O U C H... Sympathy please!

[DeLarla 22]

And now Nightengale's name makes sense! I'd have let you do it. My best friend is Gross Mary. There's nothing gross about her, but she's like you and loves that kinda gore. But she was out of town. She's going to be devastated when she finds out all the grossness she missed out on!

Last night I had a few margaritas and decided to lance it myself. I got the surgical area prepared with alcohol, peroxide, steralized blade, fresh gauze (looked very impressive.) I was trying to act like Patrick Swayze in that movie where he gives himself stitches. I sat there psyching myself out but couldn't do it. Chickened out. Good thing, too, cuz I'd have feinted. No doubt about it. Maybe if I'd gone with straight shots of tequila.... Better off now though cause they gave me antibiotics!

[New Hope 37]

I'm really not surprised about the vet helping you. With insurance co. paying drs. less, we're getting less medical help and costing us more. Thank goodness you went to Urgent Care before this burst. That would have really scared you to death! My husband had a similiar problem with an abdominal surgery. They'd left a stitch in and it took about 3 years before it finally worked it's way to the surface. It did the same thing. I know you don't have any stitches, but you still had infection. Maybe your local dr. was out of town. When the dr. is out, the staff sometimes goofs off. It's nice to know your husband appreciates you for your smarts (renting good videos, etc.).

[donali 57]

Hey Lisa -

It was great talking to you earlier, and I want to reiterate how sorry I am that you are going through this. So sucks.

Hopefully your rough beginning will be the end of any problems. You've paid your dues.

Sending you healing thoughts!!!

[Alexandra 55]

I LOVE PACKING WOUNDS!!!!!!

OK, I'm scared now...

[nightingale2u 42]

Yup...you guessed it Lisa... I'm a lounge singer by night and a masked wound packer by day!

I know Alex... freak I am... but honestly... packing a wound really is freakishly fun! It was really awesome when I worked in home health.... I got to do it all of the time!!!!

Sorry Alex... Donali... could you hold Alex... I think I have frightened her.

[donali 57]

Alex, we can go huddle in a corner together... lol I won't regale all my fainting stories here, but let's suffice it to say, healthcare is NOT my area of strength...

lol

[DeLarla 22]

Why am I on the computer when I'm supposed to be back at Urgent Care having my wound re-packed? Uh, because it creeps me out. Gotta force myself to go now. Ugh, gag, hurl, etc.

lunch Loser Lisa

[not2big42long 0]

Hi Lisa,

I have been catching up on the boards and read through this one. Having your port site infected is something to be concerned about. The infection can track down the tubing from your port to your band and cause a major abdominal infection. Because the rubber has no blood supply antibiotics cannot effectively kill the germs that might be surrounding the port/tubing/band. This should be looked at quickly by a surgeon with band knowledge. Peritonitis (abdominal infection) can rapidly progress into a life threatening problem. I don't mean to scare you but I have seen a few bands come through that have been infected, not a pretty site, and they have had to be removed and couldn't be replaced until the infection had cleared up. Just for your own safety and peace of mind I would go see someone today if possible.

Hope all goes well!!!

Kathy

[DeLarla 22]

Kathy, I appreciate and share your concerns, but I can't get any doctor to call me back. I've left several messages for 4 different doctors in Mexico since Friday. Apparently they don't care whether I live or die. That's how I feel today. Meanwhile, there aren't any local doctors who work weekends. Their message says to call 911 if it's an emergency or wait till the office opens. Tomorrow I'm going to try to get an appointment with a local band doctor whose phone was busy all day Friday. I'm having very bad aftercare luck.

I just got home from Urgent Care where the ER doc was very optimistic about my incision today. He said it looked really good. He said there wasn't much more drainage last night, and he thinks tomorrow will be the last day I'll need to be repacked and then the wound will heal naturally. He said the problem was that the wound never closed and became infected (I was a leaker.) This just makes me all the more frustrated that Dr. Carmen took my weeping/leaking wound so lightly. I've had several conversations (when I'm lucky enough to get through) in the past month with her over concerns about my incision, but she just kept telling me that unless pus actually comes out of the wound, everything's normal. Everything was NOT normal, because the puss and scar tissue were trapped under the incision. She should have told me to get my ass into a band surgeon's office ASAP considering a weeping wound is an open wound.

