Limberg Flap Funtime

[Barefoot]

Hey, all--

A few months ago, I discovered my cyst, and began the journey to get it removed. Mine didn't hurt much, just drained a lot and put pressure on my skin. After seeing how much pain they have caused some of you all, I realize that was a blessing. Sheeeesh, wow, some of you deal with a lot!

I just had surgery on my cyst two days ago. The doctor gave me a Limberg Flap, and probably something around 30 stitches. I just took my first post-surgery shower, and it was...crazy to see. Is there anyone else out there experiencing Limberg Flap healing? I didn't realize that it was going to be this big of a deal...this scar is going to be quite the scar.

I have a really weird question...am I going to have a normal-looking rear end, when all is said and done? I don't mind a scar, but I do sort of mind my current double buttcrack, haha. Right now, everything is so swollen it is hard to tell what the end result will be. Any stories from people who have recovered, and what everything looked like in the end?

This website has been quite helpful, as this isn't really a topic you bring up and discuss at the dinner table. It's nice to be able to speak about this openly.

 

[nickmono]

I just watched the procedure on Youtube, very interesting. It looks more invasive than the Cleft Lift. At the end of the video it shows someone 4 weeks post-op, the area healed quite nicely and the rear end looked fine. Have a watch of it of you need reassurance. Best of luck with the recovery process.

 

[Barefoot]

Wow...I'm watching this video right now, and even though I have a pretty strong stomach...I still have to take breaks in watching it, haha...aaahhh. I'm kind of glad I did not see the procedure until after it happened--so strange to think that was me, a few days ago! Hmm.

Thanks so much for the recommendation, Nickmono!. Seeing the 4-week result really did offer a bit of peace-of-mind. Looks like I get an awesome zig-zag scar!

I am not familiar enough with Harry Potter to make some sort of joke out of this. It seems like good fodder for it, though.

Also, I figure, since I have not seen a lot of information on the Limberg Flap, I might keep updates on this thread, if anyone else could benefit from them.

I'm currently on day four out of surgery. Everything is a bit stiff and numb, but I'm able to move around much more easily than the past few days. The greatest amount of pain is actually not from the 30+ stitches on my backside--it's from lying on my hips! I'm 130 pounds and very active, usually, so I guess my body's not used to holding still for this long.

I'm keeping everything gently covered with a decent amount of gauze held in place with some surgical tape. It seems to do the trick, and I've been replacing it every two days, cleaning the stitches in between changing dressings.

 

[nickmono]

hahaha!!

When I was watching the video I was thinking "How the hell are they going to stitch this up" but it matched up perfectly, pretty amazing. You will have a really cool scar indeed

I think it would be a good idea to update people on your progress, Im sure at some stage someone will try and find information regarding the procedure and it would be good if they had some information.

I can imagine going from being very active to doing nothing would be really tough! But think of it this way.. a moments pain for a lifetimes gain!

Wishing you the best of luck! If I was a betting man I would bet that you will never have to deal with this again

 

[Barefoot]

Yaay, another day past surgery! Thanks for the kindness, nickmono. It's funny, finding comraderie in a place you'd never expect.

Anyway, things are still...doing what they do! This is day four out of surgery (the last time I posted, I don't think I could count). I can walk slowly, but almost without waddling. I can feel the stitches on my backside, and while they don't hurt, they twinge every now and again. I take that as a good sign, since I haven't really been able to feel anything back there yet. And I've been able to sleep through most of the night. I have not taken any of the medication they gave me at the hospital--after fainting the day after anaesthesia, I feel wary about weird medication. A pