Complications... How far out?

 Hi Everyone,

Here's my question of the day.

When did you feel out of the woods for complications?  

If you had complications, how far out from surgery were you?  

What happened?

How long did it take to resolve?

I'm almost 4 weeks out from LBL and assorted other procedures.  Sometimes when I bend over, it feels like my incision line is tight and I'm afraid of pulling something apart.  I still have some scabs and lots that have fallen off.  

When am I out of the proverbial woods?

I thought at 4 weeks out I was out of the woods, but as I was shifting in bed one night, I obviously did not pick up my backside before sliding, and tore a hole in my incision. It was about a centimeter wide, but I was devastated. It healed in 2 weeks.

Laura

Can that easily happen?

I have heard it happening to others.  One of my friends was 5 weeks out and the same scenorio.  She was getting out of bed and sled over instead of picking herself up and she opened her incision on her LBL/back area.   Like others say, we look healed from the outside, but we have to remember we have just as many internal stitches as external (we did have) - so we have to protect them.

Dr. S did all you PS?

Dasie,
I'm not sure if this question was for me or Lee.  I got a notification in my email.
I had all of my PS by Dr S, yes.  I've had three separate surgeries and I plan to return soon to have another surgery.  Dr S is an amazing PS and he's done wonders with my wrecked body.

Please pardon me, if this question was not addressed to me.

Since reading about getting out of bed etc.  I've been so careful!!

Dasie, I had all of my plastics with Dr. Sauceda as well.

 From what I read, most incision openings occur in weeks 3 and 4 of the LBL healing process. I had my incisions open up during these weeks in 2 locations and this is when I developed seromas as well.   I'm 8 weeks out and had another small area start to open today.  

Spitting stitches can occur at any time but are, for most folks, just a minor annoyance.

I'd cross my fingers to week 8 and then start to breath easier. Like Laura said, just baby yourself and be careful right now. The outside starts to look pretty damn good early on and I think alot of us start pushing ourselves to resume our normal lifting and work loads.  Your insides are still healing up so be gentle.

Rest assured that if a complication does happen, those things heal up. It just takes time...

Tomorrow I'm 4 weeks out from my LBL and I can already feel myself wanting to lift heavier things etc.  I'm going to dial it way back and pamper myself for the next 4 weeks.  I'm sorry you had a few places open up!!

I still have a teeny area on my vertical scar that keeps scabbing -smaller than half a dime but annoying as I had to stop the Scarban (silicone sheet) on that area.
Mikimi in Israel