Recovery Question

I heard something about a drain that needed treatment after you go home.... I'm a little concerned. No one has told me anything about what to expect after the surgery as it pertains to "care" for the surgical incisions. Could someone give me some information please? My mother is coming to stay with me after the surgery for a while, but she isn't able to care for incisions etc. She's not the "nurse" type. Guess this is something they don't tell you about in advance. I'm having my surgery June 11th at the Johnson City Medical Center Hospital. Guess I need to know something soon.....

HI Hope sorry i can not really answer the question... i know some people come home with some kind of a drain and this drain has to be emptied. I have not had the surgery yet so i am not totally sure what the drain is for. I have heard they leave it in about a week and remove it in the office. Maybe some post oppers will know more. I see we are going to the same dr. I will be having my 2nd appt on 6/22/04 how long did it take to get a date for you? Maybe i will see you there sometime.. Michelle

Hey Hope...don't worry. Assuming you have an uncomplicated procedure and you are healing properly, your incisions will require little actual care. If you have the lap surgery, the incisions are small and usually can be covered with a band-aid. You can clean them with peroxide and with your surgeons approval, apply a little neosporin to them to help reduce the chance of infection and lessen the scarring. If you have the open procedure and the incision is healing nicely, you will probably be instructed to keep it clean and dry. Cleaning it would consist of gently washing it with a little peroxide soaked cotton ball or gauze pad, then drying it with a sterile gauze pad. Your surgeon will instruct you on the type of dressing needed--if any, after you go home. The drains are inserted through very small incisions and have a little suture holding them in place. Different doctors will give different instructions for the care of drains--but when I had them--for 45 days... I came up with my own care for them whi*****luded cleaning the incision sites several times daily with peroxide and applying a small amount of neosporin to them. I also would clean the tubing with peroxide and rub a thin coat of neosporin on the tubing. I did this to help keep bacteria off the tubing because with mine, the tube would move an inch or so in each direction and I did not want the tube getting bacteria on it and then entering into the incision and causing an infection. I have heard some people say they have drains after surgery and some don't. You can probably ask your doctor at your pre-op appointment if you should expect to have drains or not. I would just suggest that prior to your surgery, you purchase some cotton balls, sterile gauze pads, a couple bottles of peroxide and a tube of neosporin. With those items, you should be covered. Good Luck!

Hope, I too had Dr. Watson in Johnson City. He does routinely put in a drain. It is attached to one of your incisions. Mine was on the right below my ribs. It's only a tube that has a little bulb-type bottle on the end. You will open and empty the bottle once a day. It'll only have a little redish-clearish fluid in it. If it's like mine it won't have much. The nurses at the hospital will show you how to empty it and then close it back up. They then have YOU do it so they know you can. Really, it's nothing at all. When I returned to the Dr. at 2 weeks out to have my staples removed they pulled out the drain. They tell you to breathe through your mouth as they pull it out. It's a funny feeling really. NO PAIN AT ALL. I was so relieved. That's about all I can tell you about my experience regarding the drain Dr. Watson uses. I had a textbook experience as far as my WLS was concerned. Hope this helps you. Hugs, Beckey

Hi Hope. I had my surgery on the 25th. My surgeon doesnt use drains, and yours may not either. I had lap RNY and have a picture of my belly if you want to see it. I have six small incisions, and they are already healed for the most part. They typically use steri strips but i'm allergic to those so Dr. Houston put the new liquid sutures called Dermabond on mine. I'm doing great. Let me know if you have any other questions. God bless! Melanie

Hope, Dr. McGrath only puts in drains with open procedures and they come out a week later. If she does the laprascopic procedure there are no drains.

hey Hope, i just recently had surgery and i had a drain, dr hodge did mine.the nurses or a cna will show you how to care for your drain and staples. nothing to it really i just always applied new bandages and ontiment after my shower and my drain came out a week later.someone said it would hurt so i took a lortab before my appointment and guess what it didn't hurt like they said it would. good luck.

Hi good luck I am 7 weeks post and had it done In Elizabethton at Sycamore Shoals.The drain tube is not that big of a deal it just is a little bubble and has to be emptied no big deal.I had it done open and done just fine,you'll do great good luck.Keep in touch and let me know how u do.I weighed 320 at surgery and am down to 265 Sherry Campbell .

Hello, My name is Sandie and I'm hoping to have surgery in Kingsport with Dr. Kappa he only does open. How was the surgery if you don't mind me asking before, during, and after. I'v had surgery twice before. c-section and exploratory. Also are you on the 4 phase diet. I've been trying different protien shakes haven't found anything I like they taste sweet to me, and I don't care for sweeten much. Would also appreciate any information you might provide me. I have my support meeting 3rd Tuesday of this month. Thanks A Million and CONGRATS ON YOUR SURGERY.

Hope, I had my surgery done laproscopic and was sent home with 2 drain sites. One drain port (the "penrose drain") was removed the day I left the hospital and required me to use the 6 inch cuetips and peroxide to insert it into the hole and swab the inside area about 3 inches deep. It sounds much worse than it is, trust me. This was important in terms of infection and I had to do it for about 3 weeks. The other was a drain port to drain excess fluid and blood from the stomach and had a little bulb that I had to drain 2 x daily for about a week and record the fluid output, again sounds much worse than it was. More awkward than anything else. I think some have gone home without the latter drain but I didn't. Initially, I thought that I would freak out to do it but it's really no big deal. In terms of the neosporin, I had a central aterial line (in the neck) that was removed on discharge that I had to neosporin 1-2 x daily and use a bandaid. Cleared up in less than a week. Different doctor's may do different things, this was the procedure of my doctor at Centennial. Trust me; I am a month out, have lost 67 lbs and all of my scars are beginning to look like scratches, execept for the ones, I have just stopped treating (per the doctor) and they are healing fast. I did all of my own incision treatments and I am sure you'll be able to do the same. We'll be thinking all the happy thoughts we can muster for you on June 11th!!! I'll make you a spot on the loser's bench!