My surgeon was certainly sobered by this as she'd seen me at the end of the aspiration in her office. It's true that i've been in and out of hospitals, radiation and medical centers a lot, as i've had both a hysterectomy and a lumpectomy in the last 5 months, so i'm guessing i got the staph infection in one of these places. i had never been hospitalized before this and i'm 66. After 6 days in hospital, i was able to go home on oral antibiotic, but 4 days later in the follow up appointment with my surgeon, she said my breast needed to be aspirated and irrigated again (it was also aspirated while i was in the hospital so this was the 3rd time). She said the blood circulation in breast is not as good after radiation and the thickened tissue near the original incision was due to inflammation. She then sent me to imaging where a radiologist inserted a drain using 10 cc tubing. Am home and being careful. My surgeon showed me how to empty the bulb and write down the amount that drains each day. i just want to share this as i think it may happen more often than the surgeons and radiation oncologists admit. They didn't tell me what would happen if it got infected except "red and pus coming out." i don't have pus. i have an amber liquid coming through the drain. The drain freaked me out initially. i didn't want to see the site where she put it, so i stayed in my bra for 48 hours till i saw her. But i'm used to it now and, though it's painful at times, it's better than the alternative she gave: to open the site in surgery, pack it with gauze and whatnot, and get treated at the Wound Center! i don't know how long i'll have to keep this drain, but it's doing what she wants, which is encouraging, even though it's been a bump in the road to recovery~

Hi. What were you symptoms other than reddened breast? 

Apaugh said:

I look back and oh that was so traumatic

I look back and I wonder if after my double that maybe they did not keep the drains in long enough.  Because it was very shortly after that I developed the infection and went through that horrible ordeal. 

Keeping you in my prayers for a speedy healing. 

Hugs,

Annie

Thank you!

CancerFreeMe said:

Symptoms of cellulitis and staph infection in breast

There was swelling and some redness since radiation ended on October 6th. 2 days prior to ending in the ER, i had mild nausea and a little more pain in breast, mostly when getting up and down from bed. Nausea isn't normal for me but it didn't concern me much. But the morning of the day i landed in the ER, nausea was worse, i felt feverish, and my breast was much more painful. By the time i saw my surgeon's PA and she aspirated it, i was shaking, my fever had risen, and my breast looked like someone painted it red to above the nipple. Unfortunately, my surgeon an PA didn't take any of this into account, so i could barely make it to the hospital pharmacy for my Rx. After that i felt like my body was shutting down, so i walked to the ER check-in, during which i  threw up in one of their little white buckets.

Wow, you had a bad infection.  Are you ok now?