Navel won't heal after GB removal

[KLPinAZ]

I had surgery to remove my gallbladder in dec '05. The GB was removed through my navel. It is now March, and my navel still hasn't healed. It has a clear discharge every day that crusts around it that I have to clean. How can I make it heal faster? Should I use alcohol or some other substance to dry it up?

[Karen W.]

Hi,
O would call the surgeon's office and talk to the nurse, ask her if this is normal, I don't think it is, I would think that maybe you could have an infection or you could have been allergic to the type of stitches there used.
Karen W.

[twizliz]

This probably won't help, but it's amazing what dr's can do now, isn't it?

I'm surprised that it hasn't healed, but it is a good sign that the discharge is clear.

As the other poster said, I would def. call your surgeon/dr about this. 3 months later and not better just doesn't sound right!

[purple2067]

I also had my GB removed laproscopically. It took a long time for my belly button incision to heal as well. My surgeon said he had to make an extra-large incision just to get it out because my GB was so big. In fact, when I had the staples removed a week after the surgery, it was still open and bleeding. He told me to wash it with peroxide twice a day and then dry it with a sterile gauze pad and put some bacitracin and then use a butterfly bandage to pull it together from both sides. It took about three weeks, but it closed very nicely.