39, 5 Kids, TT+Lipo+BBL & Hoping for Breast Augm. - Dominican Republic, DO

So as much as I wished it away and tried to wait as long as possible before taking my drain out, I developed what seems to me to be a pretty large seroma. I am just under 4 weeks post op. Drain came out 20 days post op after draining less then 30 ccs per day for 2 consecutive days and I noticed the seroma in my lower abdomen within 48 hours.

I found a local PS who would see me ($200 consult fee I had to get out of the way, of course) that same week and was very kind, patient, and took the time to answer all my questions and really attempted to calm my anxiety. The seroma started about 1-2 inches below my belly button, and the area where I could see the fluid moving across horizontally was maybe about 5 inches. Laying down, the PS couldn't palpitate/move around much fluid and didn't feel she'd be able to aspirate much. I stood up so I could show her how much more visible it was at that angle, but she still did not appear alarmed and felt it was best to allow it time to resolve itself. I believe her preference is to avoid risk of infection by trying to aspirate with a needle unless absolutely necessary. I've read some things online that say the seroma will only continue to refill, which is why multiple aspirations must take place, and that it can become more of a risk than is necessary when it will just resolve itself if given time. This seems to be her standpoint. She does tummy tucks, boobs, all that - so I would expect she is very experienced with such a common side effect as this.

As I said, that appointment was last Friday, today is Tuesday and it seems to me to have gotten a bit bigger. I definitely have a very swollen pooch when I look down, although it's not as visible from the front or the side. When I press on the center of my lower abdomen or just to the right or left of center, I can feel the fluid move almost (not quite fully but almost) hip to hip, which is a uncomfortable feeling. It seems to me to be at least a cup of fluid, if not more.

I switched to my Stage 2 compression garment last Friday after that appointment (I had been wearing my Stage 1 garment 24/7 for the first 3 weeks while my drain was in -- I was concerned putting on the Stage 2 garment would irritate the drain site or might even chance tugging a bit of the drain out and losing suction as I had accidentally done before and had to go to an E.R. to fix it), and I've been wearing the Stage 2 now (Maria E brand) for 24/7 since then. Although the PS I saw preferred I not use added foam to ensure the compression was uniform all over, I did add back in the folded over foam over my abdomen again yesterday. I just keep thinking I need to press that area as flat as possible. I feel like I am obsessing over this thing and over other people's opinions and experiences in online blogs (surgeons, patients, etc) about seroma treatment and constantly anxious about whether the local PS I saw made the right call. It seems that almost everyone opts for at least attempting to aspirate these things. I could honestly deal with waiting several weeks or even a few months for it to resolve itself IF I knew for sure it would and that it was not likely to cause a cosmetic problem, such as leaving a permanent pooch. I did not go through all this to have that kind of result from an issue that could have been prevented.

Has anyone gone through this and had their seroma, even a large one, resolve itself without leaving visible proof that it was once there?

I know I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not even quite a month out yet, and honestly I'm okay with that as long as I don't have to worry so much about the what-ifs. I can deal with the swelling, I can deal with the tightness, I can even deal with the (hopefully temporary!) lumpy places from the lipo under my armpits that feel so sore and tender and totally alien. But it's hard for me to deal with walking around with what feels like a cup and a half of liquid pushing and sloshing around my lower belly. I mean, I can't actually feel it sloshing around when I walk - but in my mind, you know... And when I take the garment off to shower, I worry that I need to protect and support my belly out of concern for the pressure it must be putting on my incision -which looks great otherwise.

I called and made a follow up appointment with the local PS on Monday ($100, not as bad as the initial consult fee), so that's in a week. Of course if I were to have any signs of infection, which I don't expect, she will see me right away. So when I go back, I'll see if she agrees that it's gotten bigger and what she feels is best to do, if anything. If she still prefers to give it time, I'll ask her specifically about the chances of it forming a bursa/capsule and leaving me with a permanent bulge, and how long we can give it to resolve on it's own before that became a bigger risk.

I guess we'll see.

Thoughts? Your experiences? Can someone, ANYONE, tell me they had one - a large one (large to me) - that did go away on it's own?

- Sleepless and Second Guessing in Texas

How long did it take you to go from 100 ccs drainage to less than 50 in 24 hrs? I am 17 days post op from my tt, full Lipo and bbl and am at 100 ccs very light yellow, clear drainage for the last 48 hours. I was at 150 ccs or more a week ago. I am really restricting activity as I've read that is the best method for healing and particularly for drain removal. As I mentioned in my previous post, I've already had issues with the drain and I am soooo ready to have it out. I go back to work in one week (very low activity job) and also finished a full cycle of doxycycline yesterday, which I was put on after a bit of my drain tube tugged out. No infection symptoms, but concerned about having the drain in too long AS WELL AS trying to keep it in until I'm below 30 ccs a day as that seems to be the US standard and I want to lessen chances of seroma as much as possible.

So! How long did it take you to go from 100 ccs drainage to less than 50?

To make it all even better, I've developed some intense upper back pain (left side and kind of wraps around my rib) that only seems to be helped by codeine, of which I only had a few and am out of now. I've had some times crying on the couch, so tired of that pain!

I have an appointment with a regular doctor tomorrow about the back pain and also to check on rapid resting heartrate issues I've noticed since the surgery (I realize this has been an issue since long before the surgery) so hoping he can give me something for pain.

I just keep telling myself it will get better!