incision opening up

Surgery went well...used a twilight..half way through the procedure I "woke up" and wondered who the hell was talking so much...IT WAS ME!!  My voice was hoarse from talking...they said I talked the ENTIRE TIME...I don't remember what I said either...

Must of been something juicy since the nurse assured me "What is said in the OR stays in the OR."

lol

No exercise with arms for 4 days.

TonLee, glad to hear things went A-OK...that is *so* funny about your nonstop chattering in the OR! I can only imagine the things docs and nurses here us say in there! LOL!! And I agree with Suebee, don't push it!

Let's all jump on the "no more debridement" bandwagon! ;-)

Geo,

That's great.

Well, here I am 8 days after revision.  I have internal stitches and dermabond over that. 

Guess what?

My stitches are bleeding and the blood is seeping out from under the dermabond.  About the size of a quarter by the end of the day.   Grrrrrr. 

 When I left the OR they weren't bleeding at all.  Just moving around makes them bleed.  I'm still officially in my chemo cycle (week 3) so I know I won't start healing well for a few more weeks....

Saw my PS Thursday, and he didn't look concerned, but they're bleeding more now than they were then.

I'm on antibiotics...which is good because I am also pretty bruised....my RBC is way low from chemo.....I see him again on Tues....

I didn't bleed this much with the original MX!

Oh well.

I think after all this time if anyone is still having problems, you need to go to a wound specialist.  Closing it back up if it is still infected isn't going to help at all!  I had to go to a wound spcialist because of a radiation burn that wounded heal.  I am still having issues after 2 1/2 years since radiation.  I am going to have to have hyperbaric treatments first before I can get a scar revision. 

Sending all my love & support. NJ

Renn,

I placed a rolled up sock over the bandage, then put on a tight sports bra yesterday.  Today when I removed the bandage there was a quarter size spot of blood.  However, it "appears" to have stopped bleeding.  I'm going one more day with direct pressure on it in hopes it will help.

The dermabond peeled away from the top so now when I take a shower water can just sit in there...I pressed it out, and despite the handout from the hospital went ahead and put an antibiotic gel the PS gave me before on the bandage...so it will work in there a little and if it bleeds the bandage won't stick.

MrsN, I was almost completely healed up (even with chemo) but he wanted to revise the scar tissue for expansion.  So now I'm starting all over.

We have a hyperbaric chamber at my facility.  What does it do?

Hi ladies!  so sorry to hear anyone who has problems with incisions opening up.  I had DIEP surgery last May and my donor site incision opened up the first of May and I had to go to a wound clinic to have it debrided twice a week.  They would put a packing that in the wound that contained silver and I would leave it in there for 2-3 days.  It would turn to a gel.  The clinic told me the wet-dry gauze packing could damage the new tissue formation and this type of packing was better, and it also killed any type of germs, bacteria in the wound.  I cannot remember the actual name of the silver packing, but any wound specialist would be familiar with it, or you might google it.  I missed the entire summer of swimming, and also, I missed my relaxing bathtub soaks in my large tub!  My incision did have to heal from the inside out, and I had trouble with the tunneling in the beginning.  In September, my surgeon was able to finish closing the opening up.  In June, she is going to do a scar revision so the scar does not look so bad!  I hope everyone heals soon!

Blindsided & Geocachelinda: Congrats on your healing!

I have a pinhead-sized green/yellow spot on my revised incision that I am watching like a hawk. I noticed it 2 days ago; so far it has been holding its own. Fingers crossed!

I thought I was the only one with this problem. I had my lumpectomy and Radio Frequency Ablation on 2/17/11 seemed to be healing well until around 10 days later when I noticed seapage and a FOUL odor.  Went back to BS and he cleaned it out good and packed it.  Been having a VN each day to clean and repack the wound.  Hard to tell but it seems like it is improving a bit each day as it was over an inch deep.  Its too bad the doctors or nurses dont mention eating high protein for wound healing.

Geo, I see your on your way too! Lets just count the days.

hugs to ya!

AJ

Thanks ladies...I see my PS on Tuesday ... I was healed up for about 2-3 weeks before Rads.

Ya know what?  Call me crazy but I wonder if I'm getting enough calories.  Yesterday we went to a festival and I ate over 3000 calories  in strawberries, kettle korn, and 1/2 an elephant ear...on top of 1000 normal food calories...this morning the two holes are still there, but they look better??  Almost as if they're trying to heal.....

Of course this weeks Rads will destroy that....

TonLee not sure about calories....but I had to up my protein intake significantly...ask your doctor about it.

Photogirl - sorry youre having issues....I had some of the same things but I never had fluid taken from my TE...and it did heal, with lots of taking it easy, eating iron and protein, and keeping it clean and moist.  Mine took about 8 weeks to finally stop...some take longer. 

Thanks GREAT!!! Keep it up!!!

Just wanted to give an update here for anyone having trouble with their incisions...

I am having my right TE removed on July 6. 

I thought my delayed incision healing was because I was overfilled on the table (and maybe that contributed? I'll never know), but after I had the blue plastic stitches, my incision healed all the way EXCEPT for a tiny hole, half the size of a pinhead, in which fluid would seep. I have a gap between my skin and the tissue healing below it, and my body keeps filling the area with fluid. So the hole never heals. What's actually going on is TE rejection. 

For anyone struggling with incision healing:

1) eat plenty of protein (Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are great hi-protein snacks)

2) Sleep and nap as often as you can (that's when your body heals)

3) Drink a lot of water

4) Stay within whatever physical restrictions (no lifting, no reaching, etc.) that your PS has given you. Don't try to do more than you are supposed to, even if you feel good.

5) I tried to heal my incision over a period of 5 months. That is too long! I was trying to save myself from another surgery (even tho my PS told me a couple months ago it probably will need to come out). My advice: Listen to your PS. If he thinks the TE needs to come out, he is probably right!