• You will be provided with a surgical bra at the facility. Do not wear anything tight or compressive over the breast for the first week after a mastectomy. No underwire for six weeks following surgery.

• Wear a supportive bra 24 hours a day for the next three months.

• You will need to be seen for a series of post-operative visits. These are usually scheduled prior to surgery and will be within the first week after surgery and weekly after that. If you do not have these scheduled, please call the office and arrange for those.

• You may shower 48 hours after surgery.

• Do NOT submerge your incisions for 6 weeks after surgery and/or until after all incisions are healed. This includes swimming and soaking in the tub.

• No lifting any weight during the first week after surgery. After that you may lift the equivalent of a gallon of milk, or less than ten pounds, for the next four weeks.

• Frequent ambulation and movement is critical after surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots. Please get up and walk around every two hours after surgery while awake. Pump your feet and calves every hour after surgery. All surgical patients are at increased risk of developing clots in the legs that can travel to the lungs. Purchasing graduated compression socks and wearing them at all times for the first two weeks after surgery can reduce this risk.

• Do NOT apply heat or ice to the chest wall.

Antibiotics and Drain Care:

• You need to be on antibiotics as long as the drains are in. If you run out of antibiotics, please contact the office for a refill. Once both drains are removed, you will need to continue taking antibiotics for the next three days.

• Drain site dressings need to be changed 48hrs after surgery, sooner if dressings are soiled. You should have been sent home with Bio-Patches (small round disc) and Tegaderm (small clear dressing) from the hospital. Those are changed every three days. You may shower daily. On the third day, remove outer dressing and Bio-Patch. Shower, pat dry, and replace with new Bio-Patch and outer dressing.

• For further drain care instructions, please refer to the Suction Drain Care Instructions and Tracking Sheet you were sent home with at your pre-op appointment.

Diet: Please start with sprite, ginger ale, or other clear liquids after surgery. Advance diet if tolerated to avoid nausea.

You may need assistance to get up to the restroom or walk after surgery. Sit at the edge of bed to allow your body to adjust prior to standing. If dizzy, you should not attempt to get out of bed without assistance.

Please call the office if:

• There is bleeding that does not stop with pressure to the site.

• There is green or yellow drainage from the surgical sites.

• The incision(s) start to open, widen, or become deeper.

• There is spreading or increasing redness at the surgery sites.

• You experience fever (greater than 101 F or 38.3 C), chills, severe nausea or vomiting that doesn’t respond to medications.

• Worsening and uncontrolled pain that does not respond to appropriate pain medications provided.

• Severe swelling, rapidly swelling breast on one side, increasing pain, or severe dizziness that does not resolve with fluids.