I can't look at my suture line

Hi Everyone,
I'm almost a week out from surgery and I haven't been able to really look at my lbl incision. I'm really curious to see how everything looks after a week, but I'm afraid to look at a 360 view of myself. I've seen parts of the incision in brief glances, my belly button, my pubic line, but I haven't even looked at my back yet. I'm afraid I'll panic or pass out or something. I don't even want to see any swelling. It makes me really anxious to even think about monitoring my incision for separation, infection or necrosis, so I don't. 
I have my follow-up visit with my surgeon tomorrow, so I;ll find out how everything is healing.  I hope that once I look at everything with the Dr. present, I'll feel more comfortable with the incision.
Did anyone else experience this?
Thanks,
Leah

I am sure everything will be fine tomorrrow! I am having my TT this coming Monday! I am ready but nervous too!  Keep us posted on what the Dr. says tomorrow! Take care!

Thanks for the encouragement and best of luck with your surgery on Monday!

After my tummy tuck, I could not look at the incision for several days! I did not look at all, and then only briefly until the first follow-up 3 days later. I am a perfectionist and did not want to start obsessing about "what was wrong"! Just wanted to heal and start feeling better. Now, 3 weeks later, i have no problem looking, and it looks better than I imagined that it would!

That was another one of my concerns. I did not want to make any judgments regarding the placement of the incision or see an abnormality or what I perceived to be an abnormality.  Can't wait till I'm 3 weeks out.  I'm glad you're healing well.

I am in the medical field and looking at my incisions is still making me intermittently light-headed more than 2 weeks out.  I think it is because I am afraid of complications too . . .

I'm glad I'm not the only one!  I actually looked at the incision on my back last night and it was more horrific looking than I could even imagine!  I survived, lol, but have not looked at it again.

I didnt have a problem looking at it (I kinda wished I could somehow watch him do the operation!!lol), but I was TERRIFIED to take off the compression garment.  I was worried everything would fall out!!

I eventually took it off with my home care nurse...I figured she'd hold it in if it started pooling around my feet!!  lol

Eventually you get used to it all and it doesn't even look weird.  I'm 2 months out and I forget that my scar looks strange at all - until I show someone and they go "WOW" ;0)

I think your reaction is with in the normal range of post-op behavior. I couldn't look either and I'm not squeamish. I just needed time to get my head in around my decidion to have a massive reconstruction of my body. BUT - I had DH look carefully all all my wounds daily to check for potential problems. I allowed myself to slowly adjust to the changes and the scars; now I have no problems looking at them.

I look at mine when I shower or change... and so far, my main reaction is "Holy Crap, that thing is BIG AND RED!!

But since I went into the hospital with a 30 inch waist, and 32 inch hips, and now have a 35 inch waist and 36 inch hips, I know it's swelling and it'll go away at some point.

DD is more freaked out than I am - the under boobage line starts close to my shoulder blade on one sice, curves down around the armpit, across my breast bone, around the other armpit, and back up next to the other shoulder blade (per the surgeons, most of this excess was pulled up and over to give me more fullness on top of the breasts, which I've really missed). Between that and the arm incisions that start about an inch past the point of my elbow and go through my armpit, and which are now unwrapped for most of the day, they're visible and she keeps asking me to put on a shirt or something. (She's 24 - I'm not traumatizing children!!).

Personally, I'm with Erica... I too wanted to be able to watch in some way. My surgeons refused, but laughed anyway and have promised me pics of what was removed.