Post-Castration Worries...

[dnik25 (imported)]

Well it's been a little over a month since my bilateral orchidectomy with the well known Doctor in Philadelphia, and I'm growing more concerned. After two weeks I developed what a doctor at an urgent care center said was extra skin cell growth that can sometimes appear on incision areas and that he would cauterize it, to stop it from growing. He also noticed a little bleeding and said I should probaly wait another week (3 weeks post-op) to remove the sutures. That evening I noticed more bleeding and that the incision area opened up a bit more, but by morning looked fine. I discussed this with Dr. K over the phone who told me the urgent care doctor did the right thing. Well once I made three weeks post op, I went back to the urgent care to have them remove the stitches. After the sutures were easily removed I noticed the incision area was literally being held closed by a 1/3 of an inch of skin at the center of the incision and was worried about how it looked. Well later that night it opened and the insides of my scrotum was exposed. I felt fine, but was very much worried at the time and thought it was an emergency. I was told by both the doctor at the hospital and by Dr. K (over the phone) that three weeks after surgery the mucosal tissue has healed and should only keep the site clean with anti-bacterial cream to prevent infection. As crazy as it sounds, they wouldn't be able to re-close the incision with stitches or stirry strips, as it would cause an abscess and would lead to infection inside my body and make matters much worse. Dr. K said I currently feel fine because I don't have infection and should wait for my body to close the incision on it's own. He said that sometimes a person's body can reject the sutures, but said I shouldn't worry as the incision area is mostly healed and reassured me I should wait for my body to heal itself. Well now it's been a little over 4 weeks post op and although the opening has become smaller, it hasn't closed. And I'm trying not too worry as I still feel physically well but am concerned on how long this will take, as the Dr. will be going on vacation for a couple of weeks and I will be going overseas afterward. I was told by the hospital that other urologists do not involve themselves with complications from another urologist's surgery and may refuse to see me if I wanted to see someone locally (west coast). So you can see why I am concerned as I don't feel I can do much but wait and pray that everything goes smoothly. I am wondering if anyone has encountered this complication and what, if any advice anyone could give me at this point?

[kristoff]

Well it's been a little over a month since my bilateral orchidectomy with the well known Doctor in Philadelphia, and I'm growing more concerned. After two weeks I developed what a doctor at an urgent care center said was extra skin cell growth that can sometimes appear on incision areas and that he would cauterize it, to stop it from growing. He also noticed a little bleeding and said I should probaly wait another week (3 weeks post-op) to remove the sutures. That evening I noticed more bleeding and that the incision area opened up a bit more, but by morning looked fine. I discussed this with Dr. K over the phone who told me the urgent care doctor did the right thing. Well once I made three weeks post op, I went back to the urgent care to have them remove the stitches. After the sutures were easily removed I noticed the incision area was literally being held closed by a 1/3 of an inch of skin at the center of the incision and was worried about how it looked. Well later that night it opened and the insides of my scrotum was exposed. I felt fine, but was very much worried at the time and thought it was an emergency. I was told by both the doctor at the hospital and by Dr. K (over the phone) that three weeks after surgery the mucosal tissue has healed and should only keep the site clean with anti-bacterial cream to prevent infection. As crazy as it sounds, they wouldn't be able to re-close the incision with stitches or stirry strips, as it would cause an abscess and would lead to infection inside my body and make matters much worse. Dr. K said I currently feel fine because I don't have infection and should wait for my body to close the incision on it's own. He said that sometimes a person's body can reject the sutures, but said I shouldn't worry as the incision area is mostly healed and reassured me I should wait for my body to heal itself. Well now it's been a little over 4 weeks post op and although the opening has become smaller, it hasn't closed. And I'm trying not too worry as I still feel physically well but am concerned on how long this will take, as the Dr. will be going on vacation for a couple of weeks and I will be going overseas afterward. I was told by the hospital that other urologists do not involve themselves with complications from another urologist's surgery and may refuse to see me if I wanted to see someone locally (west coast). So you can see why I am concerned as I don't feel I can do much but wait and pray that everything goes smoothly. I am wondering if anyone has encountered this complication and what, if any advice anyone could give me at this point?

Any doctor who refuses to see a patient because that person is the patient of another (competing) doctor needs to be reported to the Board of Medical Examiners.

If push and get going, and something is urgent, go to the ER. They must treat you.

From what you describe, I would simply follow the advice of the doctors. The wound will close. When a wound like that doesnt close the top layers of skin, it does take some time to close and heal over. Several weeks is not unusual. Also with slowness to heal, you may wish to check your glucose levels (diabetic issues relative to slowness in healing....).

