Belly button/incision slough
Alright this is kind of a rant but also advice to others in the future. About a week post op my belly button was filled with a FIRM white/ yellow substance. I was obviously very concerned and reached out to my surgeon several times. At first I was prescribed antibiotics, didn’t go away. Then I insisted on being assessed in person and I directly asked my surgeon “is this slough?” And she said “I don’t know what it is. Pack it with dry gauze and change it daily.” I felt extremely rushed, she gave me like 30 seconds at this appointment. I completely lost trust in my plastic surgeon and went on r/wound care for advice. They are absolutely wonderful, 2 different nurses confirmed that it was slough and what the next steps were. Basically the exact opposite of my PS advice. They advised me to clean wound with saline water and then place hydrocolloid bandages on it keep them updated for further instruction if I need help after. All this to say, I often see people saying “listen to your plastic surgeon” and sometimes you really need to listen to your gut. If you feel like something is not quite right reach out to a wound care specialist. Surgeons are not experts in wound care, and in my experience have been very dismissive of any of my concerns that could have actually had a much higher chance of infection/ complication and wouldn’t have healed on its own. It honestly makes me so angry that I spent so much money and received such shitty post op care. Anyways, I definitely recommend the wound care subreddit if you’re struggling with wound care and also hydrocolloid bandages are AWESOME. I have them on several other small spots and it’s healing great.
Alright this is kind of a rant but also advice to others in the future. About a week post op my belly button was filled with a FIRM white/ yellow substance. I was obviously very concerned and reached out to my surgeon several times. At first I was prescribed antibiotics, didn’t go away. Then I insisted on being assessed in person and I directly asked my surgeon “is this slough?” And she said “I don’t know what it is. Pack it with dry gauze and change it daily.” I felt extremely rushed, she gave me like 30 seconds at this appointment. I completely lost trust in my plastic surgeon and went on r/wound care for advice. They are absolutely wonderful, 2 different nurses confirmed that it was slough and what the next steps were. Basically the exact opposite of my PS advice. They advised me to clean wound with saline water and then place hydrocolloid bandages on it keep them updated for further instruction if I need help after. All this to say, I often see people saying “listen to your plastic surgeon” and sometimes you really need to listen to your gut. If you feel like something is not quite right reach out to a wound care specialist. Surgeons are not experts in wound care, and in my experience have been very dismissive of any of my concerns that could have actually had a much higher chance of infection/ complication and wouldn’t have healed on its own. It honestly makes me so angry that I spent so much money and received such shitty post op care. Anyways, I definitely recommend the wound care subreddit if you’re struggling with wound care and also hydrocolloid bandages are AWESOME. I have them on several other small spots and it’s healing great.