Odd Lump Under my Belly Button

[cabrerabear]

Hi Everyone
I am new to the forum, I'm a living donor and my surgery was about 2 1/2 weeks. It was done laprascopically and due to the size of my kidney the incision to remove the kidney was done on the bottom part of my abdomen and stapled shut. My question is after the staples were removed most of the swelling has gone down, but there is a large protrusion (size of an orange) above the incision and underneath my navel.

I think it could just be bruising that's still slowly healing, but I'm also worried that it could be a hernia. Did any other donors experience the same sort of lump/swelling? Did it go away with time or require further treatment? Any advice/personal stories would be greatly appreciated as I tend to over stress stuff like this. My biggest fear is that it's a hernia that will require another surgery.

Thank you!

[audrey12]

I had a lump the size of a golf ball develop under my incision several weeks later.  It turned out to be a seroma, a sac full of fluid like a giant cyst.  I had to have an ultrasound to confirm and they wanted to make sure it was not a hematoma, i.e., blood instead of just fluid like in a cyst.  It was there for a long time.  My PCP said she could refer me to a local surgeon (I am in California and my donation was in Chicago) for consultation if I wanted to have it drained or removed. I decided to just live with it.  I don't feel it anymore.

I highly recommend reporting this to your nurse coordinator right away and having your attending physician order an ultrasound.  You want to be sure it's not a hernia, and that whatever it is doesn't need any treatment.  Yours is pretty big.

Congrats on your donation and welcome to the forum!  Keep us posted.

Edited to add, we all had odd swelling at that site post-op and not everyone had a seroma like I had.  The swelling lasted quite a while and protruded.  That was different than the lump -- your might just be the post-op swelling.  Better to get it checked out, though!

[cabrerabear]

Thank you for the info. I did give my coordinator's a call. I'm in Nevada til the end of the month, and the surgery was done at UCLA. I'm keeping a close eye on it and have ordered an abdominal support until I can get to my follow up.

Thank you again!