Lap wounds!

[AmyMillie]

Hi ladies, I had my lap on Tuesday and was sent home without any aftercare information on how to look after the incision wounds. The blood has soaked through the bandages and I haven’t been given any spares. I don’t want to take them off as I haven’t even been told if I have stitches (I assume I do!). I haven’t showered as I don’t want to get them wet. A nurse from the GP surgery will hopefully ring me today with some advice but I wondered if any of you could help in the interim? Thanks in advance. Amy xx

[SarahMia227]

I would say don't shower, and wait for the nurse to call you! It's probably unsightly, but I don't think there's any danger of the bandages being bloody? (Not a doctor though!)

[AmyMillie in reply to SarahMia227]

Thank you for your reply x

[luthien]

Don't do anything for the moment as you don't know what's underneath / how it's dressed - wait and see what the nurse says; you might need to go to your GP surgery to see a nurse so they can have a look at how it's dressed, redress it and give you spare dressings plus advice.

[AmyMillie in reply to luthien]

Thank you for your reply, unfortunately they don’t have any appointments for today or tomorrow and I don’t really want to leave it till after the weekend! I’m hoping she’ll say I can have a shower soon and then change the dressings myself, but I didn’t want to do anything without checking first 🙈

[luthien in reply to AmyMillie]

Do you have a walk in centre nearby? Or one where you can book appointments on the day by calling in?

Hopefully your notes will be though at your GP and they can tell you whether it's stitched, glued, or what dressing it is.

[AmyMillie]

Just a little update, I saw the nurse and she cleaned the wounds and changed the dressings for me. She confirmed that I have dissolvable stitches, told me how to care for myself over the next week or so and gave me spare dressings. I wish the hospital had helped me with that, instead of just sewing me up and sending me home with a sick bowl and no follow up appointment 🙄

Thanks again for your advice ladies, this forum is a godsend x