Care after lumpectomy

The operation and dressing method determine the details, so use the discharge sheet as your main guide. Keep the breast surgery contact number available and arrange help with transport, meals or lifting during early recovery if needed.

Tenderness, bruising, swelling, numbness and pulling around the incision or armpit can follow surgery. The breast may look temporarily different in shape. A small amount of staining on the dressing can occur, while a fluid collection may feel soft or firm beneath the skin.

Fatigue can continue after the anaesthetic and the physical stress of surgery. Pathology from the removed tissue helps the team discuss margins and further treatment. That conversation may cover another operation, radiotherapy, medicine treatment or surveillance, depending on the individual result.

Keep the dressing clean and dry for the period stated by the surgical unit. Wash only as instructed, pat rather than rub, and do not apply creams, powders or deodorant near an unhealed incision unless approved. If you have a drain, measure and record the fluid as taught and keep the tubing secured.

A supportive, comfortable bra may reduce pulling if your team recommends one. Take short walks and complete the gentle arm and shoulder movements provided by your clinician, stopping if the wound pulls sharply or pain escalates. Avoid heavy lifting, driving and strenuous exercise until you meet the recovery criteria given to you.

Notify the breast unit promptly about fever, spreading redness, increasing heat or swelling, worsening pain, pus, an opening wound, or fluid leaking around a drain. Sudden breast enlargement, extensive new bruising, persistent bleeding, or a drain that unexpectedly stops working also needs urgent advice.

Call emergency services if you develop sudden shortness of breath, chest pain, collapse or severe weakness. New calf swelling or pain should be assessed urgently because symptoms away from the breast can still matter after an operation.

Confirm when dressings, stitches or a drain will be reviewed and who will provide the pathology result. Ask what shoulder movement is expected, when driving and work can resume, how to obtain a replacement dressing, and what the next treatment decision will depend on.