Today's doctor saw part of the tube and said it looked good and clean. And he said after my last re-pack tomorrow, along with the Keflex antibiotic, everything should be better pretty soon. I realize that's not saying much since he's unfamiliar with the band, but it's all I have. Meanwhile, I peeked at the wound after he removed my bandage and was relieved that it wasn't half as scary as it used to be. It's a lot flatter and less red now. And the piece of gauze that was sticking out wasn't saturated with Fluid, but clean, dry, and white.

If anyone out there has a doctor that answers calls on Sunday, maybe you can put a call in for me as an emergency after reading this post about possible band infection. Just when I thought I could stop worrying, right? You'd think any band doctor would be willing to help, because if Heaven forbid my band is infected and I end up on the mortality list, then it makes all bands and band doctors look worse.

Thanks for the info. I'll call the local surgeon first thing in the morning.

[DeLarla 22]

Oh, and double-whammy-OUCH at the way today's doctor had to mash my port/incision area like I was a Thanksgiving Day potato! Holy smoke did that hurt! He couldn't numb the area today, but he mashed and mashed deep into the tissue to make sure he got all the liquid out. I tried to take it like a man, but he had to tell me breathe, breathe, like I was in labor.

[DeLarla 22]

What signs should I look for if I get an abdominal infection? Shouldn't that be something that I'll be aware of, or is it one of those silent things?

[hagerteresa 3]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about the swollen, ouchy thing. Remember that 10 days of draining I had? I am now glad my local family doctor was so happy to see all of that draining. I am sure yours just healed over on the outside without ever properly healing on the inside. Good thing it got taken care of. I am also glad that I am able to talk to my family practitioner about band related problems. It makes me feel more comfortable. I still need to get Dr. Carmen and Nora to transfer all of my records and pictures up to Oregon. That sucks they are so hard to get ahold of and so unresponsive to possible problems. I loved Dr. Lopez but don't think much of Dr. Carmen or Nora. Don't get me wrong, they seemed perfectly nice and helpful for the most part in Mexico but they also seemed kind of chaotic and not real organized. Anyone else have any other experiences with these two people? None of them have ever even contacted me since I had surgery to see how I am doing or if I made it home. Thank god I haven't had any real problems. Anyway I kind of deviated from my message to you DeLarla, I really really hope you start feeling better very soon and life resumes its preband normality for you. It will but I know the sooner the better is what you would like. I truly wish the best for you and send good wishes, Teresa

[New Hope 37]

Wow, now I know you're really scared! But in reality what knowledgable band doctor is going to be available on a Sunday? Please take it easy, keep taking your antibiotics, you have your wound cleaned, and see a local band doctor as soon as you realisitically can. Best of luck to you! I know your puppies are taking good care of you.

[athykay 9]

Hey girl,

Just catching up on the post. So the vet worked, yipee. I am glad they got that yuck outta you.

Still no response from Dr. Lopez's office? I am going to write to Ann Marie and let her know about this. That is so not right.

I still don't have a email about my records that I requested from Dr. Carmen either. I will let Ann Marie know about that too. I think if Dr. Lopez knew all of this he would be really upset. Someone has got to reach him and maybe Ann Marie can.

Take care of yourself and hopefully someone will contact you in the morning. I am so glad you are going to the local Doc I think you will be so much happier.

Talk to you soon,

Take care

Kathy

[athykay 9]

I wrote Ann Marie a very nice informative letter. I told her of the problems that you were having and the talk that is going on. I told her that if she had any way of getting ahold of Dr. Lopez that she should. I think he needs to know what is going on with you.

We shall see if you or I get a reply, I also told her to check out the post here so she could see for herself. I truly hope something gets done about this. It is so not right.

Hope you are feeling better, take it easy.

Later,

Kathy