Stitches never dissolved
My family doctor immediately sent me to an older general surgeon who had seen this type of thing before. He said it was very uncommon, not rare... just uncommon. The stitches that my plastic surgeon used were a combination of smooth and braided. Somehow, there must have been some infection or problem that caused bacteria to get into the folds of the braided stitches. They never dissolved. I had 4 (strategically placed) in my abdomen. Fortunatley, one stitch worked its way out last year and it healed up. Haven't had problems since with that location.
But, two others kept bursting open (one had a knot, but never came to surface). I have a new plastic surgeon and he went in and opened up those 3 areas to find the stitches and remove them.
This was not caused by anything that anyone did. It was just one of those things... so if you have this problem, you may very well need to find a plastic surgeon who will open up those areas and get the stitches out. You will heal up...
I did this for 3 yrs. Pus, blood, swelling, I have 6 pair of black stretch pants I call "big waisted pants" because when I had flare ups, I had to have roomy pants or else it hurt. Once, I had to wear a size 10 pants for a week or so because my size 6 belly had such a huge bulge. When it burst, about a half cup of pus/blood was drained from it!
Hope this helps someone.
I did have an issue up around my new belly button and I removed those stitches (they were black, blue, or purple) when they became visible.
I know those I removed won't bother me and just keep my fingers crossed that I won't have that issue that you did.
Thanks for sharing. Blessings, Penny
I'm doing pretty good so far.
Your post made me cry tears of joy. It re affirms that I'm not crazy.. .. I had the rout en y surgery back in 2005-2006. I started having problems about 7 years ago, first stitch was removed in the ER. 3 years ago I noticed a huge lump at the incision line, along with another was classified as a abcess, and had never closed, it leaks ooozes pots and blood and I pull a bit of stitch but it never closes. In Jan I had another abcess form around the incision and pulled three parts of another stitch. I am so tired of being in pain. The stitches and stomach hurt so bad. No insurance no real job to pay for assistance. Finally found a general surgeon who confirmed 6 pockets of fluid and believes they are stitches, wants 25,000 to remove them, and 12,500 down before they will remove them. I hope you will see this and contact me. Thanks