Hey. About ten days ago I noticed a tender spot near my c-tube. After a few days it got soft and more tender. I never went to the doctor because it never got worse and I never developed a fever. Four days ago the abscess broke open and drained when I was in the shower. I thought everything was okay and it would heal. The next morning I woke up and discovered the abscess had crusted over hand filled with fluid again. Once again it drained while I was in the shower. This happened today and yesterday morning too. Is this normal? Do abscesses typically drain then refill? Should I make a doctors appointment?
Abscess problems
- Thread starter gracem
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Did the fistula appear because the abscess wasn't removed immediately or would that have happened anyways?
Not entirely sure, I didn't have the MRI that found the fistula till last Tuesday. I believe there's a 50% chance that a healing abscess turns into a fistula. I think you might have a fistula cuz it is recurring for you. When it heals over, the pus comes from the fistula and can't come out cuz of that healed skin so an abscess forms
So you didn't know you had a fistula after you had the abscess removed or did you just assume the fistula was an abscess? What's the treatment for a fistula? Do you let it heal or does a surgeon fix it? Wouldn't it be good if it stopped draining I'd assume it went away or healed.
Didn't know I had a fistula when it was drained by the surgeon but he thought it could be a fistula, then confirmed by MRI. I think some Crohn's medication can help it heal although the most used and highest success rate is surgery by doing fistulatomy, they basically open it up, remove whatever pus is in there and it heals from the inside to the outside to prevent abscess from happening again. You should still see your doc if it has stopped draining just to make sure. The infection can potentially become serious if left alone
Thank you for the information. I panicked when you said fistula. I always hear these horror stories about fistulas and how they never go away and get these horrendous infections. When I looked up the surgery it didn't look that bad. So why did you see a surgeon for this? Mine's kinda small so I was hoping it could be taken care of at a normal doctor visit.
Mine was a perianal abscess so it was painful to sit down and stuff so I went to pcp. He gave me some antibiotics for it but I reacted badly to it and ended up in the Er. My Er doctor told me to see a gi, did that the next day and was immediatedly sent to a surgeon who drained. The pain relief was immediate lol I panicked a lot when it bled
When I looked it up it seemed comparable to my c-tube surgery. Maybe somewhat worse. My c-tube placement wasn't easy but it certainly wasn't anything like a resection. I only stayed two nights in the hospital after the surgery.
You can look at my full story over here if you want lol http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=78515
Oh. That makes sense. When you live with an intestinal disease you may soon find that you prefer having a trained, experienced surgeon work on you vs. having a volatile disease potentially reeking havoc inside you. At least that's how I view it.
I saw your story. I'm sorry this has gone on forso long. If you don't mind me asking, what big city is closest to you? It sounds like you might need a hospital that hasa better GIVE team. I live in an area that has horrendous medical care so when I when I first starting showing symptoms of crohn's I wasn't treated well. My doctor let me bleed, vomit, lose weight, and have dihedra for three months before I had to drive seven hours to Memphis, Tennessee. I went to a children's hospital were they did an emergency colonosopy and immediately discovered my Crohn's. Now I go to Kansas City for medical care. It's about four hours away from me.
Little update on the abscess: Yesterday I went to my PCP and he confirmed it was an abscess and drained it with a large needle. He didn't mention the possibility of a fistula. However, while he was draining it he squeezed it and thought he may have felt something called a t-fastner. I had two put in with my c-tube. They were meant to make my intestines adhear to the my side and create a tracor my c-tube. After they did what they were supposed to they were supposed to fall out. But, for some reason, one of them didn't. The team who placed my c-tube told me it would most likely be okay, but, on a rare occasion it could cause a severe abscess. Right now neither my PCP or the team the placed my tube think it's severe. I'm taking Bactrim twice a day for the next seven days to clear the infection. I'm just worried this might come back and get even worse. If that happens we'll have to go in and surgically removery the t-fastener.
I live in NYC and idk about a hospital lol I have an appointment with my surgeon on Monday to discuss the surgery for my fistula and an appointment with my gi sometime next week cuz my colonoscopy was normal (although still waiting on biopsy results) and MRI enterography was normal as well, practically ruling out crohn's.
And Ahhh I see, I guess there's little to no chance of a fistula if your pcp didn't mention it and i hope everything turns out okay with the t-fastener!
And Ahhh I see, I guess there's little to no chance of a fistula if your pcp didn't mention it and i hope everything turns out okay with the t-fastener!
Wow. I'm surprised you don't already have a diagnosis. New York's supposed to have excellent GI care. I hope everything goes well for you.
Eh. Things could be going better. I haven't bothered to post an update because of everything that's been going on.
