swollen

Was anyone swollen very bad after surgery?  I had surgery on 24 May and I am so swollen I cannot fit into pants that were 2 sizes too big prior to surgery.  I have lost 21 lbs, but still cant exercise and am very, very swollen.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Yeap I was . I didn't think the swelling went down on me for a good six to ten weeks after surgery .  My belly looked worse coming out then it did going on lol (sticking out ).

My suggestion is wear very loose pants, sweats, well that wont work in the summer but something with elastic in it .

I could not wear jeans for a good 10 weeks after surgery the waistband would land right there along the incision and port area and hurt like a dickens .

It will go down trust me sometimes it just takes longer on some folks :o)

I was also swollen very badly -- looked like I was very pregnant -- but I was also black and blue all over my abdomen around to the back.  It turned out that I had a rather large hematoma.  I'm almost two months post surgery and still a bit swollen as the blood under the skin slowly dissipates.  My doctor said it would take 4-6 months to completely be gone.  Doesn't hurt -- just uncomfortable and unpleasant to look at!!

How did they diagnose the heatoma?  The doctor told me that I have one behind my port and that is why I am in so much pain.  I hate this band.

I also have a hematoma.  My stomach is totally purple and quite ugly.  The swelling is finally going down as I have used an ice compress twice a day to reduce the swelling.  The doctor told me I probably overdid it the first few days....makes sense.  I felt pretty good, I was on pain med, and cleaning my closet for hours.  Walking things to the other room, lifting and bending.  I had to quite because all of a sudden my port area really hurt and became really hard and swollen.  If I had gone to the dr. they may have drained some of it out. It is starting to yellow around the edges and I still cold compress it on the outside of my shirt just to help it out.  Good luck!!  I wish you the best.

I didn't know how my abdomen was supposed to look after the surgery.  For all I knew it was supposed to be awful shades of purple, black and yellow all over.  When I went in for my 6-day post op check, the doctor sent me for lab work and all of my red blood counts (hematicrit, hemaglobin, etc) were below the acceptable limits so he knew I had bled under my skin.  Went back in 24 hours to make certain my lab values weren't worse (to rule out continued bleeding) and after that it was just wait until it goes away.  When I got my first fill, old blood came out when the needle went in so they knew there was still blood in the tissues, but I've never been in pain -- just aware of the lump, which is getting smaller.  Hope that helps.