c section wound not healing - has this happened to you and what helped it heal in the end?

[fhdl34]

I had my section 9 weeks ago. 10 days post birth my wound started seaping fluid quite profusely from one of the staple holes so I was put on antibiotics and told it would clear up within a week. A week later it had gaped open so they started packing and dressing it daily. From then up to now it's been swabbed for infections quite regularly, sometimes its been clear but more recently it's shown strep b infection so I've been on quite a few antibiotic courses. They're now considering keeping me on a continuous low dose of antibiotic until it's fully healed but it's measuring 3cm long and 1.5cm deep (this is just one of the staple holes) and now a hole at the other end of the scar has started to bleed.
I am considerably overweight, I have a large overhang above the scar which they say is probably one of the main reasons it's taking so long to heal. They've told me to do as little as possible but there's only so much you can avoid doing with a baby, I'm not hoovering at all I did some last week and it pulled it open again when it was healing quite well.
Is there something else they should be doing or I can do? I'm not doubting their expertise but it was me that suggested continuous antibiotics and now they're saying it's a good idea so I'm wondering what other things they haven't considered.
It's started to get sorer now because I think the sensation is returning to the area but mostly I think when it pulls I just feel it sting like lemon juice on a cut.

Sorry to hear your wound isn't healing well. It's really difficult, especailly with a baby to look after.

I had a C/s in August. My wound was infected by day 3 and I had a haematoma, which was really soer. it took four courses of antibiotics for the wound to heal- mostly because I am allergic to the most effective ones. However, the doctor did put me on a different antibiotic for the last dose and it healed very quickly after that. Because of the complications (I also have a suppressed immune system because of drugs I take for a health condition) he mentioned referring me to a wound specialist clinic (not sure if he meant nurse or doctor, but I think that there are consultants who deal in this sort of thing). Could you ask your GP if you have anything like that locally? They may be more au fait with managing more complex scenarios?

Very best of luck :)

Which dressings are they using? I was given totally wrong dressings by the midwife, luckily im a nurse so i knew what i should be using, i rang the doctor and ordered it sll myself.
My CS was a disaster, the whole thing broke down and i had to be re stitched in theatre.
Were you stapled? Are these out now?
I would advise speaking to your infection control team at the local hospital, ask them to check your results (no one bothered to tell me i had MRSA), then ask them what the best thing you can do is. I went on 4 courses of antibiotics, none of which were right for my infection, in the end i needed a specal body wash and anti fungals.

I can imagine how shit youre feeling, ds was born late November 2009 and i was still dressing my wound mid january. I felt i would never be normal again. I know your weight is an issue but try to eat healthily, plenty of red meat, try manuka honey on toast for fighting infection and rest as much as possible

Thanks trailingvine, I think I'll ask about whether there's a clinic for that in our area.
I'm on flucloxacillin at the moment, they keep saying the infection is sensitive to penicillin but I don't really know what that means. I'm breastfeeding so it was important for me to have an antibiotic that I could still breastfeed with.

mosschops30 they're packing the wound with sorbsan and dressing it with allevyn adhesive dressings (they're very large and quite padded). I was stapled and they came out on days 6 and 7 after the section.
Weirdly the hospital rang me about 4 weeks after my section asking loads of questions about my wound and I told them it hadn't healed etc. I wonder now if there was a reason for the call but they didn't divulge anything and I didn't think to ask as I was distracted with feeding DD at the time.
I'm eating a lot of red meat as we love lamb but can't stand honey I'm afraid, makes me wanna hurl :) The nurse said to eat plenty of green veg and fruit; we do have cabbage and broccoli most days but I'm a bit crap on the fruit front. I'm also taking pregnacare still as it's suitable to have whilst breastfeeding.
I do feel like I'll never be normal again. I was sat in the waiting room today envisaging going to have it packed everyday when I was an old lady.
It's annoying because I have a lovely DD, she's a very content baby, sleeps loads at night, feeds really well, is happy and I'm absolutely loving being her mum, I just wish this wound wasn't like it was. I started to look at starting swimming sessions to do with her and then realised I couldn't do anything like that because of stupid wound. We're due to go away for a week at the end of May and DH was asking the other day what I'm supposed to do if it's still being packed and dressed then. I'm hoping there'll be a walk in centre near where we're staying.

I'm also wondering about future pregnancies, if I'm lucky enough to get pregnant again. Was told by midwife you should wait a year at least, does that extend when you've had complications? Not saying I'll even be ready when DD is a year but just wondering as never wanted a big gap really.

I dont know anything about further pgs im afraid, i had 2 vb's and my 3rd was the CS.

I dont know anything about Sorbsan either, not something ive used. We normslly use Aquacel which is good for heavily exudating wounds and traps bacteria.

I promise that you will heal eventually, i remember someone saying tht to me and i thought i would never be normal again. Despite all the trauma i went through my scar is now barely visible, it shows no sign of what went on. You will get chance to enjoy your baby and o lots of fun stuff, just let your body heal now then go for it later

You could try manuka honey - google it then make sure you buy some with enough active ingredient in - it is used in some parts of the NHS for wound healing!