I was almost finished with my antibiotics. My infection seemed to be clearing up. The drainage was drying up and everything was healing. I though i was fine, until I noticed the abscess had stabbed over. I pulled the scab off (my PCP said to keep it open so it could drain) and infected fluid pour out. At this point I called the team who originally placed the c-tube up in Kansas City. They didn't offer much advice other than keep watching it and go to my PCP. My PCP is great but he's not familiar with the tube. There isn't a single doctor familiar with c-tubes within a hundred miles and the people who I called knew that. God only knows why they thought it was a good idea for me to have this treated locally. I grudgingly made an appointment with my PCP. When he saw it he was pretty concerned but was uncomfortable working on the abscess anymore. He suspected the infection was deeper than he originally thought so he called a general surgeon who got me in the next morning. When the surgeon saw it he said it looked great but definitely shouldn't have been draining like it was. He also thought this was caused by the t-fastener. He opened the abscess up with a large, short, fat needle and tried to look for the t-fastener. He couldn't see it. He decided it would be better if he felt for it. To do that, he got a different thin, long needle and proceeded to jab around the abscess and surrounding areas for a good five minutes. He couldn't find the fastener. He said that since the was no t-fastener causing the infection it could be a simple skin infection that can't heal because of the scar tissue surrounding it. He told me that it was possible that if the scar tissue was destroyed the area would get better blood flow and it would heal. To fix the scar tissue he took a silver nitrate stick and pressed it into the spot he had just cut open. He did all of this with no local anesthetic. Over the next few days my skin turned black and massive ammo of infection poured out. After all the dead, black skin fell off it began to heal and now I only have a minimal amount of drainage. I have to go back next week so the doctor can redo this procedure and hopefully get rid of all that excess tissue.
I could probably handle this if that was all that was going on. But it's not. Since Wednesday I've been trying to call a dance instructor who I think ripped me off. She asked for an advanced payment for future lessons and I was stupid enough to give it to her. I'd talked with her numerous times before and I'd had a few lessons so I thought it would be okay. Apparently not. She'said been avoiding me ever since I payed her. On Friday I received the new laptop I ordered and discovered that it had already been opened and some of the accessories had been stolen. The exchange process was a nightmare. After I finally got everything worked out and got it exchanged for a laptop that hadn't been opened and used, I went to set up my new item. I plugged it in and left it on the kitchen table to charge. I came back several hours later only to discover that my puppy chewed the charging cord into tic-tac sized pieces. And tomorrow morning I've got to get up and have my older dog put to sleep. She's old and in a lot of pain but I still feel horrible putting her down. She's been such a good dog. Still, I know it's the right thing to do.
So yah, my week has sucked. What about you? Have you been doing well? I hope things have been going better for you than they have for me.
Damn that all really sucks 
hope everything gets better for you soon
And I've been meh, I've tested completely negative for Crohn's and was tested for celiac but that came back negative as well. I was given bentyl to use when I have stomach pain and if that doesn't work, I go back and my gi'll prescribe me medicine that should slow down my bowel movements
I've also gotten a bad case of pharyngitis so I have antibiotics for that, but they're giving me bathroom problems :/
hope everything gets better for you soonAnd I've been meh, I've tested completely negative for Crohn's and was tested for celiac but that came back negative as well. I was given bentyl to use when I have stomach pain and if that doesn't work, I go back and my gi'll prescribe me medicine that should slow down my bowel movements
I've also gotten a bad case of pharyngitis so I have antibiotics for that, but they're giving me bathroom problems :/
Damn that all really sucks
And I've been meh, I've tested completely negative for Crohn's and was tested for celiac but that came back negative as well. I was given bentyl to use when I have stomach pain and if that doesn't work, I go back and my gi'll prescribe me medicine that should slow down my bowel movements
I've also gotten a bad case of pharyngitis so I have antibiotics for that, but they're giving me bathroom problems :/
Geez. I hate antibotics that do that. I hope you're able to finish them soon.
I'm sorry you tested negative for everything I hope you get what I mean by that... I know you don't necessarily want a bad diagnosis but not having answers sucks and is scary.
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I hope you get answers soon.
Well, a lot has been going on. My abscess turned out to be okay. It healed up and hasn't acted up since. However, I was just diagnosed with some sort of chronic pain syndrome. My doctor never even told me the exact name of my condition. She just said that I'm going to have to do some sort of physical therapy. The problem is that I need insurance approval. The doctor got my paperwork and approval letter together to send to the insurance. all seemed well, until I found out that the incompetent nurse didn't even send the papers to the right insurance. When I called and told the nurse what happened she said she'd take care of it. While "taking care of it" she somehow managed to send it to the wrong insurance, again. The third time they managed to get my approval letter to the right place. Now, whIle my pain sydrome continues to get worse, I have to wait for my insurance to review the claim. I'm terrified they're going to deny it and I won't be able to get the therapy is need. I don't think I've been this stressed in years.
What about you? Have you gotten a diagnosis? How's your anxiety?
Anyways, thanks for asking about me. I'm stressed and need to talk, but I don't want to bother anyone with my problems. It's nice to know that someone's willing to listen.
