u/Least_Ad9355

I am officially a week post op from my wife excisions on my arms. I was initially set to have both my arms heal by secondary intention but my surgeon said she was able to close them. She said that my tunnels, abscess cavities, and diseased tissue went way deeper than she had previously assumed. She said it went past my fatty tissues and even past my muscles down to the tissue sheet that protects my arteries and organs like my heart. I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t get the surgery when I did but I’m glad she got it all out bc it probably would have been life threatening. The wound on my left arm was two inches deep which is insane.

Though she managed to suture the wound with dissolvable sutures, she said it would slowly open and heal by some secondary intention, but nothing like it would be if she hadn’t sutured it. Yesterday it started slowly opening but my surgeon team says it looks great so far.
The healing so far has been rough to be honest, especially the last two days. Since the wounds were so deep, the pain has been bad. The incision burns and the nerve pain radiating down my arm is pretty bad. I can’t lift anything 10 pounds or heavier and can’t move my arms past my shoulder height for six weeks. I’ve needed a lot of help from my parents and I’m glad I have my mom to help change bandages.
Getting in and out of bed is the hardest bc I can’t use my arms to push myself up so I’m just wiggling around in pain to get comfortable lol.

Although the healing sucks so far and is worse than I thought, I am glad I did the surgery. Even if my HS comes back at some point it is worth it because of how deep my hs spread. If I hadn’t gotten the surgery when I did then it would have tunneled through my last layer of protection and into my blood stream and it was class to my heart. I still can’t believe it went past my muscles!

I’ll post some pictures in the comments if my first day post op and my incision from this morning.

I had my wide excisions on Tuesday and my surgeon said she got all of it and was even able to suture it together (though she said it may open up a bit as the sutures dissolve). I knew my HS was bad but my surgeon and derm said that the nerve pain I was feeling was the inflammation pressing on my nerves which is why it felt so deep. But nope, my surgeon said it really was that deep and even went below the muscle layer! It's over two inches deep! I was wondering if anyone who has had an excision has had their HS go all the way through the muscle layer. It's crazy that less than a year ago I didn't even have HS and now it progressed so fast and aggressive that it went through the fat tissue and through the muscles to the tissue below the pectoralis major muscle that protects arteries and supports the arm. I can't imagine how deep this would have gotten if I hadn't gotten the surgery! So glad I got the surgery!

I got my wide excisions done yesterday morning and was discharged today! My surgeon said it went rlly well and that she got everything out! We were supposed to do secondary intention but my surgeon said that she ended up being able to stitch them closed. She said when the stitches dissolve it will start to turn into an open wound but not a bad as it would be with secondary intention. The pain isn’t too bad and so far manageable with Tylenol but I was sent home with some stronger pain meds for when I need them. The stitches looked rlly good when I got the bandages changed. I can’t life more than 10lbs or lift my arms above 90 degrees for awhile but I start PT in a few weeks to start working on mobility.

I’m happy with how it turned out so far!

I have my wide excisions tomorrow morning! I’m hoping it goes well and my surgeon can get all the tunnels out. My surgeon specializes in HS and has a 95% success rate with her patients never having hs return in the surgery area! I will be staying overnight to monitor pain and make sure I’m good on changing wound dressings. I’m scared and I know healing will suck for a bit, but I’m hopeful that this will be worth it! I am thinking of posting updates on how my wounds are healing over the weeks.

Wish me luck!

I have a stage three disease that has progressed very badly in less than a year. A year ago I didn't have it and now I have horrible pain and can barely move my arms. I have surgery next week to try to get the diseased tissues and tunnels out of me. I really want this to work so I can move my arms like normal and not be living with constant and worsening pain. There is no cure but if the surgeon can get out the disease out from my arms, I might have a few years or more with no disease in that area. I will be healing with the wounds left open, which means there will be large sections of my arms and sides that have been carved and scooped out and left to grow new tissue. It will not be fun lol.

Please send healing energy for me! I'll take anything I can get! I have a taper candle that is rolled in multiple herbs that promote healing so I will burn that the night before my surgery (Thank you to the amazing woman who makes these candles). I really want to be rid of this disease for at least a little bit as I am in so much pain and can't move my arms. I am very lucky to have my parents to help me around the house and to have good doctors and surgeons who have been working quickly to try to help me be in a stable place.

Thanks all for any energy to can send me, it means a lot:)

I have wide excisions on my arms in a week and one of my wounds is pretty heavily draining. Has anyone had excisions while their wounds were draining? I’m worried that my hs will just come back if it’s draining like this.

I have my wide excisions in two and a half weeks for my armpits. I’m glad to be getting it done and hope that it’s curative in that area afterwards.
I am still draining quite heavily in one of my arms and I’m worried it will make hs come back after surgery. My derm once said that if it’s draining and they do surgery it will make things worse, but now she says just to do the surgery. Had anyone had wide excisions while still having actively draining wounds and did it come right back after?

I (21F) have wide excisions on my armpits next month and I was wondering what to prepare for when healing. I’ll be healing with secondary intention and starting PT pretty quick to get movement back in my arms.
What things around the house did you guys find useful or wish you had? I’m getting some new bedding sheets incase I drain a lot. Anything else?

I have pretty aggressive stage 2/3 hs in my armpits and am supposed to get wide excisions in both arms. I am on Infliximab currently and it has helped with healing the existing wounds and stopping the drainage which is what my derm wants before doing surgery. I have had no new flares since December and started Infliximab in March.

I am just questioning if it is worth it to do the surgery. I am not in pain right now and only have limited movement but the most annoying thing at the moment is the smell that never goes away. I ideally want to do the surgery so I won't have hs there anymore but my derm said it is a way to start a clean slate and idk if I want to do the surgery if it is just going to come back and I have to go through this all over again.

For those that have had wide excisions, have you had any flares in that spot afterwards? Was it worth it in the long run? My affected area is pretty large -starting in armpits/arm and going across the side of my breast around to the back of my shoulder- and so idk if they would be able to get all of it at once. I really don't want to do the surgeries if it will come back but I hate living with the smell all the time.

Is the surgery worth it?

I'm watching a live stream of star wars night at disneyland and Sam Witwer is there talking about Maul! Wish I was there!!!