A bump in the...road? No, on the back...

The day after my 2nd Survivorversary Kelli was rubbing my back and she asked, "what's that bump on your back?".  She showed me in the mirror where it was.  It was the exact spot I was trying to get Jim to scratch for me the night before.  He had noticed it the night before but didn't say anything. 

So the good thing about Kelli finding it that morning is that I already happened to have my regularly scheduled appointment with my Breast Oncologist, Dr. Green that afternoon.

Dr. Green checked me over and all looks great!  Nothing unusual except for my "bump".
She really wasn't sure what it was.  She thought maybe it was muscle bulking up that was overcompensating for the Latissimus Dorsi that was missing because of my reconstruction. 

Dr. Green walked over to the Reconstruction clinic to see if she could flag down my Plastic Surgeon.  He wasn't available but Gordon, his PA was. 

Talk about service...I didn't have to go to him to have him look at my "bump".  He came to me in Dr. Green's clinic.

Gordon's theory was different than Dr. Green's.  He thought that the muscle was slipping and it would eventually atrophy. Dr. Green thought that made sense.

They told me to watch it and if it became bothersome or bigger then they would order some imaging to be done on it.  I asked, "so no ultrasound today?".  Dr. Green told me the same thing "watch and wait".  I guess I made an unhappy face because she said, "you don't like that idea???".  I told her, "yesterday was my 2nd Survivorversary and I would like to continue to enjoy this time but with this thing on my back...I'll be wondering".  Gordon said, "let's go ahead and order an ultrasound".  Dr. Green wrote up the orders :).

There were no openings on the 8th for an ultrasound but I did get to have one on the 9th.

The preliminary findings on the ultrasound report from the Radiologist were that I have a probable seroma. 

Here's the definition of seroma - "A mass or swelling caused by the localized accumulation of serum within a tissue or organ". 

My understanding is that it is fluid build up.  Kind of like a blister.  The "bump" is just above, on and under the incision on my back from my reconstruction donor site.

Gordon called me Friday afternoon to give me the preliminary report.  He said it was big enough to warrant draining it.  Most times they reabsorb into your body.

Originally I had planned to have it drained the week after Christmas when my Plastic Surgeon would be back from vacation.

Over the weekend the seroma became bigger and now uncomfortable.  Not really painful, then again maybe a little painful.  There is a lot of pressure.  What I don't know is if it only swells out towards the skin or if it swells the other direction also.  That may be the reason for the pain plus the skin is stretching.

My Plastic Surgeon's clinic was able to work me into the schedule tomorrow afternoon.  Gordon told me it's an in office procedure.  It's kind of like a fine needle biopsy on your breast.  They will also take a sample of the fluid to make sure there is no infection or anything else going on. 

The "bump" on my back honestly looks like a little boob.  My new saying is "you can cut the breasts off of me but they'll grow back somewhere else". 

Laughter is good medicine!

Please pray for my procedure tomorrow afternoon and pray that it truly is nothing more than a seroma. 

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers!!!

Love and Blessings From the Top of My Heart,

Moni
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