Not a dumb question at all! I also had quite the rash after my surgery. Mine appeared about a day and a half after my surgery. It started near the incision. It spread up to the left side my stomach and eventually all the way up to my chest. They sent me home with a Prednisone pack and RX cream. It would appear to be going away but every time the Prednisone was reduced, it would come start coming back. I went through 3 Prednisone packs until my regular doctor ended up prescribing me a very high dose of prednisone for 10 days. I also went to a dermatologist and they biopsied it. It came back as "Contact Dermatits of unknown origin." Not very helpful. The 10 day dose of the strong prednisone finally did the trick.
No one knew exactly what caused mine. My coordinator did tell me that I was the third patient in as many months to have that happen. The other 2 patients were also female, but their rashes spread more towards their legs, and theirs both went away after one round of a Prednisone pack. The hospital tried to pinpoint a cause but could not. They said each of us had a different surgical team. The only thing they could find that we had in common was that we all had the same coordinator.
I am glad you put a call in to ask about it. Most likely it is from something you are allergic to. Best of luck to you in getting rid of it quickly. I remember how miserable I thought mine got and was very happy to finally get rid of it!
Please let us know what you find out.
Linda