Egg shaped lump on abdomen after surgery?

[mmglobal]

Diane is now 5 days out and still doing great. Her incision looks excellent... never oozed, no redness, no lumps, no swelling. Like Cheryl has reported on her surgery blog, Diane has a small egg just above the top of her incision. I'm sure that without Cheryl's discussion, we would not even be mentioning this. It's not very big and one would expect things like this after such a large abdominal surgery. Cheryl's doctor says he expects it to go away. I expect the same for Diane.

It's surprising to me because I have dealt with post-op ADR patients almost every day for the last 5 years and this has never come up. Nobody is concerned about seroma or hematoma. This is just an interesting anomaly. We'll know much more in a few weeks. I usually leave my clients about 4 or 5 days after their surgery and only look at the incision when the bandage is being changed... patient is usually lying down then. On Diane it's almost imperceptible when lying down, but visible when she stands.

It's small enough not to be a concern. We can joke about being 'a few cans short of a six pack', or having a one-pack.

Has anyone else had surgery so close to Easter that the doctor may have left an egg?

Mark

[Cheryl]

Yep, mine really wasn't noticeable when lying down either. It actually got bigger a few weeks post op.

I am now six weeks post op and finally do notice that its getting smaller so not to worry.

[mmglobal]

Cheryl, nice to hear that egg is shrinking.... we met with Bertagnoli last Monday and he explained Diane's egg very clearly in a way that makes perfect sense. It has to do with closing technique... tight scars... subcutaneous fat being pushed to top of scar. Diane's egg is shrinking too!

Talk to you soon... all the best,

Mark

[KL Aguilar]

I had a similar bulge after a C-section surgery. I could actually push and make it move. I thought I had a tumor!

[mmglobal]

Diane's egg is shrinking too... no longer an easter egg... now about the size of a marshmellow chick.

[Cheryl]

Interesting - I'll call you to hear the details soon. I'm on my way to PT.