I had decompression surgery just over 4 weeks ago. This past Monday my husband noticed my incision looked really red with a small bump at the top. By Tuesday it looked a little worse so I contacted my surgeon’s office and told them how it looked. I then sent them pictures. So they called in antibiotics and scheduled me to come in on Thursday. The problem is today about 9 this morning (while I was at work) I noticed my hair was wet so I got a napkin and dabbed it expecting to see puss or something but it just made it wet like I dipped it in water. After that I situated the napkin to stay on my neck while I typed. After 10 minutes I could feel a drip running down my neck. The napkin was soaked all the way through! So after going through who knows how many napkins I decided to go home. I contacted their office again and told them it was draining clear fluid constantly. They said keep taking the antibiotics and make sure I make it for my appointment tomorrow. They said it would be OK to wait. My question to all of you is have you ever heard of anyone having this problem? Is this CSF leakage or is it tied to the possible infection? By the way I feel fine, I don’t hurt and no fever, just annoying drainage that is forcing me to go through all of my hand towels in my house because it is soaking them completely within approximately 2 hours. I included a couple of pictures of it.
233-IMG_20140512_172441_27424727188.jpg (3.06 MB)
234-IMG_20140512_172444_9771313475025.jpg (2.19 MB)
235-20140514951003391086562230.jpg (352 KB)
Thank you for your replies. Unfortunately I did not see them until this morning. I fell asleep pretty quick last night. I called them and emailed them. What they told me on the phone was the same as what they replied in an email. Here is what they wrote:
"We have just finished clinic for the day, so would not have been able to fit you in today. Continue with the antibiotics, and we will see you in the morning. You can get just a couple gauze pads to cover it with overnight, until you see us in the morning. You can come earlier if you would like, I am here by 8:15 or 8:30, so come up earlier than 10:30 if you want to. See you tomorrow. "
Since my surgeon's office is almost 2 hours away we will be leaving for it in about an hour or so. Should I prepare myself for them to admit me in the hospital? I just don't know what to expect with this...
I will, thank you again!
Hello again. I'm sorry I didn't update all of you sooner. When I went to the surgeon's office they did say it was a spinal fluid leak and admitted me right there. I was then added to the surgical list for Friday. They had to change the dressings every 20 minutes or so because it was leaking so much. They had me on IV antibiotics that whole day and night and through the whole time I was in the hospital. My surgeon had an MRI done prior to surgery to see what they needed to for a shunt to be put in. He decided on a shunt because I was already having serious pressure problems prior to the leak, even after my decompression surgery and he said this just further proved I needed a shunt. So Friday morning I had a VP shunt put in. After the first sugery I was released from the hospital the next day (which was what I hoped for). This time they made me stay in the hospital until Sunday (2 days after surgery) to make sure I wasn't going to leak more. I was ready to leave. I could have gone home on Saturday if they would have let me. I feel pretty good except the incison site on my stomach and where they had to push the shunt through just behind my temple. So far no headaches, which is better than the last time because after the decompression surgery I was still having bad headaches as soon as 3 days after the surgery.
My new question to you guys is what new things should I look out for with this shunt? Should I get a medial ID bracelet showing I had decompression surgery and laminectomy with a VP shunt? Thank you again for all of your help!
So glad you are doing better! I was so nervous for you, Tkelly.
I'd go with a bracelet. No one ever got hurt over too much medical information.
I don't know much about shunts. A friend had one after a car accident, but that was a long time ago. I'm sure everything has improved with technology.