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Lost My Navel.

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Posted 1/31/2009 12:43 AM (GMT 0)
I had a lapro resection that went bad followed by an open incision 5 days later with an  ileostomy that has since been reversed.  I was in the hospital the first time for a month.  I was just glad to have survived and preoccupied with recovering for my reversal .  Now that I'm reversed I'm missing my navel. 

Does everybody with an open incision lose theirs?  I would have thought it wouldn't take much skill to create another one or is there another reason?  I wouldn't feel so bad about the scars if I still had a navel. 

Posted 1/31/2009 2:36 AM (GMT 0)

No, not everyone loses their navel.  I had the traditional surgery and my scar runs from below my navel to the top of my pubic area; about 5-6 inches in length.  My surgeon goes to extra trouble to keep the navel because it can be very emotional for people to lose it.  But I do know that everyone has a different physiology which is why no incision lengths vary.

Sue

Posted 1/31/2009 2:45 AM (GMT 0)
I'm with you. My navel is gone too.... It was pretty strange at first but luckily I'm a pretty hairy guy so it's not as noticeable now.
Posted 1/31/2009 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
My lapro also went bad and I had to have open emergency surgery. My belly button is so messed up. It's not gone, but it's way more shallow. It used to be pretty deep. It's more like a belly divot now. My belly's still sore and so I'm afraid to touch the divot. It still creeps me out. I'm afraid it won't feel like my old one felt, so I leave it alone. I used to have my belly button pierced, not that'd I'd even think of that after having a baby, but I did like having a normal one. So, I'm sad too.

Chassity
Posted 1/31/2009 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
I luckily still have my belly button! I had a full incision and my surgeon went around my belly button. It is very slightly messed up (the scar runs around the side of it and healed a little funny) but I still have mine.
Posted 1/31/2009 4:58 AM (GMT 0)
I had an open surgery, my scar runs from just under the top of my rib cage to just above the pubic bone, it's quite long, but I still have navel :)and I have an extremely thin scar.  I was hoping my surgeon would cut along the scar from my spleen removal that I've had since childhood because it is very large in length and width, but he went right next to it so now I have two long scars next to each other but eventually the colectomy scar will barely be visible that's how thin it is :)

Posted 1/31/2009 5:27 AM (GMT 0)
i have half my belly button, but i am actually going to try to get it sewn shut cause it keeps getting all red and icky cause the wafer goes over it,
Posted 1/31/2009 1:06 PM (GMT 0)

I kept mine, even after many abdominal surgeries, but after a complication and a need for a second surgery within 1 week, it became almost unrecognizable.  Then after the next one, I lost it!  I am okay with it and when ever someone mentioned something about their bellybutton...piercings and things...I say "I wish I could, but I don't have one!"  I will admit that it takes a little getting used to but you can adjust.

Summerstorm--can you pull the skin apart to get wafer tape to stick in it, not over it?  The area that should be mine can get red and icky if I am not careful and cover it completely...but if I separate the skin and get the tape to go into it I am okay...just a thought!

Posted 1/31/2009 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
well what actually covers mine is medical tape, cause i tape the top of my bag to my stomach. I tried doing what you suggested but then the tape didn't go far enough across to hold the bag down!
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