good news bad news

Well, I haven't been online lately. Going thru some family stuff. My family life went thru a pretty big ordeal with my daughter this past week. Needless to say things are getting back to normal. I'm back to work, which is great. Mostly I'm feeling pretty good, physically. The good news is at my 6 week weigh in I lost a total of 50lbs. I'm thrilled with the loss. I love being able to walk around and not be out of breath. At work, I can take a phone call and not cough thru it. I can talk on radio and not have to pause to cough. Those things mean the world to me. My team mates have noticed the not coughing and not breathing hard. The only people who have commented on my actual weight loss, that I look like I have lost weight, is my family. My daughter says she loves that she can wrap her arms around me. I know I have a long long way to go and I know that my weight loss will slow down a lot here soon. I'm just thankful for the loss.

The bad news, I fear I have an infection in my incision. My incision is right above my belly button. It's fairly large. It's been red the whole time, but on Thursday it began to leak. (Sorry, TMI?) Nothing bloody and worse. The fluid was kinda yellow clear. No smell. At my weigh in the nurse said its normal. She said if it gets worse I should go get it checked. On Sunday I woke up and there was a lot more fluid leaking and the red area seemed to get larger. I freaked out and went to the walk in clinic. The doc was wonderful. She did a culture on the fluid, (still haven't got those results) and said I probably have a small infection. They wrapped up my incision and sent me home with a script for an antibiotic. Cephlaxen (sp?) liguid. It was quite possibly the worst tasting medicine EVER! My gag reflex immediately threw it up once I swallowed it. I tried twice and realized I would not be able to take the liquid form. yesterday I called my surgeons office and he couldn't see me. I called the doc at the walk in clinic and She changed my script to capsule form which i break open and put into 1oz of applesauce. It's still disgusting but at least I'm not throwing it up. Unfortunately, I think the infection is worse. Last night at work, the incision leaked thru the padding and thru all my clothes. Thankfully I had my hoodie to throw on to cover it. It was awful. Its begun to hurt a bit too. I refuse to take pain meds, I don't like how they make me feel "woozy." I have an apt with my surgeon this afternoon. I'm terrified of what he's going to say. I'm freaked out at the amount of fluid that is leaking. I have a weak immune system, due to lung disease. I'm kinda prone to infections, colds and flus. Usually, when I get one I end up in the hospital for a week. Now is just not a good time for a week long hospital stay. Has anyone had this happen to them or heard of the leaking fluid?

Best wishes,,, Hope you are doing good. 

This happened to me 2 weeks  post op. The incision above my belly button started draining yellowish fluid.  It was explained to me that the drainage was fat that had liquefied .... o_O. But i wasn't put on any antibiotic and was told to stuff my wound 2 times a day.  Sorry, forgot to mention the site had opened completely!  Now at 2 months post op the site is fully closed but still has a little scab on it.  

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am hoping that this is the same with me. I see my doc in an hour. 

I hope the visit with the doc went well. I just wanted to chime in and say I had the fluid leaking thing too, but at one week post-op. It was clearish/yellowish liquid with a bit of red. It wasn't thick, had no pus, and didn't smell. My surgeon said it did not seem infected, and it has totally cleared up by now. But it was pretty freaky because it was leaking a *lot* of fluid. The first day it kept soaking through my clothes and through the bandages I put over it. Fortunately I was still at home, and not working. When I saw my surgeon, she gave me some spare bandages and tegaderm, which is like a saren-wrap covering that kept it from leaking all the way through the bandages. Good luck to you and I hope it clears up soon!

Mine leaked starting in the second week post op.  I had 2 leaking incisions and it was a little scary, mainly I couldn't believe the amount of fluid that was coming out.  My surgeon and primary nurse stated that it was fairly normal and as long as I didn't have a lot of pain the wounds would heal from the inside out.  My leaking on the largest one kept it up for almost 2 months.  At times it was so much that I could see it running down my stomach.  I had to change the bandages 1-2 times a day and apply  peroxide around each wound.  The wound kept getting smaller and smaller until one morning I woke up and it had stopped.  I hope things go better for you!!

HW 561, SW 511, CW 382, 7mo post op

I had the same problem on two of my incisions which I attributed to them being right on my waistline so they were continually irritated by clothing.

At my six week check, I, too was terrified but the nurse toLd me to just dab it with peroxide twice a day and to put a bandage over it that wasn't tight so lots of air could pass through. Both were closed within a few days. No meds required.

Re your antibiotic problem. Did you try simply swallowing the capsule?  I tried the applesauce thing for one day, called my surgeon, and was told that if I could swallow my meds that that was fine. This was the day after I came home from the hospital. You, too, should be able to swallow meds with no problems at six weeks out.

Make sure you let us know what your surgeon says. I'm sure that she will let you know that all will be well without a hospital stay.

Thinking of you...

Wondering how things went?

In my experience as a nurse, there could be a lot of reasons why you are leaking (as Im sure you have already heard). But if your insurance covers it, there is this AWESOME wound care supply called Aquacel Ag. The "Ag" stands for silver which is a natural antibiotic inhibiting the growth of any infection (if you have one) but the Aquacel also soaks up the fluid and allows your bandage to last a little longer so you don't have to mess with it as much (every time you have to change a bandage you are increasing the potential for infection). Just a thought. Hope all went well!

Thank you everyone for posting! 

Doc says this is a common occurrence.  He said I have no reason to be nervous or scared. He did pull a large piece of glue off the middle of the incision. Which left a hole about the size of a nickel. Its rather disgusting. He told me that he thought it would really drain now that its open. He told me to take the night off of work and go home and keep it clean and dry. As for the antibiotics, he told me to keep taking it. There is no infection in the incision right now but my skin was pink around the area so he thinks I have a little cellulitis on my skin. The antibiotics will fix that. He also said the incision will heal from the inside out. 

I didnt drain like he thought last night. I leaned forward on it a lot last night as directed and hardly anything drained. Im hoping that means the big draining is over. We'll see. I go to work in an hour and a half. 

Im currently taking this disgusting medication in 1oz of applesauce. It is a capsule. But it doesnt dissolve and its gross. Id love to just take the pill with some water and swallow it whole. How far out were the rest of you when you started taking them whole? Im 5 weeks post op. What will happen if it gets stuck? Will it just dissolve? I havent taken any pills since surgery. All my vitamins are chewables. 

I started swallowing my meds the day after I got home from the hospital. I had tried the applesauce route and just couldn't do it again. My surgeon said if I could swallow the pills to go ahead.

At five weeks out you shouldn't have any problems.  Many people have posted that they stated taking pills within a few days of surgery.

If you're nervous , start with something small.