[Paolo]

Kristoff is correct - they can't refuse you care when dealing with another doctor's "problem". I don't know where you're off to on this trip, but it's a well known fact that the threat of a lawsuit here in the USA would be more than enough to fire them up and get them working on you! If they want to know why you've been castrated, it's really none of their damn business. If they insist, you can tell them it was from chronic orchialgia (severe pain) and it was either castration or suicide - which would they rather have? "Are you allergic to making money?" is another good line to use. Loudly. Within earshot of any of other potential patients.

[dnik25 (imported)]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to wait a few more weeks for my body to close the wound, but am worried as I leave for the U.K. soon and don't want any problems overseas. I will arrange for traveler's insurance, but doubt any traveler's insurance will cover surgery complications there. But only time will tell... I might just see a local urologist here on the west coast for some much needed reassurance that I'll be ok, and will need to be patient. Well it's good to know I have rights, as the doctor at the hospital was very discouraging and told me this wasn't an emergency and that another urologist might refuse to see me. If need be, I will definitely have another approach.

[Monax (imported)]

It absolutely agree with Kristoff , After my surgery my doctor four weeks, every day came to me home and checked as there there takes place healing. Very dishonourable doctor has got to you.

А по рускому-ЛЕПИЛА!

[Origen (imported)]

I see you're coming to the UK.

As you may know ( and see Michael Moore's Sicko) almost all medical treatment is free in the UK for people who live in the UK. So, if you are coming to live here, than, in principle, this applies to you too.

It is NOT free if you are coming here as a visitor, and a hospital would be obligated by the government to charge you. HOWEVER A & E ( Accident & Emergency) is free for visitors.

The website about this is:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidan ... /DH_074374

You would be very strongly advised to take out travellers' insurance, or else ensure that your current health insurance will cover you when overseas.

And .. if you fancy a coffee, when you re in London, let me know - Am always glad to meet a visiting eunuch :)

[devi (imported)]

I too have had a longer time healing than I had anticipated. It has been a little over a month for me now. When I had taken my first suture out at the date recommended my incision instead opened up so I got out my first aid kit and a few other things. What worked best for me was three of the one inch wide by three inch long bandaids. But before I did that I used a 4 by 4 inch gauze pad half way soaked with betadine and cleaned up the area first and then I put on the bandaids widthwise (not lengthwise). The first one went directly over the incision and the other two I put to the sides of the middle bandaid overlapping by about a one third. Then I put the gauze pad over the bandaids and got the athletic tape and bundled it all up carefully. I did this type of bandaging for almost two weeks later not using the tape. I would clean up and rebandage at first every day with the latex bandages (which come right off without any effort) and later every other day with the fabric bandages (which stay on much longer and are more comfortable). I was also using maxi pads too which did some absorbing and work as padding from any possible blows from the outside world. For me it wasn't until exactly one month later that I was able to finally get that last suture extracted (bottom one) without any incident. My incision was closed up however precariosly and the stitches needed to come out as quickly as possible. I think my problem was that I had had more swelling going on than most other people usually do which had delayed my ability to get healed by about up to two weeks, maybe. I have heard that the bodies of healthy persons tend to swell up (and also to sweat) more than less healthier persons. This would be me if indeed it were true. (At least I like to think so.) Right now I am using extra large fabric bandaids from Rite-Aid with a plain gauze pad over the incision and also antibacterial cream. The one most important thing with any type of opened skin is keeping out infections and keeping an eye on it to make sure. And then you just got to patient and let the body do its own thing. My incision also looks like it has healed straight and even.

[philip1 (imported)]

the seemingly slow healing time is actually more common than you might think I did not completely heal for close to 6 weeks. However my incission was close to 6 inches long

[smoothie36 (imported)]

Would the people posting about post castration healing times and problems, please indicate if they just had a castration or if they also had scrotum removal.

I am planning to get penciled in on Dr. K's calander soon and don't know if I should just sign up just for castration or also for scrotum removal. Since I will be a fly-in and motel visitor, I suspect just castration would be easiest to deal with, and less likely to have complications back at home. Is a drain used for both procedures or just with scrotum removal? Are there stitches to remove with just castration? I have heard of disolving stitches. I know that "taking it easy" will go a long way toward good healing.

Thanks in advance. There is nothing like first hand advice.

smoothie

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

At about three weeks post castration I am only partly healed and still swollen with some pain. My scrotum is still attached. The incision is not completely closed. The doctors that are seeing me are not alarmed by the length of time I'm taking to heal and although they have checked for diabetes and a number of other things nothing has been found. Healing may just be slower in some people. The best estimate for me is that healing will take 8 to 10 weeks to complete. --FLO--