My Surgery for Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Hello Everyone.

Recently I underwent surgery 3 weeks ago for my Hidradenitis Suppurativa. I had it done at St Thomas' in London. This was a massive step for me, I was referred for this surgery back in April/ May time of this year. I had a consultation with the lead surgeon around 2 weeks after my referral, which I thought was great.

At the consult they verbally informed me of the surgery and what they intended to do in the surgery. Which for me at the time was great. A month or so went by and I tried getting this information written to me in some form of a letter so I had the information I needed when I wanted to read it. This however did not get sent to me. I tried multiple times to phone and ask for the information but was told it was already in the post or had been sent to me.

As time went by I came to terms with the fact that I won't be getting information. I then decided to do my own research on the matter of the surgery itself. From what I could find out, I was pleased with the surgery in a way. It would reduce/ take away my flare-ups in the armpit which is where I struggle with them the most.

Day of my surgery: 18th October

I had to be at St Thomas' that morning by 8:50 a.m. Which in itself is gross! I was taken down to surgery by 11 a.m. I woke up at around 12:30 ish, when I woke up I had a wound vac dressing on. It is also known as " Negative Pressure Wound Therapy". The reason I mention this is because I did not know about this. It might have been mentioned in the face-to-face meeting I had with the surgeon but that was months ago. Hence I was continuously trying to get more information on this. My boyfriend came with me to this appointment, he made sure I got home safe. We had to use the train at rush hour which was so much fun! (Note sarcasm)

But my boyfriend did amazing, not only did he help me walking to and from places, he helped me ensure that no one knocked my arm or bumped into me. And for that I take my hat off to him. He put himself in a situation where he was uncomfortable to help me. I can't thank him enough for supporting me.

What does it do?

A vacuum or negative pressure (suction) is applied to the wound bed through a foam dressing. This is held in place by a clear sticky dressing. There must be an effective seal around the dressing for the system to work. A tube is placed into the foam, which is attached to a container in the pump. The pump gently sucks on the wound, to remove some of the swelling and the excess fluid in the wound. By removing the excess fluid the blood supply to the wound is increased and healing is encouraged. This sort of therapy is normally kept on until the wound can be healed without the use of the wound vac.

Attached below is what a wound vac is/ what it looks like.

Now

I fully believe if I knew I was going to have to deal with this Wound Vac I would not have gone through with it. All it has done is cause me issues, I have been in and out of surgery/ Hospital for the past 2 weeks.

I have very limited movement in my right arm due to all of the bandages and the tubing from the wound vac itself. I think if I knew it was going to be like this I wouldn't have gone through with it. I would have just dealt with the flare-ups as they came along. This is hard for me to admit as I was so for having this surgery. I was so ready to be done with dealing with the flare-ups. Now I just feel like I'm back to square 1.

I'm being told by people that it will do me good in the long run. Yes, that might be true but at this current moment in time, it is hard to think of anything other than what I am feeling right now. Which is discomfort, achiness and itchiness.

I have another appointment today with the nurses at St Thomas'. Please keep your fingers crossed that I can have this wound vac off!!!

My advice to anyone who is having any sort of surgery on your HS Falre-ups, please make sure you have any information you need before you go ahead with anything!!

- Keep safe all!