Like most surgical procedures, you may experience health complications after undergoing a mastectomy surgery. Most mastectomy surgeons ensure that the benefits of the mastectomy outweigh the possible post-mastectomy health complications.
Therefore, in this article, we will discuss some of the common health problems and complications you may experience shortly after undergoing a mastectomy.
Blood Clots
Small blood clots may develop during surgery, and could even travel in the blood stream to your legs and lungs. Additionally, the blood clots may develop after you start medication. A blood clot specifically very dangerous as it may cause arterial blockage, or even a heart failure.
Ordinarily, the attending nurses will inject adrenaline shots after surgery to wake you up. Afterward, the nurse will direct you to walk around to ensure proper blood circulation in your limbs as walking improve oxygen intake too.
Your doctor, on the other hand, can inject blood thinners before, during, and after the mastectomy surgery.
Intrinsically, anticoagulants help reduce the risk of blood clots. Healthcare experts recommend wearing special clothing such as anti-embolism stockings that help prevent blood clots.
Seroma
The breast tissue remaining after a mastectomy may accumulate fluid once the scar starts healing. Inherently, the accumulated fluid causes significant pain (especially if the drainage is insufficient). Furthermore, the fluid exposes your wound infections, which prolongs your hospital stay.
However, the doctor may manually drain the fluid with a needle and syringe or recommend properly designed mastectomy bras to ensure proper drainage.
Loss of Energy and Fatigue
It is natural for your body to feel weak and tired after surgery. Gradually, your body weakness and fatigue occur due to loss of blood, reduced calorie intake, or heavy medication. As such, it would help to talk to your doctor if the fatigue and loss of energy prolong past a few weeks after a mastectomy.
Bleeding Scar
You may notice a few bloodspots on your bra or wound dressing when changing your clothes or cleaning the wound. Primarily, a few blood stains are perfectly normal and a good indication that the scar is receiving blood (blood carries anti-bodies that hasten the healing process).
However, in case of excessive bleeding, it would help to reduce your movements (especially arms and shoulder movements) and notify your nurse or doctor immediately.
Wound Infections
You ought to avoid the development of an infection on a mastectomy scar at all costs. Once your scar is infected, you may notice several signs and symptoms, including a swollen breast area, pain and fluid oozing out from the scar, and high fever (or very low body temperatures).
Notify your doctor immediately when you notice any of these signs and symptoms.
Shoulder Stiffness and Nerve Pain
There is always a high probability of a mastectomy surgery destroying nerve connections in your shoulder and back area. You may experience numbness, tingling sensations, or sharp pains on your chest wall and shoulders as a result of that damage.
Additionally, the pain may cause shoulder stiffness, making it difficult to lift your arm or carry heavy objects.
Ensure to contact your doctor once the pain and shoulder stiffness start manifesting. Often, your doctor will prescribe painkiller medications to ease the nerve pain, and physiotherapy to help improve your shoulder movements.
Haematoma
Your scar needs to stay clear of any fluid buildup, including blood accumulation. As much as blood supply is essential for the scar to heal, accumulated blood may cause swelling and excruciating pain around the scar.
Most haematomas will eventually disappear after a few months. However, if there is significant discomfort, your doctor will manually drain the haematoma.
Cording
Your breasts have connecting tissues that extend to the armpits. The connective tissues may get inflamed once the doctor removes some of the affected breast tissue during a mastectomy.
An inflamed connective tissue causes pain and significant tension, which may hinder shoulder movement and make breathing painful.
Therefore, you need to notify your nurse or doctor and have them address the scar tissue in the armpit. Physiotherapy treatments together with anti-inflammatory medications are more effective here.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, a mastectomy may result in a few health complications as discussed above, despite its effectiveness in reducing the effects of breast cancer. Ensure that you work closely with your nurse and doctor to control post-mastectomy complications for a full and speedy recovery.
