Anyone else dealing with an abscess?w

[Dmbfan 2]

What happened? How long did it take to drain/heal?

[Ms.AntiBand 2,984]

Are having this issue and are you being treated by a dr here in the states now?

[Dmbfan 2]

Yes. I had the surgery 23 days ago, and went to the Er on Wednesday where I was admitted. After an ultrasound, and CT scan they found an abscess 4x6" they put in a drain and gave me an antibiotic . They released me yesterday and I go back tomorrow to find out the next step. I am hoping someone out there has been through this to help me figure out the road ahead

[MrsGina 101]

Yes, I was in the hospital for a week, drain and all. It was painful but did heal.

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I had one in the incision they pulled my stomach out through. It started getting red about 5 days post op. I met my doc in the ER, and he had to open and drain it. I got antibioitics, and it drained a lot, then closed up in about 7 days. It then opened up about a week later and drained, I went to the office, and they opened it up with silver nitrated, and it drained a lot and my skin closed up again. I didn't think the infection was gone, so I went back in and he cut it open, put a small drain in to keep it open. I got that out a week later, and my skin healed up in a couple days. That whole process took about 7 weeks. It was unpleasant, but as far as complications go, not that bad.

It really needs to heal from the inside out, but skin kept healing over. If the wound were bigger, I would have packed it to keep it open until the inside healed (I'm a nurse), but the wound was just too small.

Hope your heals up quickly and that you do well! What's going on with you?

[Dmbfan 2]

Thanks for all the information! Hopefully when I go back to the doctor tomorrow I will hear that after having the drain in for a few days that I'm on the mend! I am just excited for the "good" part of my sleeve journey to start!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I hope you are on the end of that infection. It really did make it easier once I had that cleared up. I felt like I couldn't get on with things....even though I was. It was just a constant worry and/or irritation. My abscess felt like a baseball in there, and was about that size. Yours might heal quicker because you had a drain right away and you had IV antibiotics. I probably needed one right from the start, but I think my doc underestimated just how bad it was.

Either way, I'm better now and you will be too, hopefully really soon! Let me know how it goes.