Is this normal? 3 days post surgery. Pics.

[Elvito]

This started a few hours after surgery but I thought it would have gone down by now. My right breast is fine, but my left is very swollen. I think it was a little larger a few days ago, but not by much. Mostly I'm concerned with the discoloration and the fact that it's still leaking a very small amount of blood. My right side stopped bleeding after the first day and is for the most part swollen very little.

Is this typical? I have a follow-up with my doctor this Tuesday, and if it's no big deal I can deal with it until then. But if I'm in danger of infection or something I guess I should go to the ER? I really don't want to do that as honestly I can't afford it, but better that than a permanently disfigured chest.

[nitrox987]

I am not a doctor but it looks like an hematoma.
I developed something similar to what you have during the night after surgery and it turned out to be an hematoma.
Mine was much bigger than yours and my surgeon decided to drain it right away.
If possible, try to contact your surgeon and/or send him some pictures, he should be able to tell you whether this is really an hematoma and if there is anything you need to do before you see him on Tuesday.
Just so you know in case it's confirmed, my final result was not affected and both sides look just the same now. Only drawback was that the side with the hematoma was bruised up for about 4 weeks but the contour looked just like the other side after a week or so.
You could also try to post in the "ask a doctor" section and maybe a supporting doctor will be able to give you more information.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

If both sides were equal right after surgery and then your right side got significantly larger, that would indicate a possible hematoma.

You should contact your surgeon immediately.

Dr Jacobs

[Elvito]

Yes, they were both equal. I talked to my surgeon the night I noticed it was getting large and he said as long as it doesn't get any bigger and it's not continuously bleeding I should be alright. If anything it's gotten smaller and it's just a dab of blood here and there, almost none at this point. Based off of his advice I would say I was fine but I'm kind of concerned with it not going down by significantly by now and the fact that it's kind of yellow around the nipple. I'll call him tomorrow if it doesn't look any better, I just know he's going to say go to the er though >_>...

[Elvito]

Also, I feel that I should note that it I feel no pain at all in either breast, I've been told that hematoma comes with pain. Is this not always the case?

[George Pope, M.D.]

No, hematomas are not painful, unless they have grown to the point where they are putting undue pressure on the tissue around them.  And “Go to the ER” in my opinion is not a reasonable directive, unless your surgeon is going to meet you there.  He has an obligation after surgery to render care if you are in trouble, and it appears that you are.  The discoloration of your left nipple/areolar skin is an indication that the tissue is very stressed.   Hematomas can also get infected- another reason you should not wait on this.

Dr. Pope, MD

[Elvito]

Thank you, I just left a message on my doctor's voicemail, I suppose he'll be calling me shortly. My concern is that it's Sunday, I think his office only sees patients Tuesdays/Thursdays. I'm not familiar with the legalities of this though, if he's required to see me on an off day if it's a case of an emergency or not.

[Elvito]

I sent him the pictures and he doesn't seem to be too concerned, he wants me to come see him tomorrow. At first he said that if it was a black color it would be dying flesh, but he said it's just bruised from the stretching after looking at the picture.

[Elvito]

I just got back from seeing him, he re-opened the wound and had to squeeze the blood out because it clotted so bad. He tried a syringe at first but that didn't work. He stitched it back up and I'm going back next week if nothing happens again, but he said there was no internal bleeding that he saw so I should be good to go.

[nitrox987]

Glad it got taken care of.
Good luck in your recovery man.

[Elvito]

Wow, shortly after posting that my breast swelled up again and started bleeding profusely. I called my surgeon and he met me at the emergency room and I stayed at the hospital overnight. Got back a few hours ago. Apparently something inside the breast was damaged and caused it to continuously bleed. That was crazy though, now it's been about 20 hours since the surgery and there's not more swelling. It appears to be over... so much for saving myself from going to the er...

[George Pope, M.D.]

Elvito,

Any follow up info or photos?  Hope your recovery is going well.

Dr. Pope, MD

[Elvito]

It seems to be healing alright, though it's a bit depressed around the nipple. My doctor said that it will take some time but it will come back. I have a follow-up visit tomorrow morning, I think he's going to remove the stitches if he thinks everything looks alright. The other side still has a little bit of swelling but it's been close to two weeks since it's been touched and it looks pretty good I believe. After my trip to the ER I took some time off work just to allow things to mend a bit, I go back tomorrow night. Pics below.