May have to have incision opened and drained...scared

My husband says I'm being silly to be scared about the pain of having an incision opened when I've been through a major surgery but he doesn't understand that some of it is just plain exhaustion and wanting to be done with this part and be healing, correctly.

My main incision, the one above my belly button, is oozing and my doctor says it looks like an absess.  She even tried popping it, holy crap did that hurt.  They cultured the drainage and depending on what the culture says on Friday they may have to open the wound, drain it, and pack it. 

Does this hurt very much?

I don't now how the procedure works or how painful it is but please keep us posted. I'm glad you went to the doc to have it checked out.

--gina

doesn't sound pleasant, but they will probably give you a local anesthetic so you won't feel it when they do it.

What has your surgeon said about this?  I would be cautious about depending on a pcp rather than my surgeon to access the problem.  The belly button incision is the largest and most difficult to heal so you may be experiancing the norm. Hope the culture comes back negative. Best wishes.

It's actually about 2 inches above my belly button and I'm pretty comfortable with my PCP since he's also a surgeon.  He's done my c-section, gallbladder removal, and hysterectomy.  While I only had a slight incision problem with the hysterectomy it didn't need to be opened but he did have to keep a pretty close eye on it.

I am glad you have a surgeon to look at it.

 It is a little pain but it is not bad.  I had to have it done twice.  I reconmend that you think about something else or talk.  When they are finish opening it up pain stop but it might bleed a good bit.  The worst part for me was cleaning it because you have to stick the Q tip into the hole.

I had something similar happen with my c-section incision that went from just below my belly button and downward. They wanted me to take 2 percoset before I came in and they were going to pop it open. So I went home that night and was putting warm compresses on it to help draw the infection out. Went back the next day and they were surprised with the change. So from there they were able to just wick it with some string gauze and I was to keep doing the warm compresses on it. Really really helped. :D

I had several abcesses that had to be debreded and drained due to a fistual and gastric leak. In each case the area was given a local to numb it. That was the worst of it. Once numbed the area was lanced, drained and debreded. Then I was given a course of antibiotics and pain pills, which I used the first day, but after that it didn't really hurt.

Blessings,
Maddie

Ugh!....My incision got infected too!....and I was praying that I didn't have to have it drained. After reading other posters here, it doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would be.

My pcp put me on the strongest antibiotic available outside of a hospital setting - and it kicked the infection. Are you already on an antibiotic?

Sending you hugs and hopes that it all goes well for you. I know that the infection wiped out my energy too. Take care of you!