6 weeks post op LBL

Hi everyone!

I'm 6 weeks post op LBL with autologous fat transfer.

Things are going really well. I notice that I don't think about being so careful when I sit/stand/get into the car. My buttocks is feeling more normal and not like there is a huge foreign something stuck behind me.

Still have numbness on my sides/butt but I think it's getting better.

Still itchy but benedryl seems to work before bed.

Still have my stubborn opening that the surgeon has treated with silver. At my follow up with him this week he removed the dressing and said it was healing really well. I didn't agree. It looked open and sorta deep still. Anyway, he removed a stitch that was about 6 inches long. I almost passed out just from seeing him yank it out. I was watching and he gently dug it out and it was a little loop then he pulled some more and one end snapped (I felt the snap inside) then he pulled it out and continued pulling. It was weird to see it but not feel it. Then he cut it off and it retracted back under my skin.

I go for a follow up next week to make sure it's healing.

I've been trying on bathing suits and to my surprise I feel and look better in a 2 piece - WHAT!?!?! I've literally never worn a bikini in my entire life. My torso looks so short now because I'm used to having a belly flap hang down quite low which created the illusion that my torso was longer than it was. What a journey!

Thanks for reading. Hope you are enjoying your journey as much as I am :)

So happy for you! Ugh, that stitch would have grossed me out too.

Sounds like you are healing well. I'm sorry that you still have the stubborn spot. Hopefully it will heal soon.

I swim regularly and have a very modest suit and always have. Most of my life I was just to embarrassed of how I looked to even go out in a bathing suit. Now I wear swim pants and a high necked tankini in an attempt to keep my loose skin from falling out. When I do water aerobics, I am always pushing my saggy breasts back into the suit. I REALLY look forward to not having that problem any more and who knows even a 2-piece like you!

All the best!

have you been hearing/feeling internal stitches popping? I have popped a boob (which instantly rounded afterwards...Yay!) and one butt cheek (the other butt cheek is still hard. both are still high up. can't wait till they drop.

Unfortunately the stitch i popped in the boob is about a centimeter from the scar line so is trying to come out through virgin tissue. it is very painful, like being stabbed with a wire or pin from the inside. you can feel and see it creating a lump under the skin where it is poking me...hoping it dissolves quickly, i don't know how much more I can take of the poking and because it isn't in the scar line it don't think it will break through the skin. the other end is lower, but under some scar tissue. I expect it will find its way out. it isn't bothering me as much.

I've been pulling my own stitches that have come to the surface with a pair of tweezers. those are thinner and more fragile than the one I can feel under the skin. I suspect they use some heavy duty sutures to anchor things and that is what has snapped.

I just bought a bikini myself today. I feel the same way about the torso, in my case it is because i used to wear low rise and now i'm wearing my bottoms up higher to cover the LBL scar.

Yup - I've popped/snapped a few internal stitches. The first one happened when I sneezed and felt a pop on my side. It freaked me out but I noticed that night that the pulling sensation I had in that spot when I was on side wasn't there anymore! Also, I had one snap above my right butt cheek when I bent over and now the stitch is trying to come out through the scar line. It's burning a bit and I can feel it under the skin but hasn't broken through.

There's another one my side that I can feel pull and I actually hope it snaps soon lol.

I also have been pulling my own stitches as per the direction of my PS. I've pulled clear plastic type ones (almost like fishing line) but those break easily and are mostly around my belly button. I also pulled 2 white cloth like stitches from around my belly button and then there are the super thick blue/purple ones that are all the way around my LBL scar line.

Good luck with your healing and hopefully everything drops soon lol.

Summer is going to be great :)

My PS says I'm a "stitch spitter" but says its not a bad thing. My body doesn't need the stitches anymore so now my body is trying to get rid of them he says. Ill post some pics of my stitches on my profile so I don't gross out people who don't want to see it but feel free to check it out :)

Edited to add: if you look at my pics you will see one that looks awful. I was so upset and nervous that it was necrosis. The PS said it's not infected and not necrotic at all but its a reaction to the stitch knot and slow healing. He's treating it with silver and it's almost closed now.

I haven't seen any blue ones yet, but I bet that is what is trying to poke through the breast. The skin is tented and white (from the pressure). on top of the spots it is poking me.

i was wondering what that cloth looking stuff in the belly button was.

Almost all my fishing line from around th nipple is gone. Have had one groin pop, which was awesome, but nothing in the torso yet, so looking forward to that.

Thanks for sharing the pics! I wondered what that would look like.