THANK U ALL - surgery went well

I had one drain, but a small
I had one drain, but a small breast. However, since it was cut off, who knows why size matters. Must be up to the style of the surgeon. The fluids get less and less and then, when they get down to a certain point, they take out the drains. Ugly business, those drains. I insisted on emptying my own, to save my husband the yechy task. But...I had just drunk a huge jamba juice. I emptied the drain, went back to bed and threw up the whole Jamba Juice. Instead of a drain, my husband had to change the sheets! So much for my kind plans. Maybe you will tell your mother this story. It is the only "drains" joke I know and we all need a laugh. love to you both, Joyce

Drains
One thing the doctor forgot to mention until two weeks after was that the tubing needs to be "milked" to move stuff along. She would pinch the tube near the hole in my side and then run two fingers down the tube to the end. After that the fluid came out much better. You might want to ask about this - might be particular to my doctor.

Really glad to hear how well your mom is doing. I had a mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy and had 2 drains for about 5 days until the drainage in each got to less than 20ml each.

If they took any lymph nodes out then the lymph fluid has to drain somewhere until she heals a bit---so they use the drains.

If the tubing looks like there's a lot of solid clots in it, it could be a bit plugged, but the drainage could be decreasing, because they're working well, and there's just less fluid to drain. I'd be careful with "milking" the tubing because there's only one small suture holding it in place (even tho there's probably a few inches of tubing inside her chest). Hold it firmly at the skin edge and slide your other hand down the tube with some pressure toward the bulb. Another way to tell it it's plugged, is if the site at her skin is wet a lot. Does she have a dressing where it enters her skin? Is it wet all the time? then maybe it's draining there and not thru the tubing. Then it (the dressing) needs to be changed if it's wet (bacteria likes moisture). Also, make sure the bulbs are well "charged" (squished down). This causes it to draw out the drainage better.
But, when in doubt call the Dr./ nurse and explain what you see. It's probably just fine, and getting to the point of needing to be taken out---always a good step. And by the way, almost painless!

Good luck to you all, the worst part of the surgery is done, now she just needs to get good rest and heal well.

(((hugs))),
Jan

I had 2 drains . they had to
I had 2 drains . they had to be milked. had on drain 2 weeks and the other 3 weeks. it all work out great . Glade to hera you mom is doing so good keep up good the work. It is good to have less and less fluie each day