laparoscopy stitches

[boosty]

hi guys. i have a question. i had my laparoscopy done on the sixth of last month. now all of a sudden, my stitches are red, open wound a bit and yesterday some puss came out of one of them. is it infected and how dangerous is that. most of it is dry scab though.

[SimplyStar]

Thanks for the nice comments, I can only try to give back to those that have helped me so much in understanding about OVCA. 50+ years ago when I went into nursing, cancer was a death sentance,  transplants were unheard of,  vaccines that give immunity to so many illness's were not available.  You all have taught this "old dog" alot of new tricks.  Sometimes I feel like a big sponge soaking up all this new knowledge so freely given.  I try and stay away from those things that I have not had experience with, but many things remain constant and these are the things that I feel comfortable giving advice on.  A nurse gathers most of her experience from dealing with patients  for hours on end. A doctor writes the orders but the nurse carries them out.  When I am asked about "who should I get as a doctor"  I tell them to ask a nurse. That is exactaly what we did at Mayo, I happen to have several nurse friends that work there, and they gave us the name of Leslee's onoco.  I feel deeply that a cure for cancer is close to being formulated and released to the world. It won't save all, but it will wipe it out in the years to come.

[boosty]

hi again. and thank you for your answers. i am not a diabetic, and my doctor told me that my stitches will melt away on its own. and the stitches were fine until last week when they started getting red. pus only came out one time. right now, its just red and swollen. and one of the stitches is kind of like an open wound and its a bit wet inside as all open wounds are. i dont know how serious it is cause its not really bothering me,.it just looks kind of bad. could it have gotten infected due to swetting?

[SimplyStar]

Sorry  but I have never seen  "melt away" stitches used on the outside.  Inside yes. All most surgeons use now days are clamps and in some cases the little surgistrips. Don't think I can help you with this, but if you do have a wound infection I suggest you call the doctor.

[SimplyStar]

First let me say thanks for your post for my daughter.  Scope incisions are usually small and require only a few stitches to close them. This is a stupid question I think , but you refer to your stitches, you did have them removed I hope?  If you did, and there is "pus" draining from any one of the stitch entrys , yes, you do have an infection.  A healing time of almost 4 weeks is plenty long enough, that all should be healed, unless you are one of those people that  have the problem of being a slow healer.  Are you a diabetic?  They heal slower than most people. You can either call the doctors office and report the infection or try to deal with it this way. Use Hydrogen Peroxide  on a clean cotton ball and hold over the open areas  and squeeze the ball so that some of the peroxide gets into the wound, there should be a bubbling appear,  Repeat this several times, then apply something like Neo_Sporin, do this several times a day. Leave open to the air as much as possible. If this does not take care of it in a couple of days , be sure you call the doctor.  I wish you good luck.

[freshair]

I just wanted to say SimplyStar it is so wonderful to have a nurse on this forum. And Boosty I hope the advice goes well with you healing up!

[Kaerbear]

You should check with your doctor of course, but, are you sure it's pus?  It may be granulosa if its yellow and crusty.  I've got lots of that coming from my belly button because it was stapled a little bit unevenly so the wound is kind of open there.  Although, it's only been a week and a half since my surgery.  Just a thought.

[gma718]

just wondering how your wound looks...does it look better? hope it is healing well.

[nyc lady]

I had the same thing in my bellybutton after my first surgery.  I had to pour alchol into it...have you checked with your doctor???

[Kaerbear]

Yes.  The doctor told me to expect this clear or yellowish discharge from the open site on the incision.  I've been cleaning it regularly with peroxide and it seems to be healing okay.  I just thought, if I hadn't been told about it, I might have thought it was infected because of the way it looks, but apparently it's normal.

[boosty]

hi you guys. yeah, i just went to my gyn and they said that its not infected but its irriated due to my stitches. its been a month since my surgery and the stitches should have melted away but for some people, it might take longer. she took them off. it looks bad, but i have to keep it clean and band aid it. so i am relieved.

[19sarah70]

hi there. had my operation on the 17th august....my stitches are infected..the area is really swollen and red and there is a discharge....really hurts feels like there is a weight there pulling at it...been taking antibiotics that my docter prescribed but hasnt got any better.......what should i do??????????