What a long, strange trip it's been.....And it's not over yet

Well, it has been about a month since my last post and what a month it has been ! The ultrasound showed that I did have a few pockets of fluid hanging around. I also still had my last drain in from the surgery. My doc decided to remove the drain and I was finally free !!! It only took 4 months, but it felt so great to finally be able to move around without that thing attached. You get so used to having the drain, you don't realize how much you are restricted by it. After that came out, I noticed that my stomach was still not right. I was worried about more fluid collection, so we did another ultrasound and that revealed a decrease in the size of the fluid pockets, so that was a plus.

So, if it wasn't fluid collection, what the heck was wrong ? All along, I had been told that it was fluid. It was cellulitis. It was inflammation. It would get better, just give it some time. But it was not getting better. So I asked my doctor to explain what was going on. He explained that the scar tissue grew between my skin and muscle, it would need some time to grow back together correctly. The scar tissue also pushed everything around, causing the inflammation in my stomach area. We decided to wait a few months, try to let things heal and settle, then we will decide where to go from here. I may try massage therapy and see if that might help the swelling go down. At this point, I will try anything !

This may seem like I am whining, but my clothes still do not fit right. After wearing sweat pants for 4 months, I had to try and find something in my closet to wear to work. I still have a bulged out area where the mass was removed, so I need pants that will allow some space in that area. I also have the swollen area on the right side. So, a lot of the my shirts and blouses don't fit either. My stomach looks like a roller coaster. :( I know that this is temporary, but it is disappointing.