Drains! A question

lisamcsherry
lisamcsherry Member Posts: 29
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi all,

Checking in with the collective wisdom here. I'm 2 weeks post surgery (unilateral mastectomy with expander put in on 11/12) and have only a single drain remaining. I'm getting around pretty well and feeling good. I walk 30 mins, 2x day and can do some light work (computer) from home, but I'm still on a narcotic because of the discomfort.

But I'm still draining 50cc/day (sometimes a little more, but no less to date) and have been for about 5 days now. My surgeon says not to worry, and he'll see me in a week. If I drop to 30 ccs before then, go in to get the drain out.

I'm trying not to worry, but . . . .

Any advice? Wisdom? ideas?

thanks in advance!
Lisa

Comments

  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #2
    Drains
    Keep the drains in as long as you need to. You don't want to get them out too soon and have fluid build up. A friend of mine wanted to get back to work as a nurse so she told the doctor that hers were only draining 20cc's but were really draining 60-65 cc. She puled out the drain herself and then went back to work and ended up having to have the fluid build up taken out each day when she went into work. She told me that she would never do that again.

    For the pain--I can't help you because I was driving with my drains in 3 days after my surgery.

    Hugs,
    Margo
  • LadyParvati
    LadyParvati Member Posts: 328
    #3
    Drains & Pain
    One of my nurses told me that everyone is different--some people drain a lot, others not so much. If your doctor isn't expressing concern, then you probably don't need to worry. It seems that different doctors have different opinions on how much your drainage should drop before they remove the drains, too, as mine told me it had to drop below 15 cc for 2-3 days before it could be removed.

    As for pain, I heard of a study that demonstrated that narcotics actually extend the length of time people feel pain. Apparently the narcotics interfere with healing somehow? I'll see if I can find the study.

    Hang in there--you WILL get to feeling better, day by day!

    Sandy
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #4
    LadyParvati said:

    Drains & Pain
    One of my nurses told me that everyone is different--some people drain a lot, others not so much. If your doctor isn't expressing concern, then you probably don't need to worry. It seems that different doctors have different opinions on how much your drainage should drop before they remove the drains, too, as mine told me it had to drop below 15 cc for 2-3 days before it could be removed.

    As for pain, I heard of a study that demonstrated that narcotics actually extend the length of time people feel pain. Apparently the narcotics interfere with healing somehow? I'll see if I can find the study.

    Hang in there--you WILL get to feeling better, day by day!

    Sandy

    one of my drains stayed in
    one of my drains stayed in for 17 days dropped to an acceptable level for two days. drain was taken out and Ihad to have 160 cc aspirated . it didnt hurt he wanted to put another drain in and ibegged him to just wtch and see. he wrapped my chest in two ace bandages (( am bilateral) nad I had to do that for 6 weeks, never accumulated again. My husband had to help me. My breast surgeon was very skeptical then impressed, (it was the plasic surgeion) darned if it didnt work and I HATED the drain
  • Wolfi
    Wolfi Member Posts: 425
    #5
    Keep doing what you're doing
    Lisa,

    Draining 50cc per day is too much to have the drain removed just yet. I didn't have my drains removed until they had been below 30cc for at least two days in a row.

    Keep walking and doing your computer work but remember to rest enough every day, too.

    A few months from now it will be hard to remember what you're going through.

    Take care.
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #6
    Wolfi said:

    Keep doing what you're doing
    Lisa,

    Draining 50cc per day is too much to have the drain removed just yet. I didn't have my drains removed until they had been below 30cc for at least two days in a row.

    Keep walking and doing your computer work but remember to rest enough every day, too.

    A few months from now it will be hard to remember what you're going through.

    Take care.

    Yes, keep the drains in as
    Yes, keep the drains in as long as you can. Don't take them out too soon.

    Hugs, Leeza
  • jk1952
    jk1952 Member Posts: 613
    #7
    jnl said:

    Yes, keep the drains in as
    Yes, keep the drains in as long as you can. Don't take them out too soon.

    Hugs, Leeza

    Please don't rush having

    Please don't rush having your drains out. I had to have the last one removed because it was plugged and then had to have the fluid aspirated a couple times after that. I really cringe when a needle comes my way and I told my doctor that he must have gone to the large animal veterinary supply store for the needle and syringe they used.

    As far as pain is concerned, you might want to try taking 3 Advil every six hours. This has always worked great for me and has allowed me to limit the time that I can't drive. You can always go back to the narcotics, if the Advil doesn't give you the relief that you need.

    Joyce
  • blazytracy
    blazytracy Member Posts: 157
    #8
    Drain is a PAIN
    Hi Lisa,

    I had a modified radical masectomy on the right side with 24 lymph nodes removed and only had 1 drain.

    My drain tube was not taken out until the 26th day post surgery!!!!!!! It was a REAL PAIN, putting it mildly.. they told me I could get it removed when it was draining 30cc or less for two days in a row..well that NEVER happened.

