Changing the dressing and other things

Hey Ladies,

I came home with a fresh bandage on Friday and a spare to use when I change the dressing but I don't want to change it too soon or too late. It is still clean and there isn't any seeping. The nurse just basically said to change it when it got dingy. How many days did you wait?

I have some mild healing irritation at the incision site but basically I feel great and have more energy than I have had in years. I take the anti inflamatory 3 times a day but so far today no Tylenol 3. I hope it all goes this well and I am not being lulled into some false sense of security before I blow the surgical tape! I really expected to be sick and gross feeling and I'm just not. Anyone else feel immediately better? Really the pain at my incision is less than a paper cut.

I've wallked more these past few days since surgery than I did all last month!

Hi Octavia, I'm sorry to say I don't know about your dressing issue. They came in and ripped mine (literally) on the second day after which I realized they didn't shave my hair right down there and it felt like a bad wax job with all of my insides failing. Very painful.

Anyway, I would just watch it and make sure it still looks fresh and when it starts to look wet or dirty i'd change it. I'm so glad your recovery is going so good, i'll be 4 weeks post op tomorrow and i'm still dealing with bad issues. I'm so happy for you that you can walk, try not to over do it though because you can fool yourself. Take care sis.

thanks for the thoughts - hope you feel better soon

I was told to change my dressings twice each day. I bought the bandages at my local pharmacy, and I needed plenty of them since I had a hip-to-hip incision.

You want to keep the incision clean and as dry as possible. Don't allow the pads to stay saturated for long. I cleaned the area twice a day -- once via warm shower (just let the water cascade over the incision, never hit it directly) and once via a damp, clean (!) towel. Then I allowed the area to air-dry for about 30-45 minutes. (Time to catch some good Food Network shows while I laid on the bed.)

Please call your doctor's office for more instructions!