It was brought to my attention recently that none of my online friends have ever seen my scars from almost two years ago…and while I’m really embarrassed, I figured what the hell. I have 3 kids to explain the stretch marks, and the heart meds I’m on have caused me to gain 14 pounds in the past 3 weeks, so I’m flabbier than I was 3 weeks ago. Still…while I find my abdomen horrible to look at now, I have been told that I need to look at it as a blessing and not a curse. Hard to do.
Anyway. I warned ya…
Notice the three round scars in a diagonal pattern running from the lower left on up…the first and third ones are drain holes, the middle one (to the side of my belly button) is where I was touched with a latex glove during one of my surgeries. The surgeons admitted it was an accident. It made a horrible, thumb-sized wound at the time, but now is a red bubble. The little dots above and below the partial chevron incision are where internal stitches worked their way out and I got staph infection in the process. I still to this day have stitches pop through the skin now and then and make bad marks. There are two other drain scars, but I couldn’t show those because one is in my bikini line and one is in my chest, just underneath my right breast. Ya’ll REALLY don’t want to see those…TRUST me!
Also, you may notice my left ribs have more definition in the picture than my right ribs (the lower part of the ribcage)…they almost had to break ribs to get the tumor out, and to this day, my ribcage is misaligned. My surgeon and other doctors said they really can’t fix it without more surgery, and that’s not guaranteed. When I lie flat, my left ribs stick up a full inch or more higher than my right ribs. Its very uncomfortable too, and if I’m lying on a hard surface like an exam table, pressing on my left ribs causes incredible pain.
But…I’m here 😉