Calling all sisters with vertical incisions

I'm am five weeks out from a TAH-BSO with a vertical incision. I am cut from about an eighth of an inch below my belly button all the way to my pubic bone and I had twenty-five staples put in after surgery.

The skin layer of the incision healed well and the doctor just looked at it on Tuesday and said it looks great (of course, he said it looks great from a surgeon's point of view because it healed well, but it's still ugly as all get out).

All the scabbing fell off about two weeks ago and now it's just scar. But it still hurts a lot. I can't sit up for more than a few minutes without pain, driving hurts, I can't stand to have clothing touch it, and it is really tender to the touch.

I just wanted to hear from some other vertical cut sisters if their incision was still this sore at five weeks and just how long it took before the tenderness and chafed feeling from the nerves regenerating went away.

It seems like it was healing and getting better every day for the first three weeks and now there hasn't been any change or improvement in the last two weeks.

Thanks in advance for any answers you can give me!

Judy

Why did the Dr go vertical? I have not heard of that for a long time.

Hey, Ellin! He went vertical because I had a watermelon size cyst that had to be taken out whole because of the chance of cancer. He does most of his surgeries horizontal, but because my cyst was so big and so suspicious, he had to go in vertical to get it out. He warned me beforehand that it would be more painful and take longer to heal, but a vertical incision would lessen the chance of the cyst rupturing and spilling possible cancer cells all over my abdomen. As it turned out, the tumors he found weren't benign, so I'm glad he was able to remove the cysts without any fluid spreading.

I know there are other sisters on here with vertical cuts for mostly the same reasons. There are just some situations when a horizontal cut won't do the job.

Have a good evening!

Judy

Phew, I thought it was just me, or that I was just being a sissy about it! I had a vertical too, but doc used stitches intstead of staples. I am walking around with my sweatpants under my belly, only way I can stand to wear them at all...It has gotten better tho, since I started rubbing neosporin with the pain killer stuff on it. I am swelled out soooo far too, that it looks like I maybe swallowed a watermelon; ONLY from the belly button down!

Hi Jude I didn't have an abdominal incision with my hyst, but a year later I had one from breastbone to pubic bone for a colectomy. I have to say, it was about a full year before I wasn't conscious of that incision ALL the time. It hurt for quite a few months. I still occasionally feel twinges of discomfort - I wouldn't call it pain, though - and it's now almost four years later.

Give yourself plenty of time to heal from this... and try not to stress too much about what it looks like. Mine was ugly as all get out (keloid) for a couple of years, despite all sorts of treatments. Recently, though, it has started fading and softening more.

Hang in there!

s,
-Linda

Judy, my vertical begins from inch above belly button(what's left of it) & it goes about an inch below pubic line. I also put neosporin with pain relief on my scar. I did it after it was closed up. I had staples too. But I never had a problem with pain at the incision site. I am still having pain on my right side though. I had another surgery six years ago on the same scar line area and it takes awhile to get use to looking at it. This new scar was my biggest issue. More so than the cancer. I guess I'm too vain. Are you wearing pants or anything that rubs on the incision? I'm still wearing sweats and pajama bottoms. Not the most attractive look.

Vertical incisions are very much still used. My doc chose vertical because my uterus was 21cm with very large fibroids. He closed with staples. Mines were taken out at two weeks and it did hurt.

I wasn't going to respond as I'm just rounding out week 3. At this point I don't have incision pain. My pain is left and right of the incision. Ex. lower tummy is really sore by the end of the day, not expanded just sore. Ice applications help with this. I don't have swelly belly as I've moved very little during these 3 weeks. A tip I read from another sister. I've been wearing nightgowns, the band on pants irritated me. I intend to venture out more during week 4. Athough I'm cleared to drive after week 4 I'm going to give myself more time.

Time will tell

I am 4 weeks post op and my incision is the sames as 32Diva above. My incision was stitched on the inside and medical super glued shut. It is still rather red but I bought some surgical pads at the drug store and just place it inside of my underwear and up to my belly button (they are about 9 inches long). These have kept my pants from rubbing on the incision. I was wearing the pad under the abdominal binder but it was really uncomfortable. I don't need to wear the binder anymore, but the pads still help out considerably. Hope this helps!

Hey, Diva! I left you a message on the CC board. I'm wearing loose nightgowns and no panties as often as possible because having anything touch it at all is really, really irritating. It's like it's burnt or severely chafed or something. The doctor says it's nerve endings that are regenerating, so I know nothing is wrong with it. I just wondered how long this lasts. At the beginning of the day, it's not too bad, but by evening, it is just plain painful. Even having water run across it in the shower makes me cringe. I guess not everyone who gets a vertical cut gets this pain.

I have been putting Neosprorin (without pain relief) on it for two weeks and it helps a little for awhile. The surgical nurse told me I could put Mederma or cocoa butter on it once it was healed, so maybe I'll try that and see if it helps.

I'm not concerned about how the scar looks. I knew it would be ugly and I know it will look a little better as time goes by. My husband is still groping me every time I walk by, so I know it doesn't bother him at all and I can live with it. I have a scar on my face from when I was two years old and I forget it's there. It's never bothered me or scared away any men I was interested in. It's just part of who I am.

I still have internal pain, too, but the doctor said that was expected since he removed some lymph nodes along with everything else.

Ladylaughalot, hang in there! We are not sissies, we just have more nerve regeneration! So we'll just bare our bellies for a while longer and then we'll be fine.

Surferbabe, yikes! A year is a long time to be aware of the incision! I'll hang in there and hope I don't have to wander the streets pulling my clothes away from my belly for a whole year. Thanks for the advice.

Judy

I had a vertical incision, 5 weeks post op and basically no pain once the staples were out and healed over. Itching I still get from them, numbness on my lower belly is still there.