Slow healing

thewiff
thewiff Member Posts: 2
in Kidney Cancer #1

Hi all!   I had surgery 9/25/14 to remove my right kidney due to cancer. All cancer was contained in the kidney and I am now cancer free!  YAY!  I still have a tiny hole in my incision that keeps leaking.  Im having a CT today to see if we can figure out why.  Has anyone else had this problem?   Thank you!

Comments

  • jason.2835
    jason.2835 Member Posts: 337 Member
    #2
    Stitches?

    I had a small issue when the scabs fell off with the dissolvable stitches that were supposed to be under the skin... A couple of them were poking out and I was afraid that if they stayed there, the holes would eventually fester. I went online and found out that this actually a pretty common problem after laparoscopy. I followed the directions of a nurse who said to use tweezers to gently pull out the end a little tiny bit and then snip the end with cuticle scissors so that the rest of the stitch would go back under the skin. It worked for me and the holes closed right up. Obviously you want to sanitize everything first. I'm not sure if this is your problem, but who knows. If it is the stitches you may feel a little plastic-like protrusion coming out of the hole. 

  • thewiff
    thewiff Member Posts: 2
    #3
    jason.2835 said:

    Stitches?

    I had a small issue when the scabs fell off with the dissolvable stitches that were supposed to be under the skin... A couple of them were poking out and I was afraid that if they stayed there, the holes would eventually fester. I went online and found out that this actually a pretty common problem after laparoscopy. I followed the directions of a nurse who said to use tweezers to gently pull out the end a little tiny bit and then snip the end with cuticle scissors so that the rest of the stitch would go back under the skin. It worked for me and the holes closed right up. Obviously you want to sanitize everything first. I'm not sure if this is your problem, but who knows. If it is the stitches you may feel a little plastic-like protrusion coming out of the hole. 

    Nothing is poking out of the

    Nothing is poking out of the hole. I think its a pocket of fluid. 

  • myoung790
    myoung790 Member Posts: 75
    #4
    I have one site that took

    I have one site that took forever to heal.  It's still red actually.  Hopefully you will have answers after your scan.

  • todd121
    todd121 Member Posts: 1,448 Member
    #5
    Stitches

    I've heard that they can cause an abcess and can even get infected a long time after the surgery.

    Did you see your surgeon to have him look into it? It's really up to the surgeon to take care of problems directly related to the surgery.

    Todd

  • Ree_Maryland
    Ree_Maryland Member Posts: 161 Member
    #6
    Slow

    I had right kidney removed due to RCC in April. I healed up pretty good .only problem I had was the constant intiching where the kidney was, other than that had small  holes where the stiches were but no leakage .  

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #7
    Ree_Maryland said:

    Slow

    I had right kidney removed due to RCC in April. I healed up pretty good .only problem I had was the constant intiching where the kidney was, other than that had small  holes where the stiches were but no leakage .  

    sinus

    When tissue is cut so deep and then stitched back together, perfect alighnment is rare. Sometimes a small pocket is created or sometimes an irritating stitch can create exudate. That is a production of fluid that is designed to act as a sort or lubricant to the irritation. The drainage can be examined for an infection. It can be basic hemodynamics. The fluid looks for the path of least resistance and comes out through the weakened spot. Whether that be an opening that doesn't "knit", or heal together at the same pace as the rest of the incision. It is probably unlikely that the drainage comes all the way out from where your kidney was. This is very common at surgical sites of any kind. The deeper the more likely.

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