New person here with a question

[Syxx]

Hi everyone, I stumbled onto this place while trying to find some answers about my back surgery. For a bit of background, my husband and I were in an accident on Feb 21/08 when I was driving our 18 wheeler and we got hit head on by another 18 wheeler. We were "okay" according to the small hospital, so basically we were able to get home and get looked at better.

After starting physio for back pain, it was discovered that I had a disk herniation at my L4/L5. They tried to treat it at physio for 6 months with me having more and more problems with my sciatic nerve, to the point that I had to use a cane and the muscles in the back of my leg stopped working.

I was recommended to a surgeon and surgery was set. I had a disk decompression on Apr 16/09.

Now here's my problem. My surgeon agrees that this is not normal, but I'm hoping I'm not the only one this has happened to. About 4 days after my staples came out I started bleeding from the incision. The ER thought it was a hematoma, but it's still bleeding. The surgeon isn't happy about it.

In the process of the bandages being constantly changed for a week my husband got a good look at my back repeatedly. This is the "not normal" part. The top and bottom of it are fine, and healing nicely, but the middle part (about 2 inches) are sunken in. It actually looks like a belly button on my back. When my hubby has to clean it to replace the bandage, he can feel my spine right under my skin. We've also noticed that the muscles aren't really where they're supposed to be. They seemed to have bunched up at the top of the scar.

I have to go see the surgeon again on Wednesday, and would like to walk in there prepared for anything. A re-surgery has been suggestion since the stitches may have popped and the muscles moved, but they're not sure.

Had anyone seen this before?



The red on the outside edges is the tattoo he sliced through. You can see the skin pulling in around the tattoo inwards. Sorry about the blood, but honestly, it's never without it right now.

Thanks everyone for your time

[Katie]

Dear syxx, if you don't mind saying, where in Ontario are you? I think I might have heard of your accident. You can send a private message if you like.

Also, which doctor did you see? I have experience with a few and we can chat if you like. That photo definitely shows something 'not right'. Not that I'm a doctor or anything...it just looks off. Good luck with your appointment, and as you have already done, research as much as possible. It is your best defense.

All the best,

Katie

[Nairek]

Let me see if I understood this correctly. Your stitches came out 4 days after your surgery? That isn't enough time for the skin to come together & heal in my opinion.

Also, is there a lot of redness around the outside of the surgical site? It looks like there is some redness in the outer area (not where the tattoo is) from where the incision is. Is it like that all of the time? Or am I not seeing it correctly? I only ask because I had a wound on my leg like that once where there was redness around the wound & it turned out that I was 1 day away from being hospitalized with a severe infection.

I'm not a doctor by any means. I'm not saying that it looks like an infection to me. You do seem to be concerned about it though & you should get it checked out just to be on the safe side. I wouldn't wait another week before seeing your surgeon. Better to play it safe.

Please keep us updated on your progress & welcome to the board!

[mmglobal]

This does not sound right. Do I understand correctly that your next step is a week away? Is your surgeon aware of what is happening now?

[Cindylou]

I second all of the above. Don't wait till next Wednesday to get it looked at. If there is also a secondary thing going on like infection, and I'm not saying there is, but, you need to be seen sooner rather than later. Don't take no for an answer. You just had surgery, so they should be able to squeeze you in, if you're having post-surgery problems. Demand it. I had two back surgeries that had to be re-opened, for reasons different from yours, but am here if you would like to PM me. But first....get yourself to your Dr. Glad you found us. Let us know how it goes. We care.

Cindylou

[Syxx]

Hey everyone, thanks for the great advice. I'm down in southern ontario, but it happened near Dryden, so I doubt you heard of it

The doc knows what's going on. i have to see him weekly right now to see if it improves. He's got me on anti-biotics right now just in case an infection develops from it being open like that. I"m planning on telling him it has to be fixed, but knowing him he'll want it fixed anyway. He's a top rate surgeon (Dr.Dunlop) and I know he's very proud of his work. He isn't going to want me walking around with it telling people he did it lol.

Course if it isn't fixed, I already have a cover story: I was supposed to be twins and that is it's belly button lol

[Katie]

Not to scare you, but just because you are on antibiotics, it doesn't mean that they are working. They could be the wrong one for the possible infection, or it could be a bug that is resistant to most medications. There is a lot of that going around, and is nothing to mess with.

Sorry, I would still insist on going back in to see him immediately, and take a culture, etc. of the wound to see if it is truly infected. It is pretty red. This is your spine after all, and a whoops afterward may make the doctor feel good, but will not fix any damage done.

I had a similar thing happen after my hysterectomy. The surgeon kept insisting I didn't have an infection when I had drainage from the incision, but by the time he actually took me seriously, I had a nasty infection that took quite awhile to clear.

Trust your instincts.

[dshobbies]

Syxx,

Hi & welcome to the forum. I agree with everyone else. Infections may seem mild but can turn severe in a matter of minutes. My brother went from nothing to intensive care for a week in about an hour.

Also doesn't sound right about the muscle. If it moved or split apart, it needs to be fixed. If your surgeon is going back into the same incision, why wait?????

Good luck to you, Dale

[melodyl]

There isn't much I can add that others haven't, but wanted to welcome you here and encourage you to get back to your dr. (or another dr.....even an emergency room if needed) soon. If you have a serious infection going on, hours between getting the right medical attention can make a big difference. Please let us know how you are doing and what your recovery is like. There are a lot of great people on this site with tons of information and compassion.

