My day started out typical...until I left work for a 1045 a dr appointment. My plastic surgeon has been concerned about the bleeding from my belly button that started almost 2 weeks after my tummy tuck.....but stopped since I saw him Monday. For precaution he wanted to check me out anyway. Last night I thought I was in the clear...no bleeding, minimal swelling... But I went anyway because I am a firm believer in following drs orders. And this morning there was a small amount of blood and swelling above the incision line.

Immediately the dr noticed the swelling and decided to make 3 tiny incisions, pack them with gauze and let me drain for 24 hrs. Once he did that.... He said that would redirect the belly button bleed but my body has a mind of its own because it didn't work. After another 15 minutes of push and trying to figure out where is drainage was coming from he decided to send me accross the street to the hospital for an ultrasound so he could see exactly where they pockets of blood were.

Keep in mind this drainage isn't too unusual...it's not life threatening... its just messy and inconvenient. But the fact it didn't stop once he made the cuts concerned him. So he called the radiologist ...you know the one doctor who you never meet but sends you a bill for reading your radiology reports.....LOL

Anyway they saw me right away...which was a little concerning to me ....but comforting too. I hop on the table and the tech starts to do the ultrasound and finds two dark spots on either side of the belly button...not under the muscle....just under the skin. I also saw my port which looked pretty!!! The tech called in the dr who assured me he just spoke to my plastic surgeon and he was going to aspirate them.....or try too. Basically that means to take a needle and stick it in the dark spot and try to suck it out.

The dr called the spots blood clots or hematomas. After i heard the blood clot word I asked him how concerned I should be. He said they were not in arteries or veins so not life threatening. He said they are not unusual and they would eventually be absorbed by the body but they would just as soon get rid if them. He brought out a 5" needle and plunged into the larger clot. Nothing. It was so think he couldn't suck it out. He said he needed a bigger needle. I equated that to JAWS...we are going to need a bigger boat! The larger needle didn't help....he got about an Inch up the needle and it stopped. Too thick. He did get a little to send to the lab to rule out anything funky but he decided to move to the smaller one. That one came out lick a dee split. One down..one left....

The radiologist called my PS and told him what's was up and they decided to let me go and let the drains do their thing tonight and I go back in the morning to clean the drainage and decide what to do with the remaining clot. I was uncomfortable but had to go back to work to clean up stuff which I left...considering I was gone 4 hrs and only prepared for one!! I was walking a little funny but finished out my day and drove home. My PS called me on the way home to see how I was doing... And to tell me what he and the RAD discussed...

So tonight I am lying in bed...resting and being really mad at my body for keeping this old blood as a souvenir from my surgery....