Wtf do I do? Calling doctors/HCP’s. Warning photos of open wound

[TheresaMay]

Regular poster. Name changed as this is very outing if 2&2 is put together by anyone.

I had a hysterectomy 8 weeks ago. The scar in the fold under my stomach was terribly mismanaged. I ended up on antibiotics and having twice weekly iodine dressings. All good. Almost healed. Then the nurse suggested using a different dressing. It had oozed all over my night dress so I thought something must be wrong and removed it to discover a deep gaping wound. All of the new flesh/ skin carefully grown under the dressing over the past 4 weeks gone.

I am going to have it dressed today. I’m hopefully getting an appointment with the gynaecologist Monday. It’s so deep. I don’t trust the nurses anymore. Are iodine dressings still ok? It’s just so very deep.

First photo is last Thursday.
Second photo is just now
Last photo is of flesh eating dressing

Help 😢😢. I’m freaking out big time can’t stop shaking.

I think you should go back to your doctors. I don’t think you should wait til Monday.
It’s impossible to say online if it’s dressable or not, but certainly should be looked at.

I think the wound looks clean and will quickly heal by second intention. Dry dressings at this stage I would say.

See a doctor today. I'd probably try and call the surgeon who did the op.

Thanks for your advice. I’ve just called the surgeons secretary. I’m emailing the pics and she will get him to look. I’m having it dressed this lunchtime. Freaking out less now.

I am not a nurse.
Husband had a wound almost exactly the same . Huge abdominal operation in March. Signed off from wound nurse a fortnight ago . No infection or anything. He had iodine treatment and silver nitrate ( stung like hell apparently) these wounds have to heal from the inside out and they just take as long as they take.
a good wound nurse is worth their weight in gold , you just can’t hurry these things .
DH scar is now like a pink felt tip line .
Good luck

Its healing from the inside out (I know it as "moist healing" but not sure if that's still right). It means less chance of infection, as bacteria can't get inside and covered by a scab, and less scarring. It does look very alarming, I'm sure, but the nurses doing the dressings need to explain to you what to expect.

It looks like they have used a duoderm dressing which doesn't allow any ooze to escape but holds it against the wound keeping it moist, but if you are still weeping that much the inadine and a absorbant dressing would be much better.

Newcastle
Thanks it’s Actually the second photo so bleeding again.

I realise it’s healing from the inside but it was almost healed. ☹️ Then this happens.

Skinon
Yeh I’m not looking forward to going through it all over again! Yes the nurse tried to rush healing. This is the result.

I’m going to write to the surgery about it, they need to not do this to someone else. This is the result of mismanagement in the first place. It was clearly starting to get infected when I showed him. But he thought it was fine and I ended up on antibiotics. 12 days. I’m really fed up.

Fairy
Thanks. Yes clearly I was creating too much fluid. It looked odd yesterday but the nurse said white me was ok. But the. The whole thing went white a couple of days ago. I showered with extra tape on the top as it was peeling off a little and ensured the tape was dry so I don’t think it’s water.

Nurse here.

Please don't fiddle about with your wound. Don't remove remove dressings. Go straight to the GP and get the practice nurse to take the dressing down and assess the wound.

Although it might look shocking compared to the first photo it's not a 'bad' wound really. Might need packing for a while as it heals from the bottom up.

Relax. Your insides aren't going to fall out. Some wounds appear to be healing well but then for whatever reasons break down or stop healing as well. These things happen unfortunately.

I’m a practice nurse.

The wound looks ok actually (assuming the middle pic is how it is now). It’s clean and healthy with healing evident.

The dressing looks like a hydrocolloid which is good for lifting scabs and cleaning slough - I’m guessing the wound you thought was healed actually had some eschar (scabbing) on it, which isn’t actually healed and can impede healing as the scab can form and leave a dry cavity underneath which won’t heal.

Hydrocolloids can lift the scab revealing a healthier wound bed. They do turn white and look very wet due to the action of the dressing but once cleaned look much better.

Please don’t panic, your wound isn’t that deep and it will heal! I’d probably pack it lightly with something like Sorbsan and cover it with something like Kerrafoam which means you can shower. They will absorb any exudate (weepy stuff) and keep it clean and drier.

I wouldn’t use Inadine (iodine dressing) as it can be irritating, shouldn’t be used for too long and isn’t necessary on a clean healthy wound bed.

Hope you feel better soon.

Great thanks for the info. I’m off to see the nurse soon.