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How has your abscess healed?

KWalker

Moderator
Hey guys, I have a question for those who have had abscess surgery specifically. As many of you know I had abscess surgery back in December of 2011 where I had a 7.5" incision to drain the abscess.

My question is, is the abscess supposed to heal completely to the point where you can't tell you ever surgery? Mine is doing really well right now, but because it was cut instead of just poked/drained it feels almost like I have a "ditch" where the incision was. It looks pretty well like normal skin, but the area is slightly bumpy and I could stretch it and pull it apart easily. It's like the top has never healed over.

Is that normal, or do you think I still have healing to go?
 
I'm exactly a year since surgery now (yesterday was my anniversary :p ) and I would say mine has healed completely.
Obviously yours being a lot bigger, you would expect it to take longer. But I'm afraid I don't have enough experience to say if what you describe is normal. I'm thinking due to the size of yours you will always have some kind of scar.
 
Location
Ontario
Never had an abscess, just fistulas. When I was a kid, my mom had a giant abscess is her leg that had to be cut out and packed every day. When it healed, the skin did not look like normal skin, it was more pink, smooth, and there was an indent where the abscess was.
 
Nah, my abscess/fistula, when healed, left me with a "pot hole" right on the side of my bum. It's were the take the tissue from, and because it's quiet a bit it will never heal back fully.

KWalker, is your abscess still draining 14 months on? Did your surgeon rule out a fistula? Before my fistula my abscesses would drain, at most, 6 months.

Just curious.
 
Location
Ontario
Nah, my abscess/fistula, when healed, left me with a "pot hole" right on the side of my bum. It's were the take the tissue from, and because it's quiet a bit it will never heal back fully.

KWalker, is your abscess still draining 14 months on? Did your surgeon rule out a fistula? Before my fistula my abscesses would drain, at most, 6 months.

Just curious.
Did your fistula actually heal completely?
 
Did your fistula actually heal completely?
Ever since the Humira and fistulotomy I've had no problems. Before that I had two seton's in there that would stop it from closing over and forming again. They were pretty awesome, but I would need a pad down my pants every day.

I still have an indented scar, as for the fistula, they don't fully heal, ever. Or so I've heard, they just close from end to end, they can act up at any time and if you leave it too long (no antibiotics etc) it can form another abscess.

They're really complicated to explain, lol.
 
Location
Ontario
Ever since the Humira and fistulotomy I've had no problems. Before that I had two seton's in there that would stop it from closing over and forming again. They were pretty awesome, but I would need a pad down my pants every day.

I still have an indented scar, as for the fistula, they don't fully heal, ever. Or so I've heard, they just close from end to end, they can act up at any time and if you leave it too long (no antibiotics etc) it can form another abscess.

They're really complicated to explain, lol.
Complicated yes, I have had one for almost 8 years and another for 6. 2 fistulectomy's and they are still there.
 
I had a drain put in my abdomen 6 mos ago, had it in for 3 weeks...drained out 500ml of fluid. The incision has healed completely and I have had no problems. But just had a CT scan and looks like the abscess is forming again, on Antibiotics and Steriods again!
 

KWalker

Moderator
Thanks everyone. It drains once in a while now, depending on how hard/loose my BM's are. It seems that when my BM's are looser I get drainage as well, but I don't regularly have loose BM's anymore so most of the time it does not drain.

I have never had a seton or any other drain put in place, and when the surgeon did tests, she said there were no signs of a fistula. I didn't have a typical abscess procedure though and mine was an actual surgery where they made a long, deep cut and then sucked everything out and cauterized the ends. I ended up spending 10 days in the hospital as well as a result of the two surgeries.

I had the first surgery on November 11, 2011 which was much smaller but due to problems caused by my home care nurses, the infection got much bigger/worse and therefore required a bigger surgery
 
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