Abscess-Fistula Question

So as some of you might have read, I had a reacurring abscess after my last resection, it came back a total of 3 times, and now its turned into a fistula.  So now I have crap (litterally) coming out of a hole in my stomach right above my bellybutton...real cute.  My GI surgeon refused to believe it was a fistula, but my recent ER trip has proved him wrong.  I just had an appointment with him last week, and he told me I would basically have to deal with it until my Crohns is in remission, mind you I've never been in remission in the 7 years Ive had this disease.  He told me just to pack it and change it a couple times a day.  Im sorry but I refuse to believe nothing can be done to help this.  He said he will not do surgery until my Crohns is under control because that is what caused the fistula.  But his words right before that was it was caused from the amount of prednisone I was on when I had my surgery (60mg), Ive been off the prednisone for 3 months, and this fistula just appeared maybe 3 weeks ago.  He followed that by saying "This is not my fault! If I blew the surgery I would say so!"  Im thinking he thinks Im going to sue him, and thats why he doesnt want to touch me.  Ive noticed that while Im standing the drainage is minimal but while I sleep, lay down or am sitting, thats when its worse.  Ive been told to pack it, Ive also been told not to pack it...so far Ive been packing it because Im afraid it will close and then get extremely painful when theres enough gunk in it to push it open again.  Has anyone had this kind of fistula, and what did you do about it, did you pack it or not?  Did you have surgery to fix it, or did you just let it go?

I would say the same thing.Get a second opinion.

Good Luck!

Hi Mag ...Yes I have had the same problem after my first surgery which was for a abdominal abscess .... It was open surgery and was left open to heal, so after it was healed up almost completely the fistula a wee hole would not close... the treatment I got was as you are doing to dress it , how big is the hole ? What I did was to go on Remicade and started B-12 it healed..now to continue on here after my resection which was a year later, I had the staples removed and there was a wee hole so they put a tiny ribbon thing in there and dressed it and a swab was done to check for infection which turned out postive for infection so I went on anrtibotics for a bit and after 10 days it cleared up and has remained healed. Your Dr. might be right in thinking they can heal it with meds ....but it took about 3 or 4 Remicade treatments for me...to get mine closed up ...lol gail

I have never been on Remicade, but I have been on Humira.  I stopped taking it a few months ago.  Does Humira have the same healing effects for a fistula as Remicade?  How did you dress the fistula, mine drains so much, and its right on my stomach, so its not like I could just wear a pad if it was down there.  My skin is SO irritated from using the tape, it bleeds everytime I change the dressing. Any tricks?  Also it doesnt take long for it to soak through the dressing, and I use 3 dressing gauzes so it triple thickness.  UGH! lol 

Hi Mag Just wanted to comment here gee your surgeon should of told you the proper dressings for it..I used a perscription gauze like thing I cut in two and folded on the fistula and then I folded one or two 2x4 gauzes on top of that and then 2 or 3 gauzes on top of that ...there are two types of tape I used the stuff that was more like a thinner tape and made a square around the gauze some on the skin to hold it and cleaned it with sterile saline solution ... if you go to emerg there should be someone to show you proper dressing usually a surgeon will leave a order for it .. I had problems with one kind of tape that had got me sore but the thinner stuff doesn't stick as good but is alot better on the skin you can ask your pharmancist ..the B-12 I took helped heal it too.. not sure if Hum. is better then Rem. for healing them..best wishes and let me know if this helps.. lol gail

Just one point on the tape. I am allergic to some of the tapes used to hold dressings on. You can buy fabric tape. Try that. It isn't as sticky, but I've found it much less irritating. If you can't find it in your local pharmacy, you may have to go to a medical supply store, but most towns have one nearby.

Also, I agree that it sounds like it is time to run to a second opinion. Any doctor who starts saying I didn't screw this up, is trying to protect themselves and not really concerned about their patients well being first and foremost.

my daughter seems to have a reaction to many different tapes and bandages -- this time they used tape made from silk which was supposed to be hypoallergenic.