Question:
Pain from Drainage holes

My tummy tuck looks great, not that much swelling, I had it done March 23rd 2004 at UIC, I am having alot of pain from one of the drainage spots, I'll move the tube and it will hurt for hours, I don't have that much drainage but still some. How long was it before the doc's took you guys drainage tubes out?    — Kimberly C. (posted on March 29, 2004)

March 29, 2004
Hi, I know the feeling and my tubes were out in 7 days, i had pain on my right side but it was because my drain was clogged up so they had to flush it and restart the drain again..they told me I had to keep stripping the tube to keep it flowing, its hard to explain how to do this but maybe as the dr to show you, your luck I had so much swelling I had gained more weight from the swelling and fluid. Congrats on the new tummy!! ~Tina~ 130 feel better and good luck
   — Lovett

March 29, 2004
Hi, I had my tummy tuck performed on March 12th and I STILL HAVE these dang drainage bags--literally strapped to my ankles. When I went for my 1 week post op hoping he would remove them--he said no earlier than 3 weeks. Dr. John Polley at RUSH, Dr. Madura (who did my gastric bypass) performed the hernia repair. AWESOME job, but I absolutely hate the drainage bags. Being that you are not quite a week, you should still be taking antibiotics, is the site red? Any discharge from the site? Those are the things I was told to look for. Also, how are your panties fitting in relation to where the holes are (mine are at the top of my pubic area, 2 of them? Underwear could be causing strain on the area. You also mentioned you did not get much drainage--where are you keeping your bags? I found out the hard way that they need to be low, not strapped to your sides. The gravity is what pulls the fluid into the bag. You also have to make sure that you squeeze the bottle and then seal it because that is what draws the fluid out. I now have the tubes taped to my thighs with the bags secured by a cut off knee high stocking. By the way, did you get a new belly button? When will they take out the sutures, for it and the ones across your hips? He told me "a few weeks" which is not an answer in my book. My surgery was on the 12th and I was back to work, full duty on the 17th, no pain killers, drainage bags and all.
   — corpdiva2005

March 29, 2004
Wow!! I never realized that after a TT the drains stayed in so long. With my RNY one came out 24 hours after, and the 2nd was the day after that. Can anyone tell me an average length of time, and what determines it---drainage, the Dr's preference?? I am NOT looking forward to this. Thanks!!
   — Fixnmyself

March 29, 2004
Dr. Polley, my Plastic Surgeon (who's awesome by the way), said it's a minimum of 3 weeks--maybe I'll get them out Thursday which is 1 day shy of 3 weeks. In a way I'm glad that they are still in there because I need the fluid to go somewhere. My pubic area is HUGE! In pants I look like a boy.
   — corpdiva2005

March 31, 2004
I win! I'm 5-1/2 weeks (Feb 23rd) PO from a lower body lift and still have drains. I originally had 5 all exiting in the pubic area. I got one removed at 2-1/2 weeks and the rest at 3 weeks and 1 day. They were removed only because he was concerned of leaving them in any longer for fear of infection. However, we knew I would likely have problems as two of the drains were still producing 200 cc's a day each when removed. My docs criteria for removal is that he won't remove any before 2 weeks and then the fluid production should be below 30cc's. <p>After my drains were removed 3 days later I had one installed in the lower abdomen. He immediately removed 350cc's of fluid. Then 3 days later the left hip had accumulated a ton of fluid and hurt so bad. So a drain was put in there and 680cc's of fluid were removed immediately. Tomorrow I'm going back to the PS and he is going to remove these two drains and then plans on placing a "real" drain next Monday. The two drains I have right now are really catheter drains so they are very small in diameter and very short, so they are not covering the whole area affected with fluid. A real drain is about 8-10 inches long and would cover the entire area I have problems in. It also is larger in diameter and much less chance of it getting plugged. I think this will be an outpatient procedure at the surgery center, but not sure. I suspect once that drain is in I will have it for at least 1-2 weeks, which will put me pretty close to 2 months PO and still dealing with drains. I guess I'm just lucky. There is no way to predict who will have drainage issues. One just has to hope for the best. <p>I would suspect you have an infection related to that drain that is causing pain. I'd call the doc and let them know. I've pretty much been on antibiotics since surgery. The constantly arising yeast infections, both mouth and genitals, is getting real old. I can get rid of it but then it surfaces again because I'm still on the crap. I hope I get off of them soon. <p>As big a pain in the butt as the drains are they are not the end of the world. It's just a bump in the road of recovery. Whining about it isn't going to improve the situation so I just grin and bear it.
   — zoedogcbr