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My mom just underwent surgery to remove the fluid around her heart and in her lungs in July.
She was not having problems breathing, it was diagnosed through a CT scan. We went to the cardiologist to have an echocardiogram done, this is the gold standard for determining if fluid needs to be removed around the heart. Turns out she was in pre tapandas (sp??), this is when the fluid puts pressure on the heart so it has problems pumping. She went in to have the fluid drained and a "window" done in the lining. The take out the pericadium lining in a square, this way no fluid will ever build up again. During surgery the lung was also drained. She was under when they did this and had to stay in the hospital until the fluid stopped draining and the tube could be removed. This length of time differs for everyone. She has been fine, and test results came back negative on the fluid, which means it wasn't from her cancer, probably a side effect from chemo or Herceptin.
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