The following post from our forum is from a woman who had a tummy tuck 17 days ago and now has 2 bumps on the upper area of her stomach. She is wondering what caused this and if they will go away.

Date: 03/19/2012 Submitted by: SusanBumps After Tummy Tuck

I had tummy tuck and reconstructive work on breasts following (2 yrs ago ) lumpectomy 17 days ago. Very happy with results except I have two bumps at top of stomach area just below breasts, much more pronounced on right side. Saw surgeon 3 days ago, said due to moving everything aroud, tuck had to end somewhere and he didn’t need to drain, should go down. One side bulges quite a lot and is harder, about 2″ across and 1 ” high. I don’t understand explanation and seeing him again tomorrow. Have you heard of anything like this, what questions should I as him? Thanks.

RESPONSE

Date: 03/19/2012 Submitted by: Tanner

Susan,

No I have not heard of anything like that.

It almost sounds like he is inferring that it is a buildup of fluid and that will go down by itself, but, fluid usually collects below where the trauma (surgical area) occurs not above. So It might not be that.

“Tuck had to end somewhere” has me confused. Maybe he is referring to the uppermost point at which he stopped separating the skin from the underlying tissue (cutting) so he could pull it down and stretch it. There might be
some kind of trauma there that needs to mend together and heal (I don’t know).

The only thing I can suggest for the meeting is to tell him that you are concerned and still don’t understand what they are and ask him to explain it again in more complete and simple terms.

You could also ask him ..
-is it related to your previous operations?
-how long does he think it will take them to go away?
-is there anything you could do to make them go away faster (massage, compression garment for pressure)?
-if fluid, can they be drained with a syringe?
-has he seen this with his other patients?

Good luck.

Tanner