@llholiday

Yep, Tom is great company and taking great care of me. As for the drive home, my eyes were closed for most of it. But there was a lot of rain for the first half. 

@squeakyandliza

I am so sorry that you have to go through all this pain. Hang in there. It will get better. 

Stella

@sjlovestosing

Thanks Stella!  I sure hope you are right and it does get better. When my hubby changed out the packing in the incision today, I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I’ll admit I was screaming and crying in pain. Poor Tom said he wishes he could be hiding in another room while someone else was doing that to me. He hates to hurt me like that. Our new rule is change wound packing an hour after pain meds instead of just before. 

@squeakyandliza

Liza, I can't imagine the pain you are going through, but I understand what your husband is feeling. It's so frustrating when you see someone you love dealing with horrific pain. My heart goes out to you both. I am praying for you as well.

God be with you,

Stella

Liza,

I hope you already have a grab bar next to the toilet. They REALLY help especially when recovering from abdominal surgery. You can use arm strength instead of tummy muscles ( ha ha) to get up and down.

Easy to install .. Amazon has them ( of course).

Best wishes for a swift recovery.

My goodness Liza! I feel for you 100%! It seems to me when my packing had to be changed the nurses let it soak several min. with a sterile fluid first, avoiding the ripping it out pain. Has this not been advised?? Time to make a phone call & ask.  For your sake & dear Toms too. 

I was even told to do this after my big toenail was removed in order to change the dressing comfortably! 

Hang in there you tough cookie you! In Canada we would most likly  still be in Hospital. I hope that taking of the pain pill an hour before hand works well in the mean time. 

Liza

If it helps when my open wound was slow in healing the nurse used manuka honey  which worked to close the wound. depending on the depth and stage of healing the nurse used either manuka mesh, cream or lotion. (Flaminal forte, activon, mesh-activon tulle may be different brand where you are) they don't use them as standard because of the cost - manuka is expensive honey?

Linda - my goodness, your toenail! Yikes!

Liza, You are a trouper, and so is your husband. We are thinking of you and pulling for you.

I called the doctor the other day because I felt like the spot they put the drain tube in my tummy was getting infected. In talking to the nurse, I learned that the drain tube was not to drain the big vertical incision, but was draining the large abscess they found around my stoma. Somehow I glossed over that in my drug addled post-surgery talks with the doctor. I had thought maybe there was a small hernia there, but things can’t ever be routine for me. 😕

She did prescribe me some antibiotics in case the drain area is infected (it is just below my ostomy and I have had some leaks so I’d be surprised if it wasn’t infected). I go back to Portland for a follow up Thursday morning to hopefully get drain tube removed. 🤞

With the exception of the area around the drain tube, my pain is lessening, and pretty well controlled with the pain meds I have. Thanks for being there with me through all this. 😀

@squeakyandliza

I am so glad to hear that your pain is lessening. Good luck in Portland. I hope all goes well.

God bless,

Stella

Hi ostomates,

I haven’t updated in a while. I had my first follow up a couple weeks after my surgery. Oh boy, was it insane. I had the drain tube from the abscess which was causing great amounts of pain. And the drain tube was not far below my stoma so I was having to seriously alter my wafers to avoid it. Well, I went in for my 2 week follow up and when I got up on the table and pulled up my shirt, I had an ostomy blow out. It was  all over and I was soooo embarrassed. They took off all the wound dressing and cleaned me up. One of the doctors poked around the incision area which hurt a lot. The other doctor removed the drain tube, which was excruciatingly painful. They redressed the wound and my husband helped me with a new appliance, since I’ve never replaced it while lying down. They also sent a nurse to try to find me something to wear since my clothes were covered. After leaving us in the exam room for about half an hour, a nurse finally came in with some scrubs for me to wear. The whole thing was such an ordeal! 

With the drain tube out, my pain got a little better every day. There is still an open sore where the drain tube was, but the area where it was stitches in has healed, so I don’t need to alter my wafers as much. For the first week or so after my follow up, I was using one pieces because the wafer portion was smaller, but I kept getting leaks. I had to change my ostomy 14 times in 10 days, one time 4 times in a 24 hour period.  I went back to a two piece and the leaks improved a bit. 

I had my second follow up last Thursday. I took a change of clothes, just in case. The two doctors both independently said they were very pleased how well I am healing and that it is so much better than they expected. Yay me!!  

Since we have to drive three and a half hours for appts, we convinced them to let us go 4 weeks before the next follow up. We are changing the dressing daily. I still have some pain, mostly after the dressing changes. I don’t know how long the incision area will take to heal. There is a hole we have to pack in part of it, but it does seem to be getting smaller. I actually have hope that after two and a half years, I may someday not have an open wound on my tummy. 🤞

Thanks for all the support you guys have given me and thanks to those who have checked in on me with messages. 🙂

@squeakyandliza

I am so sorry to hear about your experiences, but glad to hear your wound is finally healing. It's good to have you back on the forum!

God bless 😇 

Stella

@squeakyandliza...Oh Liza! I want so badly for your wounds to heal.  This has been such a long haul for you.  You are very blessed to have a good loving husband tending to your wounds ever so faithfully.

I will continue to pray this healing continues. I hope your next surgery goes ever so smoothly so the cycle can end & good health & good guts prevail! All the best!!

Thanks Stella and Linda. You both are always so kind and supportive!!