Today my brother has quite a lot of yellow liquid coming from his scar when he sits up, the doctors have said this may be fluid leaking out where it has built up inside? Does this sound normal??
To be honest I have no idea on that one . Hope others will be able to help . I take it would have spoken to the Doctor about this . My mum was very distended due to fluid post surgery but I have no idea what colour it was or if it came out . Because she was still in hospital a nurse attended to it . Could a district nurse have a look for him . My friend is one and she is still working . She phoned first to check no one is ill then puts on protective clothing for both their sakes .
I need to stress this at the beginning "I have no medical training whatsoever" and the following are personal observations which should not be taken as fact.
CanI assume that there was no oozing before your brother was discharged and this has just started since he came home and no one is looking at the operation site to make sure it is healing okay.
It can be quite normal to see yellow liquid "pus" oozing from the wound.
It sounds as if a doctor has been consulted as your brother has been told that it could be a build up inside in a sac that formed after the surgery.
If your brother needs to apply dressings to catch the pus he must exercise the highest degree of hygiene before starting and should avoid at all times touching the site with his fingers and only apply sterile dressings, the type that will soak up the pus.
If it gets really bad and he observes any symptoms (fever or temperature) he should seek medical advice from NHS111.
It may stop once the sac is empty but it is worth keeping an eye on it just in case an infection has set in, make a judgement call on Friday before deciding on calling NHS111, or as an alternative maybe a quick phone call to the hospital ward your brother was in may throw some light on why this happening, another avenue of contact could be the stoma care nurse office at the hospital sometimes they have cover over the weekend and maybe able to give some advice.
At the risk of sounding like an old mother hen, the watchword is hygiene before and after dressing the wound, keep fingers out the way, tweezers and swabs if possible disposing of the waste immediately, with hands and fingers kept well away from this face.
It may dry out quite quickly but it is worth keeping an eye on and have a plan of action in place just in case.
Hi - my husband had this about a week after surgery back in Jan - yellowy/pinky fluid, not pus. Didn't seem infected at all but we went in to A&E in the end and they reopened it a bit & packed it and redressed it - said it wasn't uncommon. He then had to have it cleaned & re-dressed by the nurses at the surgery every couple of days for 2 weeks which I'm guessing would be good to avoid right now, although not if it needs attention of course. I think if it was now we would have stayed on phone advice for longer but not if it was getting worse or worrying.
Yes it is not pus, a yellowy fluid. The nurse has said it is Ascites caused by the cancer. It’s causing him a real bloated feeling and prolonging his recovery after the bowel surgery.
My mum had post surgery Ascities . She got put on a special diuretic which is kind to the liver . Did they mention how they were going to manage it ? You could ask if there is anything they can do to help it . It was a really horrible thing to deal with post surgery .
I hope his Gp or his hospital team can guide you in managing this .
No they haven’t at the moment, I’m not sure when the nurse will next come out and see him? He got the diagnosis of stage 4 incurable and inoperable yesterday via the telephone and chemo will be offered within a few weeks. It’s all so strange during these times and a lot for him to take in over the phone.
I think everyone on the forum would join me in saying just how awful this situation is for newly diagnosed people and people in different stages of treatment . To hear that on the phone must be awful and my heart goes out to you both . The good thing is he will need time to recover from surgery anyway before they would start chemo which will give the NHS time to implement safer ways to deliver chemo . It has been so distressing for people but hopefully they will be doing better testing , safer places to deliver treatment and that might line up better with his treatment program .
I read my mum’s letter today from our local cancer centre and the one thing they highlighted is they are still there behind the scenes for you and not to hold off contacting them . They also gave a Couple of contact numbers I am going to share
Cancer research uk nurses are available mon to Friday 9 to 5 pm on 0808 800 4040
Macmillan 0808 808 0000 8 am - 8 pm everyday .
Once he starts chemo you can use the National cancer treatment centre helpline 0800 917 7711 .
Most of them have access to nurses who you can pass things by . You are not on your own with this and we will certainly do whatever we can to help .
It is a terrible blow to discover cancer has spread however chemotherapy can be a pretty effective treatment for a lot of people too .
One step at a time but feel free to phone his GP if he is agreeable to see if they can assist him .
