Anyone have infection after c-section?

docmay25

Recovery with my others went fine. Just had my 3rd c-section week and half ago. Recovery was going great but last night I woke with unbearable abdominal pain that I still have. I also have yellow puss at my incision and part of incision looks open. Being sent to triage to have it looked at. If it is an infection, what can I expect from Here? Just treat with antibiotics?

JENandJEH

I spiked a fever on my original discharge day and come to find it out, I had an internal infection which is apparently pretty common, especially in women who labored and attempted vaginal delivery and ended in a C-section. 

 

For me, since I was still in the hospital, they did not discharge me and made me stay until I was fever free for 24 hours.  I had IV antibiotics that were basically a constant thing.  I would imagine since you're no longer in the hospital they will try to treat with oral antibiotics and go from there but that's just a guess. 

Gipper0809

I had been having an awesome recovery and felt great until about 12 days pp.  I was finding it difficult to stand/move without pain and noticed my incision was bright red and hard.  Went to the doctor--while there, it opened up and drained everywhere.  My doctor told me that it was a pretty massive infection and she wanted to admit me to the hospital for IV antibiotics.  I was devestated as my daughter (3 years) was having a very hard adjustment and struggled with me being in the hospital while DS was being born.  I ended up there for 3 days and had the antibiotics given every 12 hours.  After discharge, I was put on a super heavy oral antibiotic.  And then of course, I ended up with a yeast infection because of all the drugs.  Now I'm on a topical steroid to keep my incision from getting irritated again.  I'm 12 weeks pp and things have healed nicely.

Hang in there and keep us posted.

samm1983

I did.  My incision opened up about a 2 weeks after LO was born and I had a bad infection.  I was put on a few weeks of antibiotics, had to get a wound vac attached to me for about 3 weeks and then have had to pack it since then.  I am almost 14 weeks PP and it is still slightly open.    I hope you have a better experience.

byrne15

I got an infection 10 days pp. 

I went into the OB's office and they confirmed it was infected.  They needed to re-open my incision to drain it and I took antibiotics.

 Anyway, fast forward to TTC and it took nearly 2 years to realize that the infection 'cause me to be infertile.  I had adhesions all over my uterus/bladder and my right tube was twisted and folded over.  I needed surgery to repair it.

sunnyt154

After my cs with DS(4) I got an infection.  Two days after I was DCed from the hospital I felt awful, had drainage from the incision and started running a fever.  I took 2 weeks of antibiotics and had to go to the doctor every week for 8 weeks. 

The incision opened up and took 6 weeks to finally close.  It was a very difficult recovery.  My scar is terrible.

This pregnancy I have placenta previa.  One of the factors in previa is scar tissue from previous cs.  My doc says the additional scar tissue caused by the infection is probably a major contributor to my previa this time.

 I really hope your situation turns out better.

SnowflakeBride06

I labored and ended with a c/s due to chorioamionitis.  Six days PP I was discharged only to return the next day with drainage and an open incision and searing pain.

I had to have surgery to remove the infected tissue inside my incision and was given a wound vac IV antibiotics for 8 weeks and then had it packed for 8 more weeks.

Not to scare you but it was serious stuff. I would get looked at ASAP.   

Strawberrywine

On my 3rd c/s I got an infection as well. It was a MRSA infection and resulted in a 10 day hospital stay then additional surgery to cut out infection, followed by packing and a tube to suck out pus. Be sure they test for the bacteria that is in your wound so they treat it with the correct antibiotic.

 Get in touch with your dr right away!

austenreader85

My incision reopened one night and was draining yellowish discharge.  It was slightly warm to touch but I did not have a fever, I did have some pain and it was pretty darn tender.  I called the on-call doctor about it and she said since I didn't have a fever, it wasn't very hot or pussing yellow-green discharge it most likely was not an infection and that it could wait until the afternoon.  I was calling at like 5 am because my husband was getting ready to leave for work and we only had one car and I was still in the window of not allowed to drive anyway and everyone else I knew would be working that day as well.  I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an emergency and something that couldn't wait until my DH got home!

