Scheduled for May 23 Abdominal w/vertical incision

Hi, this is my first post in the forums. I was wondering if anyone has had a vertical incision? Unfortunately my fibroids grew like gang busters and are compromising my kidneys and leaving very little room for anything else so the docs have no other choice. Of course I am also alternately ok with it and prone to sudden bursts of hot tears. I live in an area that has too many people and not enough doctors and due to various and sundry reasons it took me 10 years to get a GP. I've known for a few years that this was the inevitable outcome. Recently (for several months)I was bleeding heavily almost all the time and I knew I was anemic but apparently I was mostly dead. I finally found a GP in mid April. Thankfully the GP got the ball rolling ASAP and after finding out my blood hemoglobin was merely 60 and given the size of my fibroids, I was in the Gyno clinic within the week and they started IV and oral Iron therapy, put me on Cyclokapron to reduce the bleeding and began the scheduling process. Whew what a whirlwind! Anyway...I really would like to hear from someone who experienced the same cut.

Hi Octavia

I'm sorry to hear about your rough times. I am glad to hear relief is on the way. I had "several large fibroids" which resulted in me having a 12" vertical incision. While still in recovery, the nurses put an abdominal binder on me. From that moment up to about my 8th week, the binder was my best friend. Actually, I bought a much better binder before I had the surgery. My incision was closed with staples which were removed one week post op. It was just weird looking at staples running along my tummy. The most painful part of staple removal was when the doctor got a tummy hair in the staple remover. Then the doctor put on steri-strips which stayed on for a hot second. I must say I didn't have any pain from the surgery nor any problems with my incision. My incision felt like a very long paper cut on very dry skin. Around the 2nd week post-op, my doctor told me to use vitamin E ointment on the incision. I continued doing that for about 6 months. I am very pleased with my incision and how it has healed. It is barely noticeable.

Best wishes and 's

i dont have a vertical cut but i wanted to wish you the best of luck with your surgery. hope you feel better really soon