Stoma site questions

I just had this a few months ago.  It closed up totally a month out, the site is still healing, though.  By the way, absolutely no pain, just gauze once a day for the small draining until it heals.  I think there is something to the "no infection" concept!

Thanks!

Mine took a long time to close up...maybe 5 weeks...and then it started forming some extra skin on top, which I had "burned off".  I want to say they were silver nitrate sticks?  None of that hurt though...from the packing each day, to the healing, and the "burning".   You'll be amazed the first time you see the size of the cavity after surgery!  I had NO IDEA how big the hole was going to be be!!  With that said, you get an idea of how easily it could get infected if they just sew you up.  I'm not sure I entirely agree about the cosmetic aspect though.  My scar was horribly unsightly.  I had surgery for adhesion removal this year and they actually went back through that site and then stitched me up afterward.  The scar is so much nicer looking now.  

I've had 3 stoma sites close on their own.

All 3 were left open to heal, and all 3 fortunately did not infect.

Basically I had to squirt a mini tube of saline into the wound 2xs/day, swab the area with betadine solution, pack it with clean gauze (as it closes up you use less and less until you can finally just take a shower and use soap on your body but not inside the stoma).

I have found with all open wounds that must heal from the inside-out, you need to slowly bring the edge together.

I used a couple of steri strips at the outside edges and as time went by and things healed up inside I would add a strip to either side until it was mostly healed and the edges were nice and close.

I did not end up with a perfect scar but it was decent. (not the ugly jagged thing that I had with the 1st one).

I did find that the scar was a bit thicker but because it isn't a huge scar I was fine with it.

Don't worry, it is pretty easy to handle. No pain.

Sharon

It's pretty common to leave the stoma wound open to heal. Mine also healed open. But don't worry, it won't be open to internal organs. My surgeon put a stitch at the base of the wound so that it was closed off. The wound basically then heals from the bottom up. For me, this took about 6 weeks to completely close, and it was then sort of like a scab for an additional few weeks. Advantages to having the wound left open are that there is reduced risk of infection, there is less puckering of the skin - my surgeon told me that if the would was to be closed with staples or stitches, there is a good chance of "dog earring" or puckering of the scar, so theoretically you will be left with a more even looking scar.  Disadvantages are that in the early stages, you have to pack the wound and have it dressed at least once a day. For me, this involved going to go to a wound care clinic for the first week on a daily basis. After that, I went every 3-4 days and then once a week until the nurse discharged me, maybe after 3-4 weeks. You also have to keep the dressing dry, so showering for the first few days can be a bit challenging.  I had great instruction though and had no trouble doing the dressing on my own on the days I didn't need to go to the clinic. For the most part it healed very nicely. I have a scar that is a little over an inch long and slightly oval shaped. It is very slighly indented and there is a tiny bit of puckering on the corners, but I'm probably the only one who notices this. You should do fine as long as you follow all the instructions given to you and keep the wound clean. Best of luck!

Ugg, it was very painful for about 3 weeks. I had a home care nurse come in the beginning and always took a pain pill 45 min before she came. I'm such a baby I could not do it myself and my hubby helped out after a while. Took a good 6 weeks to heal. Going to have to go thru this again myself in a few weeks as I'm getting reconnected again. Not looking forward. Good luck and be pain free.