How My Incision Celebrated Harry Potter (Disgust alert)

Yesterday, the skin around my incision was looking a little red and swollen, but I wasn't sure if it was infected. When I woke up this morning, there was no doubt. {Gross alert} My superman pajamas (they weren't saving anyone today, clearly) had ooze stains and the ooze kept coming. Luckily, it's a week day, so I could go to my surgeon's office for a visit with Nurse Lois Anne. She told me that about 50% of patients' incisions become infected if they are stapled because bacteria can grow in the cavity inside. It's worth stapling wounds for the 50% who don't get infections. Essentially, I have an abscess draining to the outside. Yeah, great. My nurse cut my incision open, which actually didn't hurt that much considering all the other ordeals I have been through; about as much as it hurt to have my staples taken out. Then she drained the pus and washed it out. I didn't look because I was getting pretty revolted just thinking about what she was doing. When I looked over and she was coming at the incision with a numbing shot, my deep dislike for needles took over for a second and I almost ran away. Next comes the bad part. Lois Anne taught me how to "pack" the wound. I have to fold up a 2x2 inch gauze sheet and stick it in the incision with the end of a pair of tweezers. The purpose of the gauze is to absorb the drainage from the wound cavity, which is one to two inches below the surface. Besides the ooze and blood, for me, the gross part is that there is just so much space in that hole. So I have to keep poking the tweezer in there (with some force) until almost the whole gauze sheet has disappeared. Every time I have to change the wound, I have to pull the top of the gauze sticking out of my stomach and keep pulling until it all comes out. It's like a worm or something. I will have to do this twice per day for many weeks to come. Since the wound will heal from the bottom up, eventually there will be nowhere for the gauze to go, and I will be able to stop. The bad news for my scar is that it won't be so pretty! But I guess the worse it looks...the more bragging rights I have and ridiculous stories I can come up with? You can probably tell that although I can deal with lots of pain or time in the hospital, wounds are not for me. By the end of my "packing" tutorial, Lois Anne and I agreed that I probably shouldn't pursue a career as a surgeon. Darn it! I'm really not surprised that my incision decided to act up today because I know it just wanted to join in on the Harry Potter fun. It was getting jealous of all the attention being bestowed to Harry Potter and his scar. Maybe Harry and I could trade scars for a day?