Hi,
I had a RAPN on 1st April. I have four holes plus a slightly longer one of around 4-6cms. They were all closed with surgical glue.
Apart from the swelling which came up a couple of days post-surgery and still hasn't subsided, I am now getting concerned about my surgical sites.
Everything I've read says different things about this glue, and it tends to range from the glue flaking off in 5-10 days, to if it hasn't fallen off by three weeks later, it might need attention. Nobody in person, at any stage, has told me what to expect.
None of my glue has fallen off, and doesn't show the slightest sign of doing so. On my larger incision, the edges are lifting but that's all. On the other holes: one of them is in my waist crease and seems reasonably ok. The one below that, was itchy and pink around the edge a few days ago and since I started putting E45 cream carefully on the pink bit, not the scab itself, and it looks a bit less pink now. Then the one below that started getting very itchy and around the edge it was more red than the first one had been. So I am again carefully putting E45 on just the red bit but I don't know how to tell if it might be infected or not. The hole below that, also has some pink itchy area at the edge and again I am putting the E45 on that. The bottom one, I can barely see as it's right in the crease of my inner thigh and I have to squash all my body and boobs up to see it and can barely reach it, but that one is the itchiest, and I have a red-spotted rash to the left side of that which is itchy. Putting the E45 on all the itchy places but not on the scabs themselves.
The glue on these holes seems to have amalgamated into a scab - glue no longer visible, like it is on my longer scar. However, the scabs are very tight and some yellowish seepage around the edges that has now dried, but I keep getting spots of what looks and feels like glue on my knickers so I don't know if that's the glue starting to dissolve?
I am worried I will have these thick scabs for ever, as I cannot see how they are ever going to come off?
I was told I didn't need to cover them, but then I read that covering surgical sites can help promote healing as it makes the site moist. I haven't dared wash them as I was told to not soak them but not told how long for. I cannot shower as I only have a bath at home and am afraid to get them wet as I was told not to.
I am also allergic to something called an Island Dressing, and it was suggested that it was the glue used on those that was giving me a reaction. Previous surgery two years ago, I had steri-strips and when they easily came off, the underneath was nearly healed, and that was in under three weeks. This time, I'm wondering if I am getting an allergic reaction to this surgical glue and I don't know what to do about that?
I am not supposed to drive for at least another week so cannot easily get to anywhere. My GP is triaging so it will be at least two weeks before they even get anyone to have a look at it. My neighbour is anxious about driving so won't be able to get me as far as the hospital. I am not due a follow-up for another three weeks and am worried that I don't know if this is an allergy, an infection, or is simply normal. I've never had surgical glue before and I've only ever had two surgeries and this one seems to be taking a lot longer than the previous one, for the incisions to heal.
