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It’s been a long two months as I’ve slogged through recovering from surgery to repair an umbilical hernia! The doctor and nurses I was working with were incredibly kind and helpful, but I couldn’t wait until I didn’t have to see them anymore. Well, ask and you shall receive: I’m not fully healed yet, but it turns out that my fifth appointment at the wound care clinic was my last.

This is my sixth surgery update. I got a hernia when I stupidly moved an enormous glass terrarium up a flight of stairs. A year later, a surgeon cut through my belly button, stuffed my protruding organs back into my abdomen, repaired the muscle with surgical mesh, and stapled me back up.

Initial recovery at my parents’ house went fine. Unfortunately, the five-inch incision across my stomach opened up a day before I was set to get my staples removed. The surgeon told me to clean it with hydrogen peroxide twice a day, but symptoms emerged that led him to think I had a perforated bowel. Tests were negative, so he hooked me up with the amazing staff of a nearby wound care clinic.

My last update saw me gearing up for my fifth appointment there. Mom and I had noticed a lot of yellow exudate seeping through the Hydrofera Blue pad and into the gauze over the past weeks, and we were concerned. It was disgusting! Upon inspection, my doctor believed he could feel a tab of exposed surgical mesh at the very bottom of the hole.

Finding mesh was not good news. The doctor gave us strips of PolyMem WIC Silver Rope wound filler to pack the hole with before we jumped to any conclusions, but I’d need to undergo another procedure to reopen my incision and trim away what he found if it continued to interfere with healing. If that didn’t work, I would need inpatient surgery to remove the mesh entirely.

Neither option was appealing, and I left the appointment frustrated by the news and my lack of progress. I wasn’t disheartened for long, though, since my surgeon called me shortly afterwards. The wound clinic had sent him my file, and he wanted to assess the situation himself.

Wound care supports my surgeon, and I saw him last Thursday. He inspected the wound and noticed the yellow exudate seeping into my dressing. Although a small amount is expected during recovery, the quantity we observed meant that the capillaries in the new granulation tissue growing deep in the wound were damaged. Often, they get injured during routine wound care activities like the cleaning and packing Dr. Mom and I had done under care of the wound clinic. We had no idea!

The surgeon couldn’t find any evidence of exposed mesh, but he advised us to stop putting stuff down in the hole. The wound clinic focused on drawing the exudate out from the bottom of the hole, but my surgeon wanted us to shift our focus towards addressing what’s causing it in the first place. To do so, he referred us back to the hydrogen peroxide. Our new procedure swaps the special pads and gauzes for a shotglass full of H202 three times daily along with some surgical dressing.

I grudgingly agreed to the new regimen, but I was skeptical: hydrogen peroxide didn’t help me after my wound first opened, and conventional wisdom states that it inhibits minor cuts and scrapes from healing thanks to its high oxidative properties¹!

Misgivings aside, I did my own research after the appointment. I was surprised to find a 2021 study which showed that hydrogen peroxide is more effective at promoting tissue granulation and preventing infections than the normal saline we’d been using². The abstract was enlightening, and I decided to trust the guy with the medical degree.

I’m nearing the finish line, but the efficacy of our new care plan over the next month will be crucial in determining whether I need another surgery to remove the mesh or not. I hope this final treatment plan is successful! I felt sad when I called the wound clinic to cancel the rest of my appointments, but I’m glad to be in a condition that no longer requires their care.

I’m excited for this new, simpler, regimen, and I can’t wait for this damn hole to fill the rest of the way in. I’ve been dealing with healing for far too long!

Sources Cited
1 McCallum, K. (2022, June 3). Should You Put Hydrogen Peroxide on a Cut or Scrape? Houston Methodist Hospital [Houston]. Web. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
2 Rai S, Gupta TP, Shaki O, Kale A. Hydrogen Peroxide: Its Use in an Extensive Acute Wound to Promote Wound Granulation and Infection Control – Is it Better Than Normal Saline? Int J Low Extrem Wounds. 2023 Sep;22(3):563-577. doi: 10.1177/15347346211032555. Epub 2021 Aug 2. PMID: 34338578.