When I got to the office they looked at it while it wasn't infected, it had reopened.  I ended up having to have it packed for several weeks twice a day.  I hope that's all you need!  I don't remember more because it was over a year ago.  During the packing stage we had to irrigate the opening with water and of course use sterile gloves, gauze, tape etc.  I was told to clean the outside area with alcohol and apply antibiotic ointment after each shower. 

What sucked the most is that just when I was starting to really feel up to doing stuff this happened.  I don't know if I just over did it one day or what.  It's not like I was doing much beyond caring for my baby!  So that pushed back the time it took for me to feel "normal" even longer.  The packing never really hurt, it would sting just a little.

Good luck!

Southern Belle Kathy

A few days pp I noticed my skin below the incision was red and lumpy. One corner of incision was a little open, but no major drainage. Mine is called cellulitis and it has less drainage than an abscess. I'm on my third antibiotic (augmentin, bactrim, then cipro). It has caused some breastreeding challenges. Very painful and tender. Hope you get better soon. 

BritanyV

I was 1 wk pp when I noticed some discharge and went to the dr.   My OB opened the wound and then she cultured it to make sure I was taking the right antibiotic, which was a good thing because when the culture came back, I was not on the right antibiotic.    Once on the right antibiotic, I was on that for 7 days.  

We had home health coming out to change the dressing and then I had a wound vac put on.   I was transferred to a wound care doctor and they took me off the vac after less than a week because he felt the wound was not large enough to warrant the risk of the sponge of the vac possibly breaking off into the wound.   Of course by that time the wound vac had worked wonderfully along with the antibiotics. 

Since then we have been using Silvercel in the wound and that is getting changed 3 times a week.  We canceled home health last week and I've been changing the dressings myself since then, with the exception of my weekly visit to the wound care doctor's office. 

It is a long process and it really sucks!  We are hoping another week or two for it to be healed up completely.

 

 

Bookwormyone

The day after I was discharged I started having increased pain.  I just thought I was overdoing things because my daughter was in the NICU and I was going back to the hospital 3-4 times a day to be with her.  The day she came home from the hospital I was in severe pain.  I could barely walk.  My entire abdomen was hard and about two hours after she came home I looked at it and it was bright red and hot.  I never ran a fever.

I had to go the E.R.  I had a CT scan and was admitted with a massive infection.  It was an abcess.  As I was being examined on the Med-Surg floor my incision opened and drained a ton.  I was in the hospital on I.V. antibiotics for four days and had my incision packed twice daily while I was there.  I was discharged and saw a home nurse once a day and the OB twice a week until about four weeks later when I contracted a different infection in the incision.  I was readmitted for two days on I.V. antibiotics and then left with oral and still saw the home nurse.  I just finished seeing her two weeks ago and still saw the OB once a week. 

I just had my last visit today as the incision is almost completely closed.  I hope that your infection isn't serious.  Keep us updated!

mamaZbo

samm1983:

I did.  My incision opened up about a 2 weeks after LO was born and I had a bad infection.  I was put on a few weeks of antibiotics, had to get a wound vac attached to me for about 3 weeks and then have had to pack it since then.  I am almost 14 weeks PP and it is still slightly open.    I hope you have a better experience.

Almost the exact same thing happened to me--2 weeks PP I went to have my incision checked and the doctor got this strange look on her face and asked when I had last eaten. Turns out my incision was completely open and she could see my intestines. They put me under and sewed me back up and sent me to the hospital. I ended up spending 4 days there and on the last day they decided that it would be safer to open the wound back up and let it heal on its own. I had to pack the wound with gauze from the beginning of October until almost Christmas (excruciating). I am now finally closed all the way, but due to all the antibiotics they had me on, I battled a horrible yeast infection that is still lingering.