first time post* surgical site infection

hi all. i'm 10 days our from my surgery. i developed an infection in my main surgical site about 4 days out and it had top be opened. it was the most painful experiences of my life until the next day and the days after that as my husband has to pack the wound daily.  i cant even describe the amount of pain i'm feeling- twice a day- and i'm a little scared. i havent had a chance to enjoy my new journey on the WLS road because of this....i dont know...i guess i'm hoping for some sympathy, advise, comraderie....a diversion. has anyone else experienced this?

Sorry to hear it!  I developed an infection that I had to pack (found it easiest to do it myself rather than let anyone else do it) for a couple of days.  For me it was 2 rounds of antibiotics to clear things up.  Hang in there, once it clears up you'll be feeling much better! 

Hijack- You smell of Chicago pizza and the EL. kp

Keep on that wound. Ask for a wound Vac to help. No touching the area without washing the hands. I would use gloves too. Clothing must be clean. Wash yours alone with a little bleach if you can to sanitize. Wash with an anti bacterial soap. Up your water  and vitamin intake to help flu**** and try to get some liquid protein like Isopure. It will help healing. I have not experienced it personally but I have seen i****ch it closely. kp

It sucks that you got an infection.  Listen to others' advice and hopefully it will clear up soon.  It sounds like you're proactive when it comes to taking care of yourself, which is wonderful. Just so you know, this is one of the sucky parts of your journey, so you're not missing much.  If you didn't have the infection, you wouldn't be feeling super great anyway.  Keep your chin up and once that setback is over, you'll be on your way to smaller and better things!

I had to do it too.    It took a month to close up.    Stay on top of it.    Make sure to keep it clean and keep your hands away from it.   I always washed it in the shower before i packed it.   Protein will help you heal faster.   I'm just wondering, did the nurses touch it much in the hospital?   I remember one nurse picking at it with her nails, then the next day it was infected.    Hope you heal fast, the first few months are the hardest. happy holidays Linda

Good morning, and a Merry Christmas to you! I have been dealing with surgical incision infection since my TT/Breast Reduction was done on November 7.  The first 2 weeks, everything was fine.  In fact, when I went to the surgeon for follow-up and JP Drain removal, he was amazed at how fast I was healing.  I expected my recovery to be uneventful....WRONG. My incision areas started becoming sore and inflamed under the breasts and in a few spots on the abdomen scar.  Since I still had some swelling, I couldn't really see down there too well, so I got a mirror and had a look.  There were open ulcer like wounds popping up all over my scars.  With a glove, I ran my fingers along the scar and to my surprise, all these little pointy spots were palpable just under the skin.   I got a tweezer and took hold of one...I pulled a 1" length of suture out.  I hoped and prayed it wasn't made of Vicryl, since I am allergic to those and it is in my medical record.  The suture I removed had barbs on it, like a fish hook.  I called the surgeon and told him it seemed like I was rejecting these like I did the Vicryl, and the open wounds they were causing had become angry and infected.  Since he is a 3 hour drive away, he sent me to my PCP.  We removed several more pieces of suture there, and I have been pulling this stuff out of my incisions almost daily since then.  Of course, the tissues being held together have healed so I won't "come apart" if you will, but as the sutures work their way to the surface, the pain of the open wounds is just unbearable.  So far, I would venture to guess that I have removed about 24" of barbed propylene sutures, inch by inch...the longest one being about 4" long.  There are still a few spots that are angry so I know something is on it's way up. I did some online research into these things and found out that it is rare to have rejection issues.  There are non-absorbable and absorbable types, with the latter having been used on me, according to the transcript from my surgery.  Well, they didn't disslove and every single one is working it's way up which has prolonged my healing.process.  Just breathing can cause the skin to move and the suture ends that are still in there to irritate the wounds. I take alot of hot baths to help keep them clean and the moist heat helps the sutures to release a little faster...I find I can get them out easier after a bath.  Just as I get one out and heal from that, another area flares up.  This is taking forever.  I haven't had to pack the wound or anything like that, but I know the pain of an open wound that won't heal.  It feels like a bad blister that is open and having alcohol poured over it every time I move the slightest bit. Good luck and here's hoping for a speedy recovery.  Happy Holidays. KathyG