Dear webstirdrum44: It is not uncommon for fluid to collect under the skin after breast surgery. This is not lymphedema. Over time, this will reabsorb. If the pain is not tolerable, the fluid can be drained but it may reaccumulate. It could take weeks for this to resolve.
Hi - this forum is not answered at weekends. Your swelling could be a seroma - I had this after axillary clearance and it lasted nearly 4 weeks. I had to go to the hospital to have it drained every 2 or 3 days. It will clear up in time, but the only way to get rid of the pain is to have it drained.
Hope this helps - isn't there another surgeon or breast care nurse you can see? Sometimes my surgeon did it, others my breast nurse.
Liz.
such a swelling is not rare, and is not lymphedema. Lymphedema is swelling within tissues and with breast surgery generally refers to a swollen arm. This is serum; a seroma, as was mentioned above. It happens fairly commonly. It goes away eventually but may have to be drained several times before it does. How often depends partly on discomfort. Last resort is to insert another drain into the area, but with implants in place it's desireable not to, to reduce the risk of infection. The good news is it's not something to worry about , and it will go away. The bad news is it's hard to predict; it could be days or weeks.