As most of you know, I've been a big leaker. My port site first leaked from the left for 2 days. It healed, but then leaked from the right for a couple weeks. Last week it slowed to one drop every 10 minutes, so I was told to keep it covered with gauze and change the dressing so the incision wasn't constantly moist. Yestday I went to change the gauze, but it stuck to the wound. I kept the gauze there because the incision finally dried, so I'm hoping the gauze will fall off in a few days (kinda like a baby's belly button, right?)

Anyway, my port scar is big and puffy and red. It's not inflamed, but it looks like a red caterpillar, all poofy and raised and mushy. Years ago I had stitches on my shoulder, and the scar looked like this, which my doctor called a "keloid." Does anyone else have this problem? The other 4 incisions are flat and look great, but I think my port incision will be an ugly kiloid.

Yes, I have this. Almost every scar I have keloids. But the port scar is much worse than the other little ones. After leaking is no longer a problem and you've healed up and got your bearings, you can go to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon to have treatment to make the scar better, if it bothers you. I did this with a long scar on my chest and it made it quite a bit better.

Nancy

I watched "Taboo" on the Discovery Channel last night, and one of the segments was on body modification. Just pretend you're living on the edge, and are wearing your "difference" on the outside. You belong to a huge group of people with the same markings...

Hey, we're kind of like our own cult, huh? lol

Those people were paying big bucks to get branded and pierced and stuff. At the end it showed a group of them at a place like Beni Hana's, and a couple of the guys had horn implants. Maybe it was just because I was coming off my week of junkfood orgy, but... They were looking kind of cute...

That wouldn't be considered beastiality, would it? Doing it with a guy with horns?

I guess I'll just have my scar pierced. It could probably accomdate about 6 small rings or 4 larger hoops. Are you serious with the horn implants? I think just considering doing it with a guy with horns qualifies you as a wild woman!

Lemme ask you this: I was still leaking yesterday morning, but when I changed my gauze in the afternoon, it stuck to the wound. So I left it there. It's a quarter inch square of gauze and it's plastered like a cast to the wound, so the leaking has stopped. I was going to leave it until it falls off naturally, but my husband is worried that fibers from the gauze might get trapped in the wound. Odd, but that's how the keloid on my shoulder started. After getting shot with a b-b gun, a fragment of the b-b metal got trapped under the skin and caused a cyst, which was removed leaving the kiloid.

I read about some stuff called Suprex, which is a patch you put on the kiloid. I'll try it as soon as my port calms down. It's really red and tender yet.

I would just leave the gauze for now - I don't think it could get trapped in the skin itself??? (Not a medical expert, so you have fair warning! Use your best judgment.)

You're very fair to be subject to keloids - they tend to be more of a problem for darker-skinned folks. I have heard of people having procedures to reduce them, but sometimes the scar from the procedure isn't much better than the original keloid.

Maybe once it's fully healed it won't stick out so much? And lots of people say all their WLS scars disappear with their tummy tuck, so...

Don't even make me ask about the BB... lol Wild woman, yourself! My dad had a BB lodged under the skin on his calf from when he was six years old. His older brother's friend told my Dad that if he would run along the hill and let him take practice shots at him, then Dad could have a turn shooting at him, knowing full well that at 6 years old Dad couldn't have hit the broadside of a barn. lol

He never told his folks, so he kept his BB in his leg until the day he died... lol

It was creepy... I wish he were alive today - I'd tell him he was a precurser to these guys that have surgical steel implants under their skin for decoration... His just wasn't a very interesting (or big) design... lol

Donali, horns? I'm shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED.

(Hee hee, horns actually sound like fun! You little devil...)

lol - they kind of reminded me of that lounge owner on "Angel" (the spin off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) only without the green skin. He's such an empathetic... demon? I'm not even sure what all those creatures are - I guess he's from some other dimension, or something.

Anyway, I did find the little horns intriguing for some bizarre reason - kind of like a real life Pan, I guess...

What's the name of that movie my neighbor kids dragged me to see last month? The good guy in the movie is actually a devil monster. He's a real sensitive guy that works for our government, and even though he looks like the devil he files his horns down to try to "fit in." Donali, he's your kinda guy!

I got the kiloid on my shoulder when I was 16. My brother & I were swimming in the pool and both got shot from neighbors using us as targets. Coulda taken out an eye! I got skinned deep across the shoulder and ended up with a cyst from trapped metal. After they removed the cyst I got the kiloid. My mom freaked & took me to a doc who injected the kiloid with something that didn't help much. He said I could have it removed but I'd be taking a chance of it ending up worse.

I read about Suprex scar treatment yesterday. It's a patch that's supposed to shrink the kiloid. I'll let it heal more before trying it.

I soaked the gauze off yesterday - shouldn't have done it because I'm back to the smallest leak possible. I just stuck another piece of gauze on hoping it will harden again. That's what I get for listening to a man!