Hello all!

Okay I have what seems to be the unasked question :crying:...Is anyone willing to talk about the effects the surgery has on the outside of the stomach after the surgery? I am wondering about bruising and deformations. I have heard so much, but no one really gets into detail or posts pictures. I realize most people don't want to know all of the nitty gritty details, but I think it would really help me. I am way more comfortable doing something scary if I know what to expect. I think my imagination is too active, and I freak myself out. I am considering doing the surgery, but I still have some reservations. I know the results make any discomfort or, let's be frank, PAIN :scared0: worth it in the end. I would really appreciate it if someone would share the facts with me. Thanks everyone!

Sorry, i'd answer if i could but i haven't done it yet and so am also wondering myself. Good luck to all of us,

Thanks Jean, maybe someone will enlighten us, they are all probably just sleeping right now!

I did not have a lot of bruising. Just 5 small suture lines on my abdomen. They healed fast. Nothing to worry about in my book.

I had surgery 6 days ago, and my lower abdomen is like a rainbow of bruises right now from the heparin shots, but the bruises don't hurt. I have minimal bruising around the incisions, and they don't really hurt anymore. The pain I have since yesterday is an ache on my left side. It's very tender and sore, and feels like a muscular bruising on the inside.

It's always good to get as much information as possible, so good that you're asking. I found that I didn't prepare myself enough for the actual pain and nausea during recovery. I had to stay 4 days in the hospital due to the continued nausea and lack of Fluid intake. I was miserable and wished I hadn't done it. Now I feel better and am concentrating on learning my new tummy's signals and a great journey of weight loss. Not everyone has a bad recovery, but it wouldn't hurt to expect the worst and be prepared.

Doyou have a date yet??? i just found out that having HMO is different than most of the stories on here, they are referring me to a cardiologist first, my surgeons office said i would have to be approved first then go to the cardiologist, but my group won't approve until after the cardiologist visit. I'm hoping it won't be a month or longer to get in to see him...... oh well ,,,, nothing to do but do it, good luck to us all, thanks to you guys for being there for me (us) well its 7:45 west coast time off to work :confused1:)

Edited February 2, 201016 yr by sleevegenie

Hello all!

Okay I have what seems to be the unasked question :cool:...Is anyone willing to talk about the effects the surgery has on the outside of the stomach after the surgery? I am wondering about bruising and deformations. I have heard so much, but no one really gets into detail or posts pictures. I realize most people don't want to know all of the nitty gritty details, but I think it would really help me. I am way more comfortable doing something scary if I know what to expect. I think my imagination is too active, and I freak myself out. I am considering doing the surgery, but I still have some reservations. I know the results make any discomfort or, let's be frank, PAIN :scared0: worth it in the end. I would really appreciate it if someone would share the facts with me. Thanks everyone! :confused1:

Well lets see here, i had my surgery on 12/29/09 and i came out with 6 little incisions, i was only bruised were they had given me my heparin shots (I'm prone to getting blood clots) nothing more, my incisions are healing really well, right now they are pinkish in color, to me it's nothing. . they look relatively the same as when i had my gallbladder out. . those scars are so faded that you REALLY have to hunt for them, these will heal the same way. . . if your a smoker though or diabetic the healing may be different. . I have a very high pain threshold, so i didn't have much pain to talk about. . . the same day of surgery i was up and walking the hallways without difficulty, after all it was my tummy they worked on, not my legs. . .on the second day i was walking 12 lenghts of the hallway without problems and on the 3rd day went home and resumed all activities as usual. . doctor didn't release me back to work for 2 weeks, but that was ok with me. . . gave me a good chance to run errands, pluck weeds in my yard, and clean my house how i like it. . . good luck and i hope this answered some questions you may have had. . .

I have darker skin, so I don't know if I will be of help. I had surgery a little over two weeks ago, and I have the five incisions. Two of them are still healing and have the 'gauzy sticky' stuff over them, but the other three are healing really well. Once all five have healed, I plan on using a scar- healer (like mederma, but probably not mederma itself), and palmers moisturizer which is skin firming and heals scars quicker (it is labelled for after-pregnancy and weight loss).

I had a leak from one of the incisions and had a lot of clotted blood removed the day after surgery so yes, I had humonguous (spelling? is that even a proper word?) bruising on the left side of my abdomen for a week or two after surgery. Wasn't pretty, but it wasn't alarming either. I don't look at my stomach a lot in the mirror anyway...

I had minimal bruising after my revision, and the leak repair which all happened within 48 hours of each other. I have more scars because I was a revision patient. But, 8 months out, my scars are light pink, no biggie. No one sees me naked other than my husband so it really doesn't bother me.

In my opion (and that's all it is), all of the temporary discomfort, bruising and healing time is just that temporary. In the long run, all that becomes an afterthought. At least that has been my experience.

I had a leak from one of the incisions and had a lot of clotted blood removed the day after surgery so yes, I had humonguous (spelling? is that even a proper word?) bruising on the left side of my abdomen for a week or two after surgery. Wasn't pretty, but it wasn't alarming either. I don't look at my stomach a lot in the mirror anyway...

Sounds like we had "twin abdomens" but luckily I didn't have leakage or blood clotting. I showed my husband and he was like "Are you OK?" Once I said yes, he was like "Good, put that away!" :sad0:

I'm not too worried. The incisions look good & since I never plan on wearing a bikini, I'm not worried. For now, a t-shirt covers it just fine.

I do not have my date yet. I am self pay, so it is really just a matter of making the decision. They said it would only take a couple of weeks after I am ready. That is kind of scary and exciting at the same time.

Thank you everyone for all of the info! You guys have been VERY helpful. I am a LOT less anxious now! Take care everyone and good luck on your journeys.