umbilical necrosis (Dead belly button)

Well my belly button does not look good as far keeping it not sure what the doc will do now but anyone have this complication post TT surgery? I am looking for info on the net and not much is written what they do for a dead belly button dead tissue , He said something about packing it not sure what the doc meant by it  but I kinda want to be informed more before I see him tommorrow, Help anyone? Looks like the skin  small area below the belly button might be dead aswell so not sure what to expect,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
I have fat necrosis in my lower belly and doc acted like it was no big deal and that my body would absorb it in about 2 months. It does not affect my nave. It's just swollen in my lower belly. Good luck!
Cathy

Yeah, my belly button died the first time around. We packed it for awhile but my surgeon said the writing was on the wall and to just "let it go". He made a new one during my revision last month and so far it looks good. :)

Ok what is meant by packing it awhile ? will they will remove the dead belly button and pack it close?  Thanks for replying do u have pics  showing a packed belly button? I am kinda confused when u say let it go?  i mean when they pack it doesn't that become your new belly button?  Did u have to go threw surgery to remove the dead belly button?

Basically once your surgeon sutures you closed, if you have problems with your wound you have to let it heal from the inside out. You can't suture it closed. The body will heal -- from the inside, out, just like it does naturally. So what you do to make sure that it's kept clean and protected is "pack" the wound. Basically with me we took sterile gauze, soaked it in normal saline water (not regular water bu****er with saline in it so that it won't harm the body) and laid it into the wound. Then we covered it with a large sterile pad, called an abd pad. As the body heals and the belly button closes, it will heal and close from the inside out, so there is nothing to remove. Sometimes they go in with instruments and remove dead tissue because doing so seems to speed healing. Don't worry, you probably won't feel it because it's dead tissue so the nerve endings are all usually dead, too. Doing that (it's called "debridment" -- google it if you're curious but it's gross so be ready for it) speeds circulation to the area and healing. Our cells naturally want to grow toward each other and so they will grow together but it has to be from the inside out. If you grow skin over an area that's not healed you'll have a festering, potentially infected wound with poor circulation and you do not want that.

And no, I don't have pics. I was too grossed out by the whole thing -- and yes, I'm a nurse -- to take many pictures and the ones I have I don't want to look at ever again, let alone share with anyone.

I just had a revision surgery to fix the scar that was left once everything healed. I ended up having a wide, irregular, raised ugly scar that was several inches long, top to bottom and then also where the "T" came together for my initial incision. It was ugly. My insurance company covered the surgery because it came from a wound problem. He cut out all the old nasty scar tissue and sewed healthy skin back together and made me another belly button which so far looks good.

Hope I explained this okay. Sorry I wasn't clearer before. I forget not everyone has to deal with wound stuff but I have family members who are diabetic and I'm a nurse so to me it's kind of automatic.

Good luck, let us know what your doctor says! I know it's scary but you'll heal!

Vickie

Thanks Vickie
I am in medical field but pre hospitial  (ambulance) so wound care post surgery is not my area, Thanks for the great info. When the Doc told me something about umbulical may die need packing  I was on morphine and seems I was in la la land lol. I had a hernia repair and TT non anchor cut so should  be intresting what he is gonna say today about the belly button and the new game plan,
Lisa