My dad had a triple bypass two weeks ago, and shortly thereafter began to leak fluid (~500mL/day collected by a "wound vac") from the incision site. He is on a fierce antibiotic regimen, but this has not quenched the flow and no cultures - whether taken from blood or directly from the wound site - have come back positive. The surgeons say that his CTs/X-rays don't reveal any cause or source for the fluid.
During an exploratory surgery on Saturday, a surgeon was surprised to find that a 1-inch square chunk of Dad's sternum was missing, presumed necrosed. The surgeon told us that sometimes circulation to the bone is not properly restored during these surgeries, resulting in bone death and resorption, and that because of his diabetes, my dad may be more at risk for this complication. The infectious disease specialist, however, feels that this almost certainly indicates that the bone had become infected. A surgery is planned for tomorrow: if the wound appears uninfected and no more bone is dead, the site will be covered with a muscle flap; otherwise they'll sew him up and try again after more antibiotic treatments.
I'm not comfortable bringing up subjects like the risk of mortality and chronic pain/incapacity with a surgeon in the same room as my ailing father, so I prefer to ask what you know about recovery from situations like these. What are the odds of infection, and how does this affect his chances of survival/return to a pain-free life? Recovery was supposed to take 4-6 weeks before there were complications; what about now?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge or experiences.