Trouble is Lurking

There is something familiar going on.  Something we don't like.  Not at all.

As usual, we went in to Dr. B's office for one last check up before coming home on Monday.  At that time, we all noticed that the areas of new skin that link up to the nevus were reddening, and there was now some discharge coming from one of the reddened areas.  Mim and Susan told us that the skin was stressed, but that this was normal.  They warned that the incision may even open up, but if it does, not to worry.  There are stitches above the skin and stitches below the skin, so it will heal -- one way or another.  Another little surprise we got was that one of my drain tubes wasn't working, so they pulled it early.  Although there was still a lot of fluid, they hoped the other drain would get it.

Now we are home, and mom and dad are doing all the inspecting themselves.  Pretty quickly, mom noticed that the other drain tube wasn't working either.  She got the blessing to pull it, so now I get to be drain-free a little early.  That's not so bad except there is still a lot of fluid that has to find it's way somewhere.  It may leak out the incision, or it may re-absorb into the body.  It will resolve itself, we hear.  It will just take time.

Drain-free also means I can be bathed again.  As soon as she got the go-ahead, mom unwrapped me for a bath... and then that's when she saw it.  The incision has opened.  This unwanted familiarity comes from the recollection of what my incision looked like when it was infected back at the time of my first surgery... back when we had to entirely ditch an expansion.  The areas look (at least to our untrained eyes) exactly the same -- red, goopy, and just all-around bad.  And there is another coincidence -- the incision opened up on Post-Op Day 6 both times.

The redness is obvious, the discharge is mostly concentrated at the point in the middle, and the incision has opened just to the right of that point.  It is a small opening and probably can't be seen in this photo.

However, there are some big differences, for which we are grateful.  1) This is happening on expander removal rather than insertion.  There is no foreign body distracting my immune system which will help me to heal.  2) Although it looks bad, it is not likely infected.  Mom and dad will watch my behavior and temperature closely for signs of infection, but for now, no one is concerned about this.  3) Dr. Bauer assures us this is all normal, and that the incisions will heal.
       
Overall, I am doing great.  If you didn't see this, you would never know I'd had surgery one week ago today.  I am feeling good - and ready to run around as soon as I am allowed.  But for now, I am on restricted activity, and have to be bandaged up for another 2 weeks or so.  Once my stitches are removed in another 1 1/2 weeks, we'll all feel a bit better.  We'll keep you all posted on my progress.