Expectations after abscess surgery

Question
My rat dot had surgery 6/17 to drain an abscess on lower left jaw. She did well, but 3 days later needed a second surgery to again relieve swelling. Brought her home and have been dosing her as prescribed with Trimethoprim-sulfa .1cc twice a day, as well as cleaning 3 times daily and applying Quadritop ointment to the wound. She is still drinking, tho eating less and have been getting her to take via syringe a liquid high calorie and vitamin gruel(Platinum Performance) to buff up her diet. The wound still looks nasty, although smell is improving. It is a large crater and I'm wondering how long it takes for these to heal completely? She is 1 year old. Vet said that this was not a tooth abscess. A significant amount of tissue had to be removed from the cheek area and the wound is very deep and open but no more pus draining. Vet is very good, but would appreciate more info. 17 years of rats and I've only handled one other abscess which was not as severe. Putting her on second round of antibiotics today for additional 14 days.

Answer
 Well it sounds like you're doing all the right things.  Rats usually heal quickly, though wounds around the mouth are often tricky since the rat needs to move their mouth a lot and food can contaminate the wound.  I can't tell you exactly how things are going to go, unfortunately.  There really isn't a lot more I can say, you're doing everything right, hopefully if you continue doing what you're doing she should improve eventually.  Since her wound was so large it will likely take several weeks to close up, just give her time and keep up the treatments and she should recover.

 Good luck with your poor little baby!