Melody

[Kathy]

I agree with everyone else, get it checked immediately. It looks infected to me. I am not a doctor, but if this were on my body, I would be at the ER asap. I don't think I would let the same dr operate on me. If he is in denial about what is going on, or made some mistake to cause this, I would be weary. His pride could be making him be in denial about the truth about this surgery. I am posting a picture of my incision 3 days post op, so you can have some comparison. My stitches were inside and the skin was glued.

Welcome to the site and sorry you have to be here. I was also in an accident with an 18 wheeler (he was loaded down with ree bar (sp?)) I was driving an 03 Nissan Altima and he came into my lane.

surgery 002.jpg

[Maria]

As mentioned it could be that unless it's broad spectrum and even if it is doesn't mean it's specific for whatever bacterial infection you have going on or another type of bacterial infection that can occur that is resistant to the medication you are using.

I take it you're not running a low grade fever and there is no oozing foul smelling material coming from the area or increased tenderness, redness or swelling. Still the continued bleeding is not right. Fresh blood I take it.

Even with the doctor seeing you on a weekly basis things can change quickly with regard to infections so it's important that you are asking questions and that if you feel there is a significant difference or problem that you seek attention most rapidly (immediately). Too much destruction to otherwise healthy healing tissue can occur and other big problems can follow so if you're very uncomfortable with what you're seeing/feeling seek attention before scheduled appointment.

The surgeon would want to salvage things ahead of time rather than run into further complications.

[Kathy]

This was on Oprah on Thursday, regarding flesh eating bacteria, check it out:

A Flesh-Eating Bacteria Changes One Woman's Life - Oprah.com

I don't want to scare you; but I want everyone to take this very seriously. My nephew had this bacteria last summer and had to repeadetly have his knee drained and fought it for months. He was lucky, he was able to get rid of it.

Symptoms include warm and tender skin, sores, boils, draining puss, redness, swelling and high fever. "If left untreated, it can destroy muscle tissue and lead to life-threatening infections in bones and vital organs," Dr. Oz says

[runner]

Syxx,

Infection can set in quickly. IMHO, I would just keep checking the site for signs and symptoms of infection.

Your doctor should have told you to look for increased redness, a feeling of the area being warm, colored drainage, other than fresh blood. I would also be aware of any swelling. Fever--even low grade.

If you feel uneasy about how it looks, I would just call the doctor and ask to be seen earlier.

Infection can be tunneled under the skin and actually be bigger than what it seems.

Did your doctor tell you it was infected? or did he put you on antibiotics as a preventive measure? A broad spectrum antibiotic may be enough to prevent infection but what people on here are aware of is that some bacteria are resistant to some antibiotics.

I would ask the doctor if he is going to debride the area (go in and clean up the site) or if he plans to take a culture and sensitivity test ,to see if anything is growing underneath your incision. When an area is cleaned out, a culture is usually done. This is all if he thinks you have an infection.

There is a lot of hype about flesh-eating bacteria, which is a kind of rare bacterial condition. We regularly have patients in the hospital fighting this kind of infection but it is still rare. Regular run-of-the-mill bacteria can also cause damage and destruction of tissue. What you want to avoid is a systemic infection which is commonly called "blood poisoning". This is sepsis, which means the bacteria get in your blood. This is the worse case scenario.

You have to go on how you feel and just keep monitoring for signs and symptoms of infection. If you feel like you are ill and you think your doctor is not responding to this, you could always go to an emergency room.

But it sounds like your doctor is monitoring what is going on. If you feel like he is not you could always get a second opinion or go to a primary doctor and get checked out.

By all means, don't get freaked out.

The lady who got necrotizing fasciitis or what the media call "flesh eating bacteria", had severe pain in her shoulder and it was expected that she had a shoulder injury. Her and the doctors didn't immediately make the connection of a small cut on her finger and her shoulder pain. She also didn't feel right either. She was very sick by the time they had figured out what she had.

It just goes to show you that you need to listen to your body and push for treatment if you think something is wrong.

This is all my opinion. I am not there looking at your incision so i cannot really tell what it looks like, feels like and how you really feel. I always think that it is ok to check something out if you have concerns. There is really no harm and if you had a serious infection, it could prevent an infection from making you really ill. I am a nurse, but I am not a medical doctor and I am certainly not there and I don't know all your history. As for the continued bleeding, it is possible you have a hematoma (collection of blood underneath the skin). But i have to stress, the best people to talk to about this are your surgeon or another medical doctor if your concerns are not addressed by the surgeon. I may be repetitive here but i had a procedure yesterday and I am still feeling the effects of the conscious sedation and taking pain pills, so I don't think I am thinking as clearly as I usually do.

I think if you are taking oral antibiotics for at least two to three days and it turns out that you do have an infection and you are not getting better than you need to see your doctor. If you are getting better, than that is good, but if you have an infection, you and your doctor still have to monitor the area/site/incision. Also if you do have an infection, a doctor may want to use intravenous antibiotics. These are all questions that you need to ask your doctor.

If you have any concerns i would not hesitate to contact your doctor. Be sure to have all your concerns addressed.

I think we have to personally advocate for our own health.

Runner