question about drain tubes

I dont recall my dr mentioning anything about the drain tube during the consultation.. what is it, where is it, how long does it stay in, and does everyone have one. I know he mentioned something about a tube for the lapband procedure but then said he rarely ever recommends that. Is it in a postion where we can clean it daily to prevent infection? I was just curious thanks

I came home with a drain tube.. it felt soooo much better when it came out at the first week appointment post op..I didnt have any problem with it because I wore my belly band to keep it supported as they reccomended. It scared me so I just wiped around it,,, didnt shower for the first week.. but the 10 seconds of heck when it was pulled out was worth it because it was amost like instant pain relief!!! Mine was slighly lower than my left boob...but since I am 50 and n ot a "perky" as I was in my younger years... you can imagin where it was... Linda

Hi Kathy- I had some complications and came home with 4 drain tubes and a feeding tube, but that is pretty unusual. I have known several people who either didn't have one or it was removed before they came home. As for cleaning it - we just kept it wiped good all around it and had no problems. I had no pain from mine at all, until about the last day when one of them just started feeling uncomfortable. And, when they removed mine there was no pain or problems, just odd noises. While I had these complications - I would do it again tomorrow if I had too. Lisa

I had Dr. Evanson, and I didn't have a drain tube. The buzz is that Dr. Evanson and Dr. Inman don't usually put one in. I don't know how true that is.

Hi Kathy! Welcome to the boards! I came home with 1 drainage tube...like Linda, at the incison on the left side. I did take a shower daily and had no problems with it. After I showered, I used a gauze to pat-dry around ea*****ision...including the one with the drain tube. I got it out at my 1 week appointment. Getting it removed reminded me of pulling a lawn mowers rip cord It wasn't as bad as the one I had for my gall bladder though. I would guess that it's MAYBE a foot in length, if that. The one for my gall bladder was about 3' (according to Bill...I wouldn't look). They pull it quick so it's over-with fast. And like Linda said, you feel 100% better afterward. That night, you will sleep like a baby! Sherri

I had Dr. Inman and didn't come home with a drain tube. I did have a drain tube when I had my mastectomy. My surgeon put me on antibiotics while I had it in to prevent infection, other than that, you can shower like normal.

I had my surgery on Dec. 20 and Dr. Inman was my surgeon. I had complications with my surgery, my spleen cracked during my surgery due to some scar tissue there from my previous gall bladder surgery. As result I ended up in the hospital for 9 days. I came home with 2 tubes for drainage and a g-tube. When I left the hospital Dr. Inman said that those drainage tubes could come out when they were measuring 30 cc or less in a 24 period of time. They were removed a week later. I met with Dr Inman after one month past surgery, and she said she is now planning for people to keep their g-tube for at least 6 weeks. She wants me to keep mine for 7 weeks. For a while I was on a very strong antibiotic and was instructed to put the medicine through the g-tube. In the beginning you can also put protein drinks or water through that tube if you are short at the end of the day. It is almost impossible in the beginning to get everything in. Hope that helps. Karen

What is a g-tube?

G-tube stands for gastric feeding tube...as apposed to a nasogastric. Gastric tubes are placed into the stomach via a tube right thru the abdomen and a nasogastric is placed down the nose and into the stomach....which is the on we can never have becouse our pouch is so small. A feeding tube is a medical device used to provide nutrition to patients who cannot or refuse to (cf. hunger strike) obtain nutrition by swallowing. The state of being fed by a feeding tube is called enteral feeding or tube feeding. Placement may be temporary for the treatment of acute conditions or lifelong in the case of chronic disabilities. Many patients treated using a feeding tube lack the ability to survive on their own without such technology. A variety of feeding tubes are used in medical practice. They are usually made of polyurethane or silicone. The diameter of a feeding tube is measured in French units (each French unit equals 0.33 millimeters). They are classified by site of insertion and intended use. I hope this helps Mariah