problematic underarm surgery, please help.

Just relax. Breathe. Calm.

Right. When you go to get your remaining stitches out, the person doing it should be able to tell that your arm isn't ready for it. At the end of the day, if you get them taken out and your arm deteriorates more and you get infected (sorry if this is putting horrid thoughts into your head!) it'll reflect badly on the medical practice, and they don't want that. Tell your physician or nurse your concerns - they're there to help you through this, and I know as a fellow HS sufferer that it's a b**** of a condition, and hopefully they'll listen and find a solution for you. It won't go away over night, but there we go - just got to ride it out .

Good luck! If you experience horrendous pain after going home, don't be afraid to go to A&E!

Hi Chrissey,

Your wound sounds horrendous. If your surgeon is on leave and nobody is willing to touch it, I would suggest going to A&E. An open wound is not good or correct, the hospital need to sort it in some way for you to avoid infection and unnecessary pain. 

Discuss your concerns with the nurse removing your stitches. They will have a look and might suggest leaving the stitches in longer and clean it for your or dress it. 

I hope it gets better quickly xx

Thanks lauren, im really freaking out. Been to a&e loads due to it opening and the docs there have all said it needs closing either by way of a graft or stitching. The surgeon that came to the dressings clinic once I had said I wasnt happy was the one who said it needs to open more, im in so much pain already and I have 7 ops to go :-(

I feel totally useless and almost broken... I'm 25 on the 19th and I'll still be in this state when I should be well on the way RE healing.

the hole is huge, constantly weaping now there is blood on the dressing (im so lucky to have such a wonderful husband) he is redressing it right away when its needed.

its all making me question further surgery, I wouldnt say im a wuss but this has me in tears all the time.

how do you cope?

Thank you rachel,

I've been to the hospital about 20 times since.. a&e agree that it neess sorting but then on the surgical ward, they say it needs to be left?

Its crazy, I dont know where to turn or who to listen to up there.

Its dressed (soley because of my husband ensuring it is plus mum and mother in law) im on antibiotics but surely the fact its massive and was originally stiched isnt good???

Thanks so much for the help guys, I really am upset with it all x

Hi, I only joined this group yesterday, and some of the stories are awful, and yours sounds so bad, I am really sorry. I have suffered with HS for about 15 years now, and is gradually getting worse. I had surgery some years ago on my groin, both sides. It was stiched but started to open before the stiches were due to come out. The nurse at my local surgery took them out early as she knew that it was infection causing the problem, my GP wanted to send me back to the hospital for further stiches, but the nurse argued with him that it would only delay the healing process. I then had them packed every day for 8 weeks. When the skin started to near the top they stopped packing and used some other solution to encourage the skin to grow over and heal so it did not raise above my leg. It was remarkable after it was all over, very little scaring. Sorry such a long story, but this might be better than more stiching, especially if infected. I am not sure where to go now however as I have now had 6 abscesses in 4 weeks, had incision and drainage and more anitbiotics than held in a pharmacy. Keep thinking that what you are going through is horrendous, but it maybe a means to and end. I now need to start hounding my surgery to let me go to the dermatology outpatients to see if I can start getting somewhere to stop this horrible painful ailment. I feel your pain, chin up, it will get better, post so we know how you get on and take care. 

Blimey deb, that sounds awful.

im dreading tomorrow, doubt i will sleep tonight if im honest.

im on cocodamol and naproxen but its doing nothing, its like touching a live wire with the dressings against the wound.

I really do wish I had the money to go private for all of it, some of the aftercare staff have made me feel like im a massive nuisance and I really dont mean to be but its horrific, I dont see this day in, day out!

The first time I saw the open wound was with a thin mirror when my husband went into the kitchen to fetch dressings and I could have passed out.

xx

Praying for you right now... Hope you find relief from your pain soon!

Hi wasn't your wound packed from the inside?   They do this so not just the skin grows back but underneath the skin does too otherwise you have a hole there.  If they haven't done that already I don't know if it is too late now but in future they must do this.   It should be done every day for a while then every other day until the skin heals underneath it.   x

I'm scheduled to have the surgery under both arms on Wednesday the 15th. I have heard that if the stitches burst they will sometimes leave the wound open to heal, is there a wound clinic you can go to? I notice you said your husband has to do everything for you, is it because of the pain or because you are unable to move your arms? Once I have my surgery, I will continue to post updates. Hope things get better for you soon.