TOTALLY freaking OUT!!

I was blotting the greenish oozing stuff out of the open part of my incision and when I lifted the gauze it looked like a piece of gauze was left, so I grabbed it and pulled out a bunch of stitches from beneath the skin - it wasnt a piece of gauze it was thread from the stitches. I called my doctor (who is back in town) and told her I am badly infected and that my PCP put me on antibiotics and about the stitches - she wants me to meet her at 9AM in her office to "drain" my wound - has anyone had this done? is it as awful as it sounds? she had me shower and put my shower head right up against the wound and flu**** out as much as possible tonight, which REALLY hurt, but draining it sounds even worse! -Sherrie

Ummmm - ewwwww. That doesn't sound fun at all. Did your PCP or surgeon mention Hydrogen Peroxide? That'll help with any infection. It doesn't hurt - just foams, which is a sign that it's getting to the infection. Please keep us posted as to how it goes. -Wendy

Sorry your having trouble with it, do you by chance use antibactirial soap...thats one thing that my dr said to make sure to use to help keep the infection down. I had major infection after my apendix surgery in 86 and had to have surgery again to open it up. I doubt that draining is going to be that bad but i would take some pain med before your appt. to make sure. LaRhonda

Hello Sherrie , I am kinda in the same boat as you, although the funk that is oozing out of my incision is not green it is more milky brownish kinda color which the dr's office keeps telling me is normal, the open part of my incision keeps opening up a little more each day and a little more seems to be ozzzing out of it. They had mentioned to me that if i didn't stop oozing by my appointment (which is tomorrow afternoon) that they would probably drain me also. I'm pretty worried myself, but im hoping it isn't going to hurt that bad and if it gets rid of the oozing then im all for it. The oozing of the funk is just very uncomfortable for me. Im not sure how your dealing with that, i hope that compared to that the draining will be a breeze cause the oozzing for me is just a big pain in the butt. Good luck Sherrie I'm sure your going to be just fine, and you will feel so much better when it is over.

i too had some oozing, that was brownish. I used peroxide to clean it which just foams up, and covered it with clean gauze. Being a diabetic, it takes a little longer to heal and i had two places where my port is that took longer to close. Thank goodness they have healed. Lynette

I just had this done today. I too had some stitches come out 2 days ago, and the oozy crap is greenish. They put me on antibiotics. WHen they stuck the qtip in it today it didn't hurt just felt weird. You can take a qtip at home and clean the site out with peroxide. That helps. Be fore warned, after the dr plays around in it it will bleed a bit. I change my dressing 3 times a day and always clean it with peroxide. don't be scared to stick the qtip in the hole a bit.

Sherrie, if you can withstand the whole showering experience, the draining will be a breeze. I didn't have any problems with my incisions from the wls, but I did when I had my leg amputated. It hurt like H***!!! So don't fear. It won't be that bad. -Naomi 380/335/150

As a matter of fact I just had this done today. I too have a wound infection. he opened it up a little and then used a needle to access the puss pockets and drain out some of the puss. I was laying on the table trying hard not to freak out when he said what he was going to do. As it turns out he used novocaine first to numb it. it was uncomfortable at times but nothing really bad. I was surprised. However, let me tell you it hurts like $%#% right now, since he aggravated it. Also, my hubby has to pack it now with gauze and saline solution. Yeah. that was probably most uncomfortable part for me. He said it will heal from inside out and the gauze keeps it from closing up on the outside before it heals on inside. i am on strong antibiotics and strong pain killers. Was told I should have marked improvement by friday. I'll tell you the pain I'm having from this is worse than the pain after surgery. Are you having any other symptoms? Good luck to you. It will be worth it. Let me know how it turns out. ~~~Kym~~~ 03/25/04 -25

Oh, I am so sorry you are going through this! Yuck! But don't use peroxide! My doctor says it makes scarring worse! Use the antibacterial soap, but not the peroxide. Good Luck!

It is going to be so much better a couple of days after it is drained. Louise