Question:

I had a partial mastectomy about a year ago –last Monday I had a mamogram — was fine on Tuesday I noticed that the breast that had the mastectomy was bright red — same on Wednesday plus started running a fever on Wed. night -100.8* –got in touch w/Dr. and he saw me today It`s beginning to look a little better — some of the redness is fadeing — Doctor said he`d never seen anything like it –comforting –put me on an antibiotic for 10 days and will see me again on Tues. I`ve had no trouble w/the mastectomy — any thoughts on what may have caused it ?

Answer:

It sounds like you may have a bout of mastitis- which may just be coincidentally related in time to the mammogram. If you have a break in the skin and then compression, maybe a small infection may have developed that way. If you don’t respond to the antibiotics, make sure you call your surgeon. An ultrasound may identify a fluid collection (abscess) that can be drained.

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Go to the Breast Cancer health topic.