July 3, 2016
I’ve been home for exactly one week, and I think I may have pushed myself a little too hard. Since I’ve been home, I’ve been back on duty so-to-speak; I sweep the floors, do the laundry, vacuum the carpet, clean the dishes, etc. While doing the chores I have yet to feel any pain. Obviously I do have some level of discomfort since I’m bound so tightly by this life-sucking-tummy-compression, but I have not felt any extreme discomfort – so I figured everything was fine. I convinced myself that this was normal.
Begging Thursday (June 30th), I started forcing myself to stand up straight, even though I still felt the need to hunch over. I figured that if I wasn’t standing up straight at my 2 weeks post-surgery date, that I should probably start stretching-out my muscles & skin. According to what I’ve read online, many tummy tuck patients stand up straight between 1 – 2 weeks. Since Thursday was officially my 2 week post-op day, I figured that I better get practicing. It wasn’t too uncomfortable to stand up straight; I could feel my muscles stretch and my skin tighten. When standing up straight my skin gets so tight that I can’t even pinch it together. But again, I was told this was normal.
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).
So here is what my incision looks likes now. Currently, it is still a very small opening. I just need to keep it small by taking it easy around the house and NOT forcing myself to stand up straight. The doctor also told me to keep it dry and to NOT put paper tape on this part of the incision – just simply cover it with gauze.
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 !!
