Question:
Pain from Drainage holes
My tummy tuck looks great, not that much swelling, I had it done March 23rd 2004 at UIC, I am having alot of pain from one of the drainage spots, I'll move the tube and it will hurt for hours, I don't have that much drainage but still some. How long was it before the doc's took you guys drainage tubes out? — Kimberly C. (posted on March 29, 2004)
March 29, 2004
Hi,
I know the feeling and my tubes were out in 7 days, i had pain on my right
side but it was because my drain was clogged up so they had to flush it and
restart the drain again..they told me I had to keep stripping the tube to
keep it flowing, its hard to explain how to do this but maybe as the dr to
show you, your luck I had so much swelling I had gained more weight from
the swelling and fluid. Congrats on the new tummy!! ~Tina~ 130
feel better and good luck
— Lovett
March 29, 2004
Hi, I had my tummy tuck performed on March 12th and I STILL HAVE these dang
drainage bags--literally strapped to my ankles. When I went for my 1 week
post op hoping he would remove them--he said no earlier than 3 weeks. Dr.
John Polley at RUSH, Dr. Madura (who did my gastric bypass) performed the
hernia repair. AWESOME job, but I absolutely hate the drainage bags. Being
that you are not quite a week, you should still be taking antibiotics, is
the site red? Any discharge from the site? Those are the things I was told
to look for. Also, how are your panties fitting in relation to where the
holes are (mine are at the top of my pubic area, 2 of them? Underwear
could be causing strain on the area. You also mentioned you did not get
much drainage--where are you keeping your bags? I found out the hard way
that they need to be low, not strapped to your sides. The gravity is what
pulls the fluid into the bag. You also have to make sure that you squeeze
the bottle and then seal it because that is what draws the fluid out. I now
have the tubes taped to my thighs with the bags secured by a cut off knee
high stocking. By the way, did you get a new belly button? When will they
take out the sutures, for it and the ones across your hips? He told me
"a few weeks" which is not an answer in my book. My surgery was
on the 12th and I was back to work, full duty on the 17th, no pain killers,
drainage bags and all.
— corpdiva2005
March 29, 2004
Wow!! I never realized that after a TT the drains stayed in so long.
With my RNY one came out 24 hours after, and the 2nd was the day after
that. Can anyone tell me an average length of time, and what determines
it---drainage, the Dr's preference?? I am NOT looking forward to this.
Thanks!!
— Fixnmyself
March 29, 2004
Dr. Polley, my Plastic Surgeon (who's awesome by the way), said it's a
minimum of 3 weeks--maybe I'll get them out Thursday which is 1 day shy of
3 weeks. In a way I'm glad that they are still in there because I need the
fluid to go somewhere. My pubic area is HUGE! In pants I look like a boy.
— corpdiva2005
March 31, 2004
I win! I'm 5-1/2 weeks (Feb 23rd) PO from a lower body lift and still have
drains. I originally had 5 all exiting in the pubic area. I got one
removed at 2-1/2 weeks and the rest at 3 weeks and 1 day. They were
removed only because he was concerned of leaving them in any longer for
fear of infection. However, we knew I would likely have problems as two of
the drains were still producing 200 cc's a day each when removed. My docs
criteria for removal is that he won't remove any before 2 weeks and then
the fluid production should be below 30cc's.
<p>After my drains were removed 3 days later I had one installed in
the lower abdomen. He immediately removed 350cc's of fluid. Then 3 days
later the left hip had accumulated a ton of fluid and hurt so bad. So a
drain was put in there and 680cc's of fluid were removed immediately.
Tomorrow I'm going back to the PS and he is going to remove these two
drains and then plans on placing a "real" drain next Monday. The
two drains I have right now are really catheter drains so they are very
small in diameter and very short, so they are not covering the whole area
affected with fluid. A real drain is about 8-10 inches long and would
cover the entire area I have problems in. It also is larger in diameter
and much less chance of it getting plugged. I think this will be an
outpatient procedure at the surgery center, but not sure. I suspect once
that drain is in I will have it for at least 1-2 weeks, which will put me
pretty close to 2 months PO and still dealing with drains. I guess I'm
just lucky. There is no way to predict who will have drainage issues. One
just has to hope for the best.
<p>I would suspect you have an infection related to that drain that
is causing pain. I'd call the doc and let them know. I've pretty much
been on antibiotics since surgery. The constantly arising yeast
infections, both mouth and genitals, is getting real old. I can get rid of
it but then it surfaces again because I'm still on the crap. I hope I get
off of them soon.
<p>As big a pain in the butt as the drains are they are not the end
of the world. It's just a bump in the road of recovery. Whining about it
isn't going to improve the situation so I just grin and bear it.
— zoedogcbr
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