Surgical Incision

 **WARNING** I am sharing photos of my incision and scar for people who want to know that to expect. These are not great photos, and they are personally awkward to share. But I want to help people.

So please do not proceed unless you want to see surgery scars that are not fun to look at. 

But they also aren't really that bad. 

Scroll down to see.

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Stop now if you do not want to see a big incision scar.

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So what you see at the very top is a lump that you have after surgery that will go down over time. It does, and they tell you this. But it is weird when you see it. 

The top of the incision is where they tie-off the stitches with a "suture knot." More on this in a later post. They actually sew you up from the bottom to the top. 

Woman have to wear a bra 24/7 for a month or so because the weight of the breasts will pull on the incision. The incision itself is about 6" long for women. Below the incision you see 2 scabs - these are from where the drain tubes were removed. These scab up and are there for quite awhile. 

There are so many tubes and lines and monitor patches they put on you, that your skin takes quite a beating. The adhesive is also almost impossible to remove. What looks like gray glue on my skin is all of the adhesive.

Honestly, this was not as bad as I had thought it would be. I was far more aggravated by the dang surgical glue. After 4 showers it was still there. I finally got some adhesive removal wipes from the nurse at my follow up visit.  Ask for those before you leave the hospital - you will need them.

Men with body hair might have an even harder time with the adhesives. I am not sure.

Below is a picture after almost four months.

The incision is all healed but is still a bit red and raised. Based on what the nurse told me before surgery, it will take about a year or so for the scar to heal into a less visible state. 

This photo doesn't show the drain scars but they are all healed up as well. They were big scabs for a very long time.  But once they fell off it was all soft new skin underneath.

The top of this scar is where the suture knot was, and it is more raised than the rest of the scar. This is where the silicone scar tape should help me. But again, this will take time.

I will take more photos in the coming months so I can share how the scar progresses.