I had a double mastectomy a month ago. At the same time I was giving a compression bra and drains on both sides to eliminate the fluid within what used to be my breasts. It is extremely important that your drains are massage and move the accumulation of tissue etc down the drains. I had a nurse everyday in the morning to help with that and then I did it in the evening. There was a big problem though, one of the dreams was not maintaining suction which is necessary to move the fluid downward. I thought it was a faulty bowl at the end of the drain but no it was the actual drain getting air into it from coming out of where it was stitched. I had to have that breast fluid removed four times both in the emergency room and the doctor's office without a total of over 1 and 1/2 cups in one breast. Not only is this uncomfortable and painful but the longer the fluid stays in the breast the more chance there is of infection. So I was put on antibiotics and give an intravenous antibiotics as well. My breasts are still hard red and painful but not as large as they were when I first had them drained. It's very important that the connection area be checked and if it is not completely in your skin it needs to be changed. Yes all of this is a little bit overwhelming, maybe more than that, but for my procedure to remove the expansion that was put in my breast if I wanted to have reconstruction and now to remove that expander, it is necessary to have another surgery.
Yes it seems like this procedure can go on forever but all of the cancer hopefully was removed from both my breasts that had cancer and precancer. Hopefully it is life sparing and I will not have any future problems. Good luck with your experiences and be sure to check the drainage of your breasts as well as wearing your compression bra which I did do and slept in for about a month. Sincerely I do wish you the very very best and hope that we can share and being cancer-free - survivors. Good luck.