Question:
I am two weeks out and in pain still

My Surgen leave the biggest insision open to be packed and to heal from the inside out. I am two weeks out on Tues and I have alot of pain right above the insision, its like a harden area right above the insision. I asked my dr and hes not worried about it but i am supposed to go back to work in a week. Has anyone had this and what did u do or what was done.    — Julie W. (posted on October 20, 2008)

October 20, 2008
Wow sorry to hear about the pain. I had ryn july 16th, 5 small incision. I did have a historictomy last November that had to be reopened in Dec, and had to heal the same as yours, It had to be packed 2x aday and the pain ouch. mine turned hard also bigger then golf balls all around the wound, doc called scar tissue, took a good 3 weeks to heal. I do not know about returning to work so soon, hurt me to sit too long after my ryn. just wanted to ease your mind about wound u r in my prayers. Tammi
   — Tammi Sandoval

October 20, 2008
I have had two surgeries with open wounds. There has always been some pain associated with them. As long as the wound is protected you will be OK. Follow your doctors instructions and all will be well.
   — jeffkopp

October 20, 2008
Not sure about the open wound thing, (I had a lap rny, with 6 tiny incisions) but right bove the biggest one (and from the looks of it most roughly used site) appeared a nice size hard bump. After about a week I realized what it was, it was blood that was stuck there and unable to reabsorb. It took that long before the blood came to the surface or skin and finally formed a bruise, but after it did, my body was ready to absorb it and it dissapeared. Don't know if this can help you in any way, your circumstances just reminded me of what I went through and I thought I'd share. Good luck to you!!!
   — paislieghstar

October 20, 2008
I am so sorry to hear about your wound experience. Please believe it will get better. I had my surgery on Aug 26 and I developed a deep wound infection that began before I left the hospital. I started getting worried when all but the one wound got better and after about 10 days my wound exploded after I got up from the sofa. I was so upset and I went to the E.R. My surgeon was on vacation and I was immediately put on antibiotics. Well, I went to see my surgeons associate 2 days later and he order a visiting nurse to clean and pack my wound 3 times a week for about 2 weeks. The wound area was hard at first but day by day get got better. I went back to work after 5 weeks and I feel great. Please don't worry because that will make it seem so much worse than is it. Take good care of yourself and call your surgeon and tell him what is going on and how you feel. My surgeon and his office staff were very comforting and took such care and attention with me. Although I did have a similar ordeal, I have NOT YET regretted the WLS and if I had to do it again, I would.
   — Rosettagrace

October 20, 2008
I had Lap RNY with 5 incisions. At my 2 week appointment, I had a lot of pain on my lower left side. This is where my doctor said most of the work was done. He checked my bruising and said it would be ok and it is now. I'm almost a month out now and that pain has gone away. I was worried that I'd overdone it somewhere and that's where the pain was coming from, but it's all good now! It just went away. I still have a little bit of bruising. At my 2 week appointment, it was actually puffy, but it's all a part of healing, I guess. Hope you get better soon! Jat
   — Jean Ann T.

October 21, 2008
Julie, it sounds to me like you had infection after surgery for your surgeon to leave your wound open to heal from the inside out. I would highly recommend that you speak with your surgeon, and possibly take off a few more weeks from work to heal up. If you don't heal right and get right back to work, you can cause yourself MAJOR health problems later. Heal right now, your body deserves it. Please talk to your surgeon about this. Write down your questions and be sure you know what is going on with your body. Patricia P.
   — Patricia P

October 21, 2008
I agree with Patricia P. You probably need to get your surgeon to give you more time off work to rest and to heal so you don't run into problems later. A hardened area could be a hematoma (blot clot that your body should reabsorb) or a pus pocket of infection or just plain old swelling from the trauma of surgery. As long as your surgeon has examined it thoroughly and isn't worried.. I guess it should be ok if it's getting better. I'd be concerned if it is getting worse and call him and get in to see him asap. Is the area red, hot and swollen? If so, it could be infected. Who is doing your dressing changes of your open incision? Have they looked at it? If so, what do they think? I had open surgery with a large 8 inch incision for a hernia repair at the same time I had my LapBand. The incision was closed, but, it had a lot of swelling and was feeling a little hard to me and I had the surgeon check it out. He poked a large bore needle down into it and when he pulled it out, a gusher of clear liquid came pouring out. He pressed gently all around the area and got it all out... it was a surprising amount of fluid he said was related to the trauma of the surgery. It wasn't pus or blood, just fluid and the area felt so much better after he relieved that pressure. Best of luck, Dawn Vickers, RN, BLC, CLC
   — DawnVic