Hello! I wanted to introduce myself and talk about my story. My name is Brooke, im 25, married to an amazing husband and we have 2 beautiful boys!
My second boy was born in November, via c section and it went all smooth until I got home and about a week later I started to feel hardness about an inch above my c section incision and there was a scab. I went in to get it checked out and was told it was a form of cellulitis and got sent home with antibiotics.
A few days later, the scab was turning white, which I was told white is good, its a sign if healing, but it smelled really bad. Even after taking a shower, it still smelled and leaked. That same night after being told “whiteness is good”, It started to open up. there were 2 holes on the scab, and I could fit my pinky in them. Not to mention, the pain was horrible, I felt as if there was a bowling ball weighing down on my pelvis, and when my husband would feel around, just the slightest touch made me cry. So off to the hospital we went...
When we arrived, the doctors seemed very surprised, the skin around the scab was extremely inflamed, hard, and painful. They did not waste time to take me into surgery! They ended up finding a softball size abscess that had a bunch of green pus (sorry TMI) in it. Doctor told me if I would have waited any longer, I could have lost my life, due to the infection spreading so quickly. The fact that I had to keep the surgical wound open, made me nervous but I could walk so much better and I felt 100 times better after they removed the abscess!
I ended up having to be on a wound VAC as well, which the dressing changes with that were extremely painful. So everything seemed to be going smooth. A week later, there was more fluid pockets forming and I was not infection free. I had to have another surgery, which extended the incision, and a few days after that, I had to have another surgery to remove another pocket.
So there I was, huge incision from hip to hip and losing all confidence that I was going to get better. At that point, infectious disease specialists got even more involved and I ended up being on a PICC line as well. Walking around with 2 devices was by far, a pain. But I pushed through it.
My last surgery happened on December 12th, I had the PICC line removed January 15th, and I am officially infection free, my wound is almost closed and I am feeling better than ever. This experience taught me how precious time and life really is and I am here for ANYBODY who continues to struggle with this awful disease!
