54 Years Old, Wanting To Be Able To Wear Makeup Again + Hopefully Improve Myself Too! Riverside, CA

Ah, today was my second shot at getting my stitches out! I got nearly all of them removed, which was the lucky part. Since it has been longer than usual to remove the stitches, some he got out easily and those didn't really hurt coming out. Some were too hard for him to find so he used a microscope-thingy to see the stitch well enough to cut, then he was able to pull them out...that hurt a bit more, but it was like ripping a band-aid off quickly, it hurts, then fades quickly. My unlucky part was my right eye. I was afraid I was getting an infection, which the doctor agreed, plus he said it looked like it was trying to open up. The doctor did not remove the holding stitch from the center of that eye. If you get creeped out at things, stop reading! To address the possibility of infection, I got my eyelid scrubbed with betadine! Now that hurt a tad bit more, actually it hurt a whole lot more! After that he cleaned it with sterile water before finally putting ointment on it. Running out of there came to mind a few times! The doctor didn't use a brush to clean my eyelid, he just used gauze, but from the way it felt, you could have told me it was a wire brush and I would have believed you! Needless to say I'm sore now, that eye is blurry, but the doctor felt it will be fine and I go back in another week to see if that final stitch can be removed then! Lucky and UN-Lucky 13!

Things are going quite well besides the growing infection. I've had a few post-op infections like this. I'll need to say that I'm not a medical professional, all I have to go by is my long history of way too many surgical procedures and surgeries. When I've had an infection like this, the first thing they look for is an un-dissolved, internal stitch. I had this happen after my first knee replacement and again after my second spine surgery. Both times they just opened up the incision and cleaned it out to find the stitch. It's not fun, and it's not something they numb you up for. Since my healing is going so well, I don't want to see that right eye lid opened back up, I would think that would increase risk of worse scarring. I already have an appointment tomorrow morning to have the holding stitches removed. If I wasn't already seeing the doctor, this is something I'd feel needed to be looked at. I have pushed and poked but I can't get anything out. There is one holding stitch that is pretty sensitive, my guess is that once it's removed the doctor should be able to get to the infection. I'm hoping he can at least. We'll see, I'll be sure to post the results of my visit. I tried to show the area I'm concerned about in the picture, but I don't think you can tell. It's on the upper side of the incision, more toward the outside edge, it's red and I've got a firm lump up there.