NOT such a Merry Christmas

The reason you've not seen my tummy is that since Tuesday, it's been really bloated. I was told it's normal swelling and that it can be so discouraging because right out of surgery, it's perfectly flat. I was told it could be 6 weeks before it will be looking normal. Well, Wednesday when they removed the drains, she said about 1 in 15 women will have problems after the drains are out with too much fluid being gathered. She told me the warning sign is if you tap your belly and it wiggles like a water bed.

I awoke totally in pain with my belly as it is terribly distended. I was told too that after the drains come out, getting a bit more swollen there is normal, so I didn't pay much attention to it until I went to the bathroom this afternoon, and did the water bed test. I failed. So, here it is Christmas and I had to call my doctor. Fortunately, he made it very clear I could contact him with any questions at any time. He called me after I left a message with his service and we're meeting at the surgical center in an hour where he will draw the excess fluid out with a needle (YIKES!!!). He assures me I won't feel a thing as that part of the belly has no nerve sensation and advised me to simply look the other way.

PLEASE send positive vibes my way and a VERY happy holiday to all y'all!!!

UPDATE


Okay, I'm back. It didn't hurt, and I wasn't overreacting about my belly. He was very glad I called. He drained 42 cc's of fluid and I'm to return tomorrow to have it done again. UGH! He said  hopefully it wouldn't take too many times to get it under control, so who knows how many more times I'll have to have this done. He said if it doesn't resolve we may need to do another drain, but more likely he'd operate to fix the problem. Quite frankly I'd rather he operate than to do another drain. He said the likelihood of needing to go in again is 25%. Let's hope we can control it with the manual draining with the syringe. It was SO less traumatic than having the drains out.