Post surgery

[Nursekayde78]

Update: it’s been a rough almost 2 weeks (tomorrow is day14). Well here’s my story. Went to Mexico Monday 10/15/18 for preparation of surgery with Dr. Mario Almanza. Surgery went fairly fine on Tuesday morning. During my stay there, I had a few episodes of low grade fever. No biggie, I packed liquid Tylenol. Thursday night they removed the drain from my largest incision although it was draining rather copious amounts of fluid. Placed bandage and told me to continue this daily. I flew home Friday the 19th. Each day while home I noticed that the draining coming on the bandages was more and more purulent or thickish. Finally on the 25th I decided to go to an ER. They ran test for blood cultures and CT scan of abdomen. Quite obviously there was a 6 inch collection of fluid behind the big incision site full of that purulent drainage. With the removal of the drains it was impossible for my body to expel out the fluid faster than it was being made. I was transferred to Dr. Philip Gachassin. A local bariatric surgeon who decided to take me. He was not very pleased about Dr. Almanza removing that drain. Well now I have a 6 inch deep wound that needs to be packed every day until it closes and heals. I stayed in that hospital for 3 days. Guys just watch those incisions. Because of my medical background, I knew something wasn’t right and caught this way before it could have have been really bad for me.

[wattek58]

WOW...makes me leery. I have Almanza in Feb 2019. That is a very scary situation. You could have been septic (if you weren't already). Keep me up to date on your progress and appreciate any helpful suggestions you might have as I prepare for my surgery.

[ThatGirlKat]

Glad your doing better now. It is always good to keep an eye out for infection early on. It can get bad pretty quick.

Good luck going forward!

[tcarvajal]

Thank goodness you recognized the signs, and a fever is not a good thing. Wishing you a speedy recovery to get back on your weight loss journey!

[AnnieG]

Thanks for sharing your story and how important it is to have some on hand medical team if you travel for your surgery.

I am so glad you are doing better; prayers for continued healing.

[KiwiGal]

Glad you knew what to look for and were able to get it attended to. Not a great start for you. Hope you feel better soon.

[Stacey03]

And every nurse on here is going ARRRGHHHHHHHHHHHH...Drains out too early. Bummer. See I wonder if thats an issue that happens often as they are keen to discharge you. I'm not dissing Mexico or any of the doctors as I've heard some great things but that sounds like a doozy. Hope that wound heals soon.

[Khaladriel]

Damn, that gives me the chills just reading about it. Good thing you were so aware and got to your nearest hospital to take care of it.
Makes me appreciate my Dutch surgeon even more. Next to being bariartic surgent, she is also specialized in minimal invasive surgery. Except from the largest incision, I only have the smallest lines on my stomach which were already fully closed 3 days after surgery. The major one is still a bit sore and closing, but also almost a fine line. After surgery they were taped up for a day and that's it, no drainage needed and healing nicely luckily.

[Christie13]

I am so sorry to hear that. The odd thing is that some surgeons use drains and some do not. I was sleeved here in Texas and I did not have a drain. No issues with my wounds either. They did not build up any fluid even though I did not have drains. I am glad you are getting better and that the surgeon decided to take you on. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[MerrittGirlFL]

Does anyone know if this is a common problem? Having issues with drain tube Being removed? I have Dr.Almanza Dec 4... should I worry?