Barbie Butt Surgery and Wound Vac Experience

Hi ostomates! I'm new here, so I hope I'm doing this right :)
I'm currently 7 weeks post-op from having a revised stoma and Barbie butt created. A couple of days ago, I went to a follow-up appointment where we discovered my wound had completely opened up and was not healing. I was immediately admitted and sent to the operating room to get a wound vac placed in my bottom.
A little history of my recovery from the beginning: the first two weeks went perfectly enough. I still had the dissolvable stitches in place and an abdominal JP drain at this point. At my two-week follow-up, my surgeon told me I was healing really well and having very little drainage from my bottom, so we decided to remove the JP drain.
The following day is when I started noticing more drainage from my bottom, which was expected because the drain was no longer collecting that fluid. At 3 weeks, I returned to work full time. I work remotely but am required to sit 8 hours a day. I didn't sit directly on my bum; instead, I alternated sitting on my sides as much as possible. Unfortunately, the draining just continued and worsened. At 5-6 weeks, my stitches were dissolved, I still had a lot of discomfort but not much pain at all. The only thing that concerned me was the drainage; I just thought I was healing very slowly at this point.
I'm back home today, two days after the vac was placed. I'm told the vac should help keep the area dry and promote healing. I'll also have to go back once a week for wound care and to have the dressing replaced for the next 6 weeks (under anesthesia in the OR). I've decided not to go back to work for the full 6 weeks this time. This has been very stressful for me.
I have a great deal of support from my husband and family, but I still would like to hear from anyone who has had this surgery and/or a wound vac. How was your healing process? Did the vac work for you? Did you have any leaking with the vac? Was it painful the entire time? How long did you take pain meds? I was given 28 pills of 5 mg oxy, but I don't like taking them for fear of becoming dependent. I also ordered Collagen Peptides protein supplements. Has anyone else tried this, and was it helpful?
If anyone has any advice on anything or questions, I would be grateful for them. Anything at all would be appreciated.

Unless you know you have addictive tendencies, I don't think you'll become dependent on being on a pain med for that short amount of time. Your body has been through a lot. If you're in pain, it's not bad to take it. Rest, don't think about work, rest, hydrate, rest… ☺️

Thank you, Jodie ❤️ I worry a lot more than I should about nearly everything. 😅

G-Day Mrivera8, as CC said, take the medication and rest for as long as it takes; moving around a lot keeps it open. Please keep us up to date. Good luck. Regards, IGGIE

Hello,

Did you have radiation treatment for cancer?

I was warned by my radiation oncologist that radiation treatment causes permanent tissue damage resulting in decreased healing.

I underwent 46 rounds of Tomo radiation treatment for prostate cancer 3 months prior to undergoing emergency exploratory surgery resulting in my permanent colostomy.

Surgeons were reluctant to operate due to the recent radiation treatment, fearing I wouldn't heal. But, without surgery, I would have died.

A few days after surgery, a hole opened up at the bottom of my surgical cut near my prostate area. The hole got pretty big... freaked me out. Fortunately, it stopped growing bigger and I was able to close it over many weeks without complication.

I was offered reversal surgery 6 months later. Mindful of radiation tissue damage, I declined any further surgery.

You could try cutting the pain pills in half. Maybe get a little relief without taking too much at one time.

Living with Your Ostomy | Hollister

My sewn-up butt opened back up about a week or two after coming home. Mine was from radiation damage to the good and bad tissue on my little butt. The wound nurse tried everything for a few months, but the only thing that fixed it was HBO (hyperbaric oxygen) treatments. My wound was about the size of a quarter round and roughly 2 inches deep. It didn't hurt at all, but it would drip whatever the fluidy stuff is down my leg and cause irritation like diaper rash. I ended up doing 60 HBO treatments, and they healed me up to where it was like a scab. Then, I did 3 applications of Graphix (not sure on spelling). It's sterilized placenta that they lay on the wound to give your skin cells something to build on. That finished my healing, and it's been good for about 3 years now. By the way, I was told you don't want a wound vac back there because it's very uncomfortable. 🤷‍♂️ 

What a journey, mrivera8, of course you're stressed. When our already difficult experience gets derailed with further issues, it only adds to the anxiety. Just sending healing energy your way.

