healing of lumpectomy

[wpspaint]

I am one month out from lumpectomy- everything seemed to be ok until about 2 weeks ago when I had some kind of a "contact dermatis" in the area of my surgery- it turned really red- so the surgeon looked at it and said it was NOT infected- I had no other signs of infection either- so I have waited two weeks- the area of redness is still fading some each day and getting smaller- so I think its getting better slowly- the thing i am worried about now is that within the red area i still have alot of skin that looks like it has big pores- thats the only way I can think of to describe it- and a bulge now thats hard- when I wear a sports bra it seems to squeeze a little to much so I can only do it for a limited amount of hours each day (very inconvenient)- then whenI take it of everything looks "misshapen" like it was all squeezed up and takes some time for the bulge to flatten out a little- I don't know if I am hurting the situation or helping it by wearing bras that squeeze.  I used to wear underwire regular bras- but cannot even put one of those on now because my skin is so sensitive in the area of the surgery- the scar itself looks ok- a big dimple on one end. when I dont wear a bra i still get some soreness and pulling in the area but this is getting better to.  My question is - is this normal after a month? do I have cellulitis? what about the lump? and should I wear a sports bra that squeezes a little or not? I'm wondering if all of this is just normal- or not?
ps the dx was LCIS so it could have been worse but I have to have another mammo on Nov 8 to see if one of the clips is still in my breast- they could not find it in pathology- I KNOW that I am not healed enough for a mammo!

[japdip]

I don't think an additional surgery would have much effect on the healing process; it could even help. Definitely though the area removed MUST have clean margins under any circumstances. The clip itself is of no particular concern as many are left in place to mark an area so that it can be identified when future films are done .... clean margins are a different matter completely. I certainly would not hesitate to go ahead with the second surgery as soon as possible.  Take care .....

[wpspaint]

thanks for the info- I agree about finding someone who can "fit" me properly.  My surgeon says that if the clip is still in my breast she wants to go back in to remove it- there were 2 areas of "concern" on the mammo and stereotactic biopsy.  The 2 clips they placed at stereo were to mark areas- when i was prepped for the lumpectomy the "wire" that was placed was placed directly between the two clips instead of a separate wire for each clip- therefore the surgeon feels that if the second clip is still in the breast that she did not really remove everything she was supposed to remove and must go find it- since the path was not clean (LCIS and many areas of ALH and ADH) she doesn't want to "leave" questionable tissue- it made sense to me when she explained it but my healing has been less than optimum so I don't even fell I could have a mammo, much less ANOTHER surgery:( what is your opinion? Thank you for your help-

[japdip]

As for the bra I think you would be wise to consult a qualified "fitter" where mastectomy supplies are sold. The most important thing would be a bra that really FITS rather than one that squeezes too much as you describe. Supportive YES but anything more might be hurting more than helping.
From the description you may have some fluid accumulation in the surgical area and this could resolve itself in time but some type of supportive garment definitely should be worn and the fitter I mentioned above would be able to advise you of what might be available. Whether the clip is there or not is of no particular concern so I wouldn't worry about that. The lump you mention could be either some scar tissue developing or even a hematoma. I wouldn't say your experience could be called "normal" after this length of time and may require some treatment before things are back to normal.   Regards ...