Leak question........

I am 8 days out of surgery. I had 2 drain tubes, the one on the right side always filled a lot faster than the one on the left. They pulled both of them out on Sunday morning before sending me home and put a dressing on them. By the time I got home (a hour drive) the right side was soaked. Now 4 days later the right side is still draining quite a bit, I change the pads (am using a gauze pad and a sanitary napkin) about 3 times a day. The drainage looks normal but is it normal to keep draining this long?

i would call your surgeon and ask her.
I had a leak and there was no increased leakage or any other signs except for a high fever over a few days, pain between my shoulder blades and a real feeling of being very unwell.
if in doubt call the surgeon though, if nothing else it will put your mind to rest.

yorkie xx

Yeah, they can go on for quite a while. I had very little drainage after my (open) DS, but OMG the mess after my TT!!!! I also had significant drainage after my (open) hysterectomy, especially at the bottom of the incision, which was where the most belly fat pressure was. I developed a bit of a seroma along the length of the incision as well, and when that decided to drain, it was pretty impressive, as in good thing I was standing in the shower at the time lol.

If you have zero other symptoms....No odd pain, no funky color/odor/other ickiness in the drainage, no fever, can consume your appropriate fluids and stuff okay, then you are likely just fine.

There IS such a thing as developing a leak from stomach or intestine that then comes out an incision, but from the few such occasions I've read about here, it was accompanied by really awful misery or, in one case that I recall, the OBVIOUS sign that the discharge was purple after the person drank grape juice.

HOWEVER, with ANY questions like this, CALL YOUR SURGEON. It is far better to call too often than not often enough.

Definitely something to inform the surgeon about. It could just be serous fluid - like edema fluid but from inside the abdomen - but best to get things checked.

I don't know your history...my brother also had DS, and had had some major upper abdominal surgery in the past so he had terrible scar tissue. He drained for a long time after his DS but did not have a leak, and eventually it dried up. Hope this is the same thing for you.

Larra

Definitely call the office and see what they say, Butch. My drains did not ooze for all that long but my main incision did. When Dr. Inman suspected I had a fistula (which I did) we tested with grape juice to watch the color. If you see things you drank coming out the drains, definitely something is wrong!

I also had a lot of drainage after my DS.  They pulled the drain tube at the hospital.  Once home, it seemed like I was changing gauze pads constantly.  I had some really thick ones from a previous surgery that helped so I didn't soak my nightgowns at night.  It finally stopped on its own, probably about 2 weeks after surgery.

Congrats on being switched!!

Donna

Donna

It has all but stopped draining today. I had no odd symptoms, no fever and I was drinking and eating OK so I thought that it would be OK, just wanted to see if I was in any "normal" range.

I had a leak that was discovered approximately a week after my surgery. I still had my drains in and my right drain filled faster than the left. I became suspicious when I ate green jello and green drainage showed up in my drain. My surgeon took one look and said "yep, that's a leak". This was followed by a week in the hospital on fluids and 20 days at home on IV TPN. I really hope you don't have a leak, but if you do, you will be ok eventually.