I am 4 weeks post op and unfortunately my kids have had the GI bug the last week. I have a 2 year old so I’ve had to lift him, going over my limit of course. The last 4 days I developed a pea size lump under my incision. Yesterday ithe swelling started traveling up the incision about an inch. My NS had me come into the office but said it looks good, not infected. He said that its common for a little fluid to leak bc the needle they use to see in the patch is smaller than the thread and as inflammation goes down some fluid can leak out. He said as long as fluid doesn’t leak outside my incision or I didn’t habe signs of infection he was worried. I just am a little concerned about this and wondered if anyone else had this issue? He is the head of NS at a large hospital has done the surgery before so I do trust him.
I had a leak from my incision one week post op. At ten days it still leaked and my NS ordered a MRI and put me back in the hospital for a lumbar drain, eight days in ICU and I developed chemical meningitis. At six weeks post op I had another MRI that revealed a psuedomeningocele. You should keep a very close eye on it. Regardless of what you were told, a leak is not an expected outcome (my NS told me something similar and he is highly respected) so listen to your body. If you are having symptoms insist on an MRI so that your NS is certain that you don’t have a significant leak. I’m only 9 weeks post op so my advice is from recent experience. I hope for the best for you.
I had the same thing… A bulge under incision that would go away during the day and appear again after sleeping. Surgeon said same thing- as long as it wasn’t leaking outside there was nothing to be concerned about. I started sleeping propped up and the bulge went away. What I do have is a caved in area around the top of the incision and my face had started to go numb again when i bend over and my tinnitus is even worse as well as my hearing is worse. I had my surgery on Oct 28 2016 and am having a follow up MRI at the end of this month. I don’t think the surgery worked but the bulge had gone away. It appeared around week 6 and went away around week 9 when I started sleeping upright. If I sleep any less than 45 degrees now I wake up with a bad headache.
Take care!
I have started using a wedge to sleep on and it has helped a bunch, thanks. I’m sorry that you have not had a good outcome:( Most of my symptoms have improved, especially my headaches. Of course the pain in my neck is still present. My biggest new problem is my memory. I would have “brain farts” occasionally prior to my surgery but now I am like a parrot. I say something and then repeat it a minute later. I need to go back to work so this is worrying me… Good luck with your continued reconerg!
The fluid never leaked out of the incision, it will just swell under the incision. It is more painful when it is swollen but all in all my symptoms are improving, except my memory issues/forgetfulness. I am sorry that you had to go through that and hope you have a less eventful rest of recovery. Good luck!
I am 18 days post op and also have a huge buldge in my head filled with fluid. I sleep on a wedge pillow and that helps. My NS said as long as its not leaking and I don’t spike a fever the body should reabsorb this fluid. Any had this and approx how long to absorb?