# Drain after surgery....



## Ihmsa40 (Jul 21, 2015)

OK...the nurse just told me I will have a drain. Gotta admit this freaks me out. Not sure if it freaks me out more because I will have one....or because my surgery will be extensive enough to warrent having one! I am the type of person who researches everything before hand....can I hear from those who have had a drain? Sounds like they will show me how to drain it (ouch?) and it will be in a few days and then removed? Thanks!


----------



## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

It's not as bad as it sounds. A little gross, yes, but not horrible. And it should only be a few days. For me, it was a little tube coming out of my neck and going into a little plastic "canteen"-looking thing, about 3 inches round, 1 inch front to back. If I remember correctly, I just stuck it in my upper shirt pocket (yes, I had to wear pocketed shirts for this reason). I drained it by emptying the little canteen-thingy, so there was no pain involved at all.

You'll do fine. :hugs:


----------



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I only had my drain in overnight, they removed it before I left the hospital. It's a little gross, but no big deal if you don't mess around with it.


----------



## KeepOnGoing (Jan 2, 2013)

I only had a drain in overnight too. Thankfully, you can't exactly see it without a great deal of effort, so I found it quite easy to pretend it wasn't there! I've got a very weak stomach and coped fine! The only bit I didn't like was taking it out. But that only took a few seconds.


----------

