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stomach area/waist still numb...enlarged some..

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  • stomach area/waist still numb...enlarged some..

    I am at about 7 weeks post-op now..early yet, I know... I can now pretty much stand up in the shower,although I still keep my shower chair in & do still sit on & off..
    I noticed that I still have a funny looking tummy. My big incision is on the left side. therefore I still have a very numb feeling there & my tummy(waist area) is pushed out more on the left side. Do most of you early post-op people still have that? I was so afraid to even look at my whole left side with the incision in a mirror for quite a while...I guess I was a bit squimish, I would say! But all looks healed up nicely!

  • #2
    Hi Lynne...

    It could just be swelling, but it sounds like it's probably an incisional hernia. (Do a search here and you'll see other threads.) A paper was presented at the Scoliosis Research Society meeting last week on this subject. They found that 50% of adult patients with a specific type of incision had this result. :-(

    Regards,
    Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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    • #3
      thks Linda---I read up on that-(hope it's not that) & also heard from my surgeon's nurse that it is probably just like that until all heals there because that is also the numb area which she says can be numb for up to 6 mths after the operations....keeping in mind, that my incision was huge-it ran from my under arm down to my pubic area on the left side...Ly

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      • #4
        I'm 7 months and still "poofy". I don't have a hernia, they checked. They assure me in time, it will go away.
        36 year old single mom of teens ages 14 & 15.
        Anterior/posterior spinal fusion on February 9th & 16th 2006 with Dr. Anthony Moreno who now has his own practice.
        Fused from T-3 to S-1 (sacrum)
        Curve pre-op = 70 degrees
        Curve post op = 20 degrees
        No pain anymore!!
        Google is your friend

        I am not a doctor and will never give medical advice. I will support and answer questions from personal experience only.

        Comment


        • #5
          Kat...

          This is not a true hernia.

          After the paper I referenced was presented, several doctors stood up and made very negative remarks about patients being concerned with these hernias. They seemed to be saying that "Hey, we fixed your spine. Why do you care about your abdomen?"

          --Linda
          Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
          Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

          Comment


          • #6
            I know that. I asked about incisional hernias at my appointment because I'm still poofy. They said it is not that. I have no pain from it, it is not hard, it's just a poofy squishy skin thing. Like a flab...
            They said if I'm still concerned about it, they will run another MRI on it but that my poof does not fit the usual appearance of this type of hernia.

            I have a 12 inch scar to let of my belly button starting right above it and going down to my pubic bone. They double stitched me in one segment causing an indent of sorts, and that may be the cause for the poof. They said as I heal more, as I am more able to exercise my core muscles and in time, it will go away.
            36 year old single mom of teens ages 14 & 15.
            Anterior/posterior spinal fusion on February 9th & 16th 2006 with Dr. Anthony Moreno who now has his own practice.
            Fused from T-3 to S-1 (sacrum)
            Curve pre-op = 70 degrees
            Curve post op = 20 degrees
            No pain anymore!!
            Google is your friend

            I am not a doctor and will never give medical advice. I will support and answer questions from personal experience only.

            Comment


            • #7
              Lynne, I hope it's not an incisional hernia...I suppose only time will tell. I was hoping Dr. Boachie would be one of those surgeons whose patients never get those......

              Linda -- the reaction among the physicians that you described is infuriating!!
              Chris
              A/P fusion on June 19, 2007 at age 52; T10-L5
              Pre-op thoracolumbar curve: 70 degrees
              Post-op curve: 12 degrees
              Dr. Boachie-adjei, HSS, New York

              Comment


              • #8
                Lynne - My anterior incision is also on the left side. I was like Kat said "poofy" for several weeks after surgery. You get a lot of swelling there. If it's not an incisional hernia, it should go away in time. Maybe you should bring it up at next post-op visit.
                Brandi
                Congenital Scoliosis, 58* lumbar curve
                Combined Anterior/Posterior Spinal Fusion w/Laminectomy May 22, 2006
                L1-S1
                Dr. William Lauerman
                Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
                Pedicle Subtraction Osteotomy @ L3, Posterior Spinal Fusion L2-L4, rod removal with re-instrumentation T10-S1 and Laminectomy February 5, 2009 to correct flatback
                http://brandi816.wordpress.com/

                Comment


                • #9
                  Regarding Linda's post...

                  I agree with Chris...it is absolutely appalling that a surgeon would make a comment like that. I wonder if they would feel the same way if it were their wives or better yet, themselves.

                  Grrrrr!
                  Brandi
                  Congenital Scoliosis, 58* lumbar curve
                  Combined Anterior/Posterior Spinal Fusion w/Laminectomy May 22, 2006
                  L1-S1
                  Dr. William Lauerman
                  Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
                  Pedicle Subtraction Osteotomy @ L3, Posterior Spinal Fusion L2-L4, rod removal with re-instrumentation T10-S1 and Laminectomy February 5, 2009 to correct flatback
                  http://brandi816.wordpress.com/

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Finally checkin' everything out....

                    I really don't think it is anything like that. As I said, I had a reallly looong incision on the left side & my surgeon's nurse says it takes a long time for that to mend. & go down. I just had noticed in the shower yesterday, a difference on that side still. As I said it was only in the last shower that I could actually look everything over well, scar & all....& my flat back! Prior to that I, showered on my chair & really did'nt look much or look in the mirror...plus I'm moving a lot better these days to check things out!!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Stomach area

                      My incision is the same. I am 10 weeks since my surgery and the swelling on that side is definitely going down, but I am still really numb. I'm hoping it will come back, but I don't think anyone knows.
                      [SIZE=3]Sandy B
                      Spinal Fusion 7/13/06
                      Dr. William A. Lauerman
                      Georgetown University Medical Center[
                      /SIZE]

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                      • #12
                        I am nearly 8 months now and the swelling on my left side is mostly gone - if I do too much though it still swells. My PT says that because of the 'trauma' to the area it is easy for fluid to gather there.

                        It's obvioulsy worth getting checked out, but sounds as though you may just have the same as the rest of us. At your stage I still have a very pregnant looking belly too from swelling but that has all gone now.

                        Just hang in there- all things take time!
                        Double 63(T)/75(L) deg curve with big sideways shift - Surgery in UK on 8th February 2006.
                        Post op 30(T)/33(L)
                        http://warpedwoman.blogspot.com/

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                        • #13
                          UGH!
                          My stomach is still puffy too. Had to buy a lot of new clothes =)
                          Jenn
                          37 y/o female
                          60 degree lumbar
                          45 degree thoracic
                          1st time anterior/posterior surgery May 8th and 10th 2006
                          T 5 to S 1
                          NYC

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