July 18, 2016
Just when I thought things were going smoothly, I discovered multiple holes and 1 pimple-looking-bump on my incision lines. Apparently, my body has decided to reject some of the internal permanent sutures and has begun spitting them out of my skin !!! Except one of my sutures got stuck underneath my skin and created a suture-abscess on my breast.
I first noticed the abscess while changing my incision tape on Tuesday evening; but I didn’t think much of it because it didn’t look irritated/red & and it didn’t hurt. However, by Friday evening, it looked very irritated, and I was afraid I may have had an infection under the skin. So I immediately took a picture of the disgusting bump and e-mailed it to one of my favorite nurses at Dr. Soto’s office. She quickly responded to my e-mail and told me to come to the office first thing Monday morning; and in the meantime, to keep a clean, dry gauze pad over the area. She also informed me to not be surprised if the abscess pops and starts oozing blood and puss. Gross right?
Well, that’s exactly what happened by Saturday morning. While doing my breast massages, the abscess popped! Luckily, I had my gauze pads on while doing my massages, and the gauze absorbed a lot of the initial blood and puss. Sorry if this is grossing anyone out – but that’s what-cha get when you sign-up for a big surgery.
Anyways, after I cleaned the area and reapplied some fresh gauze, I informed my favorite nurse via e-mail that it had popped & that I’ll be there first thing Monday morning.
Then what-do-ya-know, by Saturday evening I had popped 3 more sutures. Except this time, it didn’t create an abscess – but it did create three small holes in the incision line in which I could see the suture sticking out of the hole. Again, I’m sorry if this is grossing you out.
Anyways, by Monday morning my favorite nurse had pulled out all the sutures she could see. Strangely enough, she couldn’t see the stitch inside of the hole created by the abscess. She dug around in the hole with her tweezers (ouch), but couldn’t find anything; so she thinks that my body may have spit-it-out when the abscess popped. I sure hope that is the case – otherwise, that hole will have a difficult time healing if there is still a suture stuck inside.
Moving away from the grossness factor, I was finally given the go-ahead to go bra shopping!!! Yey!!! No more ugly medical bra for me !!! So I treated myself to a Victoria Secret shopping spree !!! While out-and-about, I also found myself some new outfits for my new body. All I have to say is DAMN DR. SOTO, you fixed me up real-good. Now when you find me on rate-my-professor.com, I should have a red-hot-chili-pepper-symbol next to my rating because this professor is smoking – haha. Conceded much?
For those of you that were wondering if I was awarded any more privileges besides my freedom from the medial bra, the answers were all “no”.
- Still no lifting the baby.
- Still no swimming until all incisions are healed.
- Still no exercise. Not even 2 lb weights.
- Still no sleeping on my sides.
- Still wear your life-sucking-tummy-binder 24/7
Ugh …. But in 10 days I’ll officially be 6 weeks post-surgery; so hopefully all of these NO’S will turn into “YES”. At least one can hope.
I want to take my kids swimming. Hopefully my incisions will be healed enough for me to go into a pool. And then that gives me an excuse to shop for my first bikini in 5 yrs !!!!
Well, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed myself too hard with the chores and trying to stand up straight because it seems that I have opened up my tummy tuck incision. Luckily, it isn’t a big opening; luckily it started bleeding when it first opened. You are probably wondering: Why is it lucky to bleed if an incision gets reopened? Well, bleeding is a sign of good blood flow to the area, which is important so that the tissues and skin can heal properly. If you don’t have decent blood flow to the area – which happens a lot to the lowest area of the tummy tuck – then you are at risk for necrosis (dying skin that turns leathery-black).
In addition to my re-opened tummy tuck incision, I am also experiencing a lot of swelling below my belly button. Usually adding a few pads under my binder for added pressure to the area will do the trick – but not this time. Again, it’s probably a result of me pushing myself too hard. I’m just hoping I don’t get scolded by Dr. Soto on Wednesday. So in the meantime, I will be tightening my tummy binder even more, drinking extra water, doing gentle circular massages to the area, and continuing to stay off my feet as much as possible.
On a good note, my blisters are healing wonderfully !!! I am surprised at how quickly they healed !!! So yey for that !!