    They finally just pulled it because they said the irritation alone from the tube was causing the drainage.

    I was never so happy to get that darn thing out!! So anything can happen, keep in touch with your surgeon and let him know exactly what is going on and for how long.. he will know what is best.

    I even bought myself one of those "ID badge hooks" that comes on an elastic necklace and put it around my neck in the shower - that saved me many curse words..

    Hope you have a SPEEDY recovery!
    Tracy
  • m_azingrace
    m_azingrace Member Posts: 399
    #9
    blazytracy said:

    Drain is a PAIN
    Hi Lisa,

    I had a modified radical masectomy on the right side with 24 lymph nodes removed and only had 1 drain.

    My drain tube was not taken out until the 26th day post surgery!!!!!!! It was a REAL PAIN, putting it mildly.. they told me I could get it removed when it was draining 30cc or less for two days in a row..well that NEVER happened.

    They finally just pulled it because they said the irritation alone from the tube was causing the drainage.

    I was never so happy to get that darn thing out!! So anything can happen, keep in touch with your surgeon and let him know exactly what is going on and for how long.. he will know what is best.

    I even bought myself one of those "ID badge hooks" that comes on an elastic necklace and put it around my neck in the shower - that saved me many curse words..

    Hope you have a SPEEDY recovery!
    Tracy

    drain, pain & pain med
    I had lumpectomy & lymph node removal, and came home with a drain and heavy duty pain meds. The pain meds bothered me more than the drain. They made me goofy (goofier?) and I was concerned that they would constipate me. After the second day I switched to tylenol and by the end of the first week I stopped that too. Everyone's pain tolerance is different, and maybe I have a higher threshold than others? The drain stayed in until I returned to the surgeon, and I have to say the drain was a real pain! Always in the way, and I was always concerned that it might snag on something and pull loose (but of course, it didn't), and I was close to paranoid about infection at the entry site. The first few times HubbyDearest helped empty it, and that was awkward. He's got 2 left thumbs, and tried so hard not to cause discomfort, well...it was almost funny. I was sooo glad to have it gone!!
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #10
    I have a unilateral
    I have a unilateral mastectomy on Oct 21 2009. 1 drain was taken out 2 weeks later when it was below 20 drainage for 3 days. The second was taken out at 4 weeks with the drainage still in the 30 - 40 range but surgeon didn't want to leave it in longer as he felt that the irritation of it being in could be increasing the drainage. (I saw surgeon every week during this time.) 1 week and 2 days after the last one was taken out, this AM there is swelling that feels like it's fluid filled so I'm off to the Urgent Care in a few minutes to get it checked out.

    Susan
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #11
    blazytracy said:

    Drain is a PAIN
    Hi Lisa,

    I had a modified radical masectomy on the right side with 24 lymph nodes removed and only had 1 drain.

    My drain tube was not taken out until the 26th day post surgery!!!!!!! It was a REAL PAIN, putting it mildly.. they told me I could get it removed when it was draining 30cc or less for two days in a row..well that NEVER happened.

    They finally just pulled it because they said the irritation alone from the tube was causing the drainage.

    I was never so happy to get that darn thing out!! So anything can happen, keep in touch with your surgeon and let him know exactly what is going on and for how long.. he will know what is best.

    I even bought myself one of those "ID badge hooks" that comes on an elastic necklace and put it around my neck in the shower - that saved me many curse words..

    Hope you have a SPEEDY recovery!
    Tracy

    Yes, drains are a pain, but,
    Yes, drains are a pain, but, keep them in until the doctor says so. You don't want any fluid buildup if they are removed too soon.

    Sue :)
  • lisamcsherry
    lisamcsherry Member Posts: 29
    #12
    Rague said:

    I have a unilateral
    I have a unilateral mastectomy on Oct 21 2009. 1 drain was taken out 2 weeks later when it was below 20 drainage for 3 days. The second was taken out at 4 weeks with the drainage still in the 30 - 40 range but surgeon didn't want to leave it in longer as he felt that the irritation of it being in could be increasing the drainage. (I saw surgeon every week during this time.) 1 week and 2 days after the last one was taken out, this AM there is swelling that feels like it's fluid filled so I'm off to the Urgent Care in a few minutes to get it checked out.

    Susan

    i hope this turned out ok for you
    and that there are no further complications???
  • lisamcsherry
    lisamcsherry Member Posts: 29
    #13
    y'all are so great
    I won't be taking my drain out too soon -- looks like maybe Friday of this week (I finally dropped below 50 cc/day and the color is a light orange/dark yellow).

    I'll stop taking Dilaudid when the drains comes out and switch entirely to Tylenol. It's too painful otherwise. (I slept through an overnight and late the next morning, missing a dose and it took a whole day to get on top of the resulting pain and discomfort).

    Thanks for the encouragement. I guess I just needed to hear it from someone who's 'been there', rather than my knowledgeable but male surgeon.

    :-)

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