Second operation

My second operation again was in Durham hospital it was in the same place as the first so - lower back- it had caused an infection in the scar tissue as well. I was seen at around 2am at Bishop Auckland urgent care. I was told the time before that if i came back in one more time i wasn't going to be allowed to just get antibiotics and it lanced so i was prepared. 

I was sent home and told to come back at 7am, so my Nannie went home and came back to pick me up at 7am. Me, my Nannie and my boyfriend headed off to Durham hospital. When i got there i was given a bed and told that i would be in for my operation by noon so i was NBM -Nill by mouth, so no food or drink- after noon had came and went my Nannie went to see what was happening.. I was told that there was an hour delay but i would definitely be in by 1pm.. So my Nannie went for food and my boyfriend took me down for a cigarette. 

After hours of being told that it shouldn't be much longer, my family were told that they had to leave as visiting hours were over.. by this time it was 7pm, with no food, water or painkillers. By this point i was very angry the anaesthesiologist told me that i wasn't allowed to go out for a cigarette because it could cause problems when i came out of anaesthetic. i said that i didn't care that i needed something to take the edge off and he replied with "oh I'm sorry am i wasting your time?" so i said"yes you are" and went down for a cigarette. 

When i came back up to the ward i was given an IV of paracetamol and told to try and get some sleep.. It was a little after midnight when the porters came to get me to go in for my operation. 

I remember waking up all hazy with the mask on, taking the mask off and asking for a blanket because i was freezing cold after about five minutes i got one and was taken back to my bed. When i woke up in the morning i was told i had to go into the bathroom so the nurse could check my wound..

Whilst in the she took of the tape and starting removing something from my back. it was extremely painful so i umped out of her way, she apologised then started again. I didn't know what was going on, what i imagined was that some of the padding from my dressing had gotten stuck but she explained what it was..

No one had told me but this time i hadn't gotten a dissoluble stitches operation i ha got a packing one. which means that they insert a thin bit of dressing into the wound and pack it in by shoving a thin metal rod into the wound so that they can make sure it is packed in tight, ten everyday the packing will be removed and the repacked with a clean dressing. This is to have the wound heal from the inside out slowly therefore improving the likelihood of the operation being successful. 

unfortunately this procedure didn't work for me. 
When it came time for me to have the wound repacked,  was terrified. Because i remembered how painful it was coming out. If you can imagine, dry cotton wool being shoved into an open hole in your back and pushed down deep by a thin mental rod. It was horrific. I was told i could have morphine through a drip but i could have to stay another night in hospital or liquid morphine and go home. So

had to grin and bare it - which by the way took 2 hours and alot of convincing from my Nannie- Unfortunately when the district nurse was coming out to my house to redo the dressing everyday it was coming out in the middle of the night therefore not healing correctly.

All in all the operation didn't work and it learnt me a valuable lesson to always ask what the operation entails. If i am given this option again i will try and find any possible other way because to be honest. i do not know which was more painful the abscess or the packing of the wound...

Thanks for listening
XOXO


(all pictures are taken from google images)