Infection after Laproscopy

[healthkick1973]

Hi all,

I had a laparoscopy 22/05/18. I was under for 3 hours and they removed a lot of endo but not all. They had to make two additional incisions too so I have 3 wounds healing from the lap. The two on either side of my abdomen seem to be healing fine (touch wood) a little itchiness which is good right?

However, my belly button seems to be infected. Prior to this I was given two sets of antibiotics for PID caused by the lap. Now my belly button is producing orange waxy substance at quite a fast rate and white fluid too. I’m washing with salt water and applying antiseptic cream maybe 3-4 times a day and the build up of junk is quite disgusting. It hurts when I try to clean it in the shower so I’m being as gentle as possible.

Wondering what to do next? Doctors? Over the counter help? Any advice would be great at this is my first post-op and got no help/aftercare from hospital. Not even sure if my stitches are dissolvable they’ve been in for 2 weeks no and don’t look much different to first day post-op.

Thanks xxx

[Coops1109]

I’d go to the docs - you might need another antibiotic to clear it up x

[Dee11]

My belly button wound got infected after both my laps, and sounds quite similar to yours. Go to your doctors so they can prescribe you antibiotics. They’ll take swabs too to determine which antibiotic will work, so don’t worry if they put you on one course then phone up to change it to another one.

Apparently the belly button one is the most common to get infected and they think that mine was actually caused by overcleaning which irritated it. How annoying!

Don’t worry about your stitches not dissolving yet either - mine didn’t look any different until at least 3 weeks later after both ops and even then it took about a month before they were all gone (and this was partly due to me pulling one out).

Take care xx

[healthkick1973 in reply to Dee11]

Hey Dee,

It’s finally cleared up now! Turns out I was over cleaning too and was ordered to stay clear from the shower for 3+ days. It was torture but dried the wound out nicely and stitches fell out a week later! All 3 wounds are healed now thank god. Can’t wait for the next one 🤦🏻‍♀️ xx

[Dee11 in reply to healthkick1973]

I’m so glad it’s cleared for you.... What a relief, eh! Also slightly relieved I’m not the only one to get in trouble for over cleaning 😂 the doctor at my follow up was in hysterics over that one. Fingers crossed it’s a long time before you have to do that again xx

[luthien]

Like others have said; docs first. They can have a look at it, you may need antibiotics specific for skin infections.

I use colloidal silver spray (amazon) or diluted tea tree oil or diluted witch hazel on cuts as natural antibiotics as they dry easily; I find the creams (like savlon etc) dissolve any scab and make healing slow. You'll need to find a way to air dry it; I put colloidal silver on a bit of wound dressing (the stuff inside the plaster that usually comes in first aid kits) roll a little up until it just fits in belly button and change twice a day, it may need a little additional of whatever's used from the above to loosen it, then just repeat until no more stuff is on the dressing. It's the annoying way some innies squash together so no air can get in to dry it all.

[CJessicaD]

My belly button was also infected! A short course of antibiotics quickly sorted it out. Also I’m 3 weeks post op and my stitches are still in tact however one fell off when I scratched it by accident! Apparently it’s normal for them to still have not dissolved xx

[CJessicaD in reply to CJessicaD]

Sorry I have just read your replies and realised this is 15 days old! Oops 😂🙄 xxx