Question:
anyone have a wound care vacuum after plastic surgery?

had tt 3 weeks ago and still draining so the doctor wants to order a vacuum that attaches to a drain to take care of this faster. anyone ever had this done and tell me about it?    — Julie B. (posted on August 28, 2003)

August 28, 2003
Not in respect to plastic surgery, but my mom fell at Thanksgiving and torn up the front of her leg. The infection went down to the bone and she is diabetic and on dialysis too. They did antibiotics etc., daily cleaning, nothing worked for her. Then they decided to try the vacuum pack machine. What a blessing!!!!! Her leg started healing right away and within a few weeks it was totally healed. This was after a number of months of nothing really touching the infection. The machine ran 24 hours a day and I believe she had a fanny pack for it so she was totally mobile. My SIL had one for her WLS incision that got infected after surgery. She didn't have to use it very long and it cleared it up right away. Definitely is a miraculous machine. Wishing you the best and a speedy recovery.
   — [Deactivated Member]

August 28, 2003
Julie, I drained until week 3 and my doctor wasn't worried. It was a very extensive TT and there was a lot of fatty tissue involved. Anyhow, my drains were hooked to a type of drain that looked like a tupperware container, when it was compressed and the plug put in it had suction to it. Not like a machine but just in the way they are designed. When you push air out it wants to suck something back in, when hooked to a drain that then is the blood, drainage, and gunk. Could he be talking about hooking your drain into something simple like that? If so it was a breeze. I emptied mine several times a day, each time dumping the gunk, pressing the container flat (kind of like an accordian on the sides) and then capping it and it would suction some more. Hope things work out for you.
   — Shelly S.

August 28, 2003
Shelly is describing a JP drain like I had after WLS for a week. It was no big deal. <p>However I do have a question. How long were you off work for your TT? How many drains do you have?
   — zoedogcbr

August 28, 2003
It may be something like I had back in 1989 after a double masectomy. I had two plastic things that looked like the shape of a granade. One was hooked to each side of my chest. It was squeezed in so there was'nt much air in them. Then the blood/drainage would be sucked out of my wounds. I'd empty it several times a day, measuring the amount of drainage. Easy and not painful.
   — Danmark