I now have an internal infection

Thank you for your info. I go back to see him tomorrow. I'll ask him more questions then. I was just taken back by what he was saying at the last visit. Now that I know he isnt just being weird, I can ask more questions. What else should I ask him, that I haven't thought of here so far?

Do you guys know of anything I can do in the meantime to possibly help out my situation? I am staying in bed yesterday and today. I am taking the meds as prescribed, and I am saying my prayers. Any other suggestions?

Are you still smoking? Dropping the tobacco will be a big help in letting your body heal.

I quit smoking well before surgery. And I don't think that would have affected whether intestinal fluid got into my wound or not. All other incisions are healing nicely. I am not nausiated, just the pain from the infection. I am getting plenty of fluids, plenty of protein, and i'm otherwise healthy. 

As for the smoking. I am very glad I quit before surgery. Was it hard? Hell yes, but I did it!

you having to go back to work is unfortunate. otherwise you'll be ok. i had similar. can't really tell from a post on the internet how bad your own is. your description of it sounds pretty general / standard. my feeling is not much to concern yourself with. the pain can be bad, but will get better. if your surgery was an overall success i think your doc's attitude might be casual as to not alarm you. if you are in a BUNCH of pain and think something internally is the matter, let him know. some of us have lower pain thresholds than others, however. and remember that not all pain killers are narcotics 

every two days? maybe, maybe not. ask him what you can do for yourself in the meantime at home. i don't recall much as it was several years ago but i had a small tube coming out my side. that area became infected and painful with movement. the kind of movement you describe. i remember one incident when i thought something was seriously wrong it was so painful. but nothing was in all reality, it just hurt like hell. make sure they take a good look and do all they can for you, and ask about what you can do for yourself, also. might not be much but maybe it can speed things along a bit?

good luck!

I have had wound abscesses,  two from infected mesh (hernia surgery complications) and one from a piece of mesh or suture (Dr. wasn't able to tell which) that broke loose from a previous hernia surgery and got infected.

For the first abscess I was on a wound vac, for me it made things worse .. the wound took forever to heal, got reinfected, the wound tunneled down resulting in a secondary surgery.. it was not fun. For others a wound vac is a god send.. maybe it was my allergy to latex that made it an issue for me. Home Health Care came out every 5 days to change the foam, dressing and canister.

The other abscess was the size of a large onion, they left the wound open and packed it with wet to dry gauze.

My Dr. had Home Health Care come out, they came out once a day for a week and taught a family member how to change the packing.. after that week, HHC came out once a week to check on the wound and take measurements. My packing was changed daily by a family member.

for me, it was more scary than painful.. yes I was sore and the packing shifted with movement so there was always a dull ache there.. it burned a some as the packing was being removed and replaced, but nothing a half of pain pill didn't solve.

I up'd my protein intake to help aid in healing, this one took 6 weeks to heal 100% .. I am allergic to latex so we had to be creative with bandages and use medical adhesive remover to remove all previous adhesive and shower time was a challenge but I found a decent solutions.. I can tell you more about that and what products I used if you need/ want me to.

I would think going back to work would depend on how demanding your job is and how much pain you are in. - just reread and see you say you work from home, I was able to sit up and do computer work without a problem.. I wasn't on pain meds other than for bandage time to dull the burning sensation. 

I am surprised he is doing the procedure in his office, maybe he has a sterile room set up for things like this. I would question and ask about the frequency of bandage changes .. I had my original packing in for 36 hours,  then it was changed daily, was he wanting to put on a wound vac? 

As Holly has said, the majority of pain is coming from pressure.. once released it'll be better. 

Good Luck!

Frankly, his bedside manner is the least of your worries. Are you still smoking? Smoking is hell on wound healing. Do you know what happens if oral antibiotics don't work? You get to have IV antibiotics. Fun. So not only do you have a wound that gets packed, you then get the thrill of either going in to the hospital or a doctor's office and hanging out hooked up to an IV pole. More fun is that some antibiotics aren't every 24 hours-some are every four or eight hours so you get a nifty little infusion pump.

IV antibiotics also tend to be expensive, so there's that; and the infectious disease doctor will likely read you the riot act over smoking while you have a healing wound. This is absolutely nothing to **** around with.

Thanks for your sermon from your high horse there! Maybe next time you open your mouth, maybe you should check your facts.

Happily, I quit smoking prior to surgery. I am extremely proud to say that my quitting was successful and I am at a point where the cravings are very minimal and quite managable.

I ASKED if you still smoked, so check your attitude. Were you not just recently posting about still smoking? Then it is a fair question. Weren't you pretty adamant that your doctor said you needed to quit caffeine before cigs ? Post crap like that and people will ask.

I guess you missed the follow up to that string of posts. Sorry, just sick of people blaming cigarettes when I already quit well before surgery. Mention smoking on here one time and you're condemned forever?

Btw, you asked and then proceeded as if you already knew the answer. That's where the attitude came from.

I used to be a smoker...years ago.

IMO. - if you still talk about cravings and remembering that - IMO you did not quit soon enough, enough months before WLS... There is a residue of nicotine /smoke with a first year after quitting smoking . That may depend on how old you are, how long did you smoke, and how much did you smoke pet day..