My incision from my Gallbladder surgery is reopening..

I was healing up just fine, but 2 days before Thanksgiving, I notice something that looked like a stitch. I left it alone and just kept the area clean. On Thanksgiving morning, the stitch was gone, but now I have a hole that is draining. I stopped in at my surgeons today and had it looked at. I was told that sometimes a tunnel forms under the skin after surgery, and it may be filled with fluid. They're guess is that the fluid is working its way out. I'm waiting now for my surgeon to call me, cause he wasn't there, and they weren't sure if he would want to see me or not. I was just told that its nothing serious and to just keep it clean for now. I have been scared to death about this. Has anyone else had this happen?

No, I haven't but just wanted to say I'll be thinking of you and waiting for your report back later.
Bren

Thank you Brenda..I'll keep you posted!

That happened to me yyyyyeeeeaaaaaaarrrrrrrsssss ago when I had my first knee surgery. I know how you feel. Very freaky. Just breathe and do what you're doing. Don't play with it like I did as a stupid kid of 16 naturally would. The doc will let you know if you need to do anything else.

It's really not serious and there's no cause for alarm!  Our bodies have an amazing capacity to do what's required to heal themselves; that's exactly what your body is doing here.  It pushed out a stitch that it didn't like and it's working on healing the affected area.  It's better for the wound to stay open so the fluid has somewhere to "escape" to.  I'd keep it clean and covered; I bet that after a few days, it'll heal up quite nicely. 

My only word of caution is that if the area becomes red and/or inflamed, head back to your doc; those things are signs of an infection.  But if you keep it clean, chances are good you should be just fine. 

Kellie

This happened to one of my incisions with my RNY ...and I ended up getting a staph infection. It hurt so bad and the stuff that came out was GROSS!! So my only suggestion is to definitely watch what is coming out.

Wash your hands before you play with it. Keep a clean gauze over it. It will heal just fine.

My GB surgery was in Sept. Since then I have two different stitches come to the surface from two different incisions. One healed the next day. The later one drained a bit & I still have a little dent/hole. They both healed over just fine. 

Thanks everyone. You have all helped ease my worries. I still haven't heard back from the doctor, but maybe that just means he doesn't see a need for me to be looked at. I'm keeping it clean, and allowing it to drain. It was cleaner this morning that it has been, so maybe it's starting to heal. All I know is..I totally freaked out when I saw a hole. Scared the heebie jeebies out of me..lol Thanks again!