Thank you all for the support! It means a lot right now <3
Beach boy, I did not have any radiation. I'm sorry to hear you & AlexT had to.
Mine is all due to Crohn's disease. I've had difficulty healing in the past, possibly because of anemia along with other nutritional deficiencies. I've been taking “IBD Assist”, collagen peptides, fish oil, and drinking protein shakes. Fingers crossed they're of some help.
AlexT, you heard right! This wound vac is extremely uncomfortable and actually more painful than the wound was itself. A friend mentioned the Hyperbaric Chambers to me yesterday so I am definitely going to ask my surgeon if we can try that instead of this vacuum up my “once upon a time” butt. 😆

I can't thank you all enough for the help, suggestions, and kindness. I've been struggling with Crohn's since I was 15 (38 now) and I wish I would've found a place like this with people like you all sooner.

The HBO treatments are expensive; make sure you get them cleared with insurance before doing any if you go that route. Also, when they put you under pressure, your ears pop like being on a plane. I couldn't get mine to unpop, if that makes sense, so I had to get tubes put in. Most people don't have an issue; I'm just unique, I guess. 🤷‍♂️😬 Good luck with the healing, having that issue is truly a pain in the ass. 😁

Haha! A pain in the ass is right 😆 Thank you for the heads up on costs! I'm going to talk to my surgeon about it next week, and if it's a good option, I would definitely prefer that route. I've been reading some great things about the benefits of it.

I just had mine and also had to go through 28 treatments of radiation for rectal cancer. Surgery was one month out after the last treatment. July 2, 2024, was my day of surgery, and I saw my surgeon a couple of days ago. He said everything was fine. Four days later, the stitches dissolved, but the top layer of skin didn't heal together, looking like flaps of skin, and I have two small holes that drain whenever I lay down or have my knees bent.

I'm sure you know this, but get in 100g of protein per day. Hydrate and rest. Have others help you.

I've found car rides most damaging. I've found now for me I bridge with the weight placed across my upper mid-back and on the back of my upper thighs and no weight on buttocks at all. The bouncing was so harmful for me. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until late. Good luck.

Yeah, the oncologist told me to get to the ER ASAP, but now one of the surgical nurses called me saying it was a waste of time. They wouldn't find anything; she would be surprised if they found a pocket of infection, but the pain has been increasing, probably a 4 right now.

You should be seen as soon as possible.

They gave me a dose of morphine, then a CT scan. Luckily, no abscesses were found, just inflammation, which could be from the wound site around the colon healing or the start of an infection.

Are they doing anything for your wound? I've had a wound vac for almost 5 weeks and apparently, I'm healing very slowly. At 6 weeks, I get it removed but, unless a miracle happens, I will still have an open wound. Today, I finally have a consultation for hyperbaric oxygen treatments, so I'm hoping this route works. My surgeon wants me to do a skin graft, but I don't want to create another wound when I'm already having difficulty healing, so I'm refusing that treatment.
I hope you find some help soon! Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a lot of advocacy and persistence from us in order to be heard by our doctors.

Have them look into GraphX (not sure if it's spelled right) for your skin graft. They place sterilized placenta on your wound so your skin can build on it. It's what finalized my healing after the hyperbaric treatments.

No, just keeping gauze on it to absorb the drainage and taking the antibiotics they gave me. The surgeon took two weeks off, which I don't blame him for; everyone needs a break, but the nurses could have just said that. It doesn't seem to be draining as much today, but it's pretty much wait and see until the 14th.

Alex, they want to graft from my thigh. Did you have to do that with the GraphX? I really don't want to create another wound, but if it's not necessary with the GraphX, I'll absolutely do it! Thanks for that info!

Geez, I'm sorry you're not getting much help. I was using 3x8 nonstick gauze and changing it 3-4 times daily. I also tried collagen pads, but they didn't help and were quite expensive. Have the nurses suggested at least packing the wound in the meantime, or are they just leaving you high and dry?

No, GraphX isn't anything from your body; it comes from a sheet of the stuff. I did the GraphX stuff after completing 60 hyperbaric sessions. They simply cut a little piece off a sheet of the stuff, place it on your wound, put gauze over it, and try to tape it up so it doesn't get moved around much. I was approved for 5 treatments of that but only needed 3. Also, just an FYI, the hyperbaric treatments affect the pressure in your eyes so your vision deteriorates temporarily. My hospital made me do an eye test weekly to monitor it. In fact, before starting the treatments, I needed readers to read my phone, paperwork, anything up close, but I could see 5 miles. After treatments, it flipped my vision. I now don't need readers and most things are clear except I need glasses for distance, which is way better than for up close stuff. During treatments, my vision went down to the single BIG E at the top of the eye chart being hard to see, reflective stuff or lights at night were horribly magnified with rings around them. Driving at the time was an adventure. 😁 Lastly, I had to get tubes put in my ears (told everyone here I'm a kid in my head 😬🤭) to relieve the pressure, but they said that's not a common thing. 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, both the hyperbaric and GraphX treatments are what healed me.

I wore an abdominal pad in my underwear for months to try and absorb the dripping. Mine got so bad, the back of my leg was raw like diaper rash.

Thank you, Alex! That's all very helpful! I was just having a conversation the other day about how I wish doctors were more honest and upfront about the risks of procedures. You know, I have a desk job and my surgeon told me I could go to work the next day after my Barbie butt surgery - “All you would need is a soft pillow.” Here I am, 10 weeks later, with a wound vac and a very tiny light at the end of the tunnel. So, thanks again for letting me know the complications you endured because it's likely they won't mention that to me at my HBOT appointment.

You're welcome. I'm not sure how the hyperbaric chambers are where you'll be going, but the one I used was basically a clear tube that you lay in for 2 hours each day. They made us, all 4 chambers were usually full each day, put on an oxygen mask every so often so we could breathe fresh air, and it was supposed to help not cause something (don't remember what 🤷‍♂️). I know some places have an actual room where you just sit in a chair, so depending on what your hospital has, it may vary a bit. It's painless, except your ears pop like on a plane as they increase or decrease the pressure in your chamber, but that's just the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes or so.

High and dry, the surgeon took time off and ended up in the ER thanks to the oncologist feeding my anxiety, but luckily there was no infection, just inflammation.

Right now, I just got one size smaller underwear and maxipads so it stays in one place.

Ouch...and I mean ouch! I broke down and stopped wearing boxers and went back to tighty-whities so they could hold the pad in place. But after going to the ER and finding only inflammation, which I'm taking antibiotics for just in case, my anxiety has gone way down. I've slept half of Friday and all of Saturday. I guess my body is making up for the lack of sleep.

Hello, I had the Barbie butt surgery in 2023. For the most part, everything healed perfectly except for the bridging of some skin between my butt cheeks. I had another surgery to try and remove the skin that wasn't pulling, but it actually healed worse and the scar tissue was thicker. My surgeon at the Mayo Clinic got plastics involved and they did a Y to Z skin flap on my butt cheek to fix everything. It worked wonderfully and has

healed overall quite well. My only issue is the scar tissue being so thick that it often can be very painful to sit on. I had a wound vac for that surgery for 7 days. I know it's still healing, but I really try to not sit with direct pressure. I'm the same as you, I hate taking any kind of pain meds out of fear… please take the pain meds… it helps and your body heals better when it's not in pain. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out if there's anything I can do to help!

My body is weird; the drainage is now a light pink color.

Hi again! Yesterday I had my consultation for the HBOT. It'll be 3 hours a day, 5 times a week, 40 treatments. They mentioned needing to check my wound at each appointment and I also will need to remove my ostomy appliance every time before going in. Is this something you had to do? I guess I won't be eating those days until after my appointments 🙈😆

No, I didn't. I went 2 hours per day, 5 times a week. I didn't have to remove my ostomy stuff, but I did have to change into a hospital gown and wear that only. It's very flammable in the chamber, so they also “de-charged” each patient before shutting the door so there's no static electricity in the chamber. Also, they never looked at my wound. It makes no sense that your bag has to be removed because they'd be cleaning those chambers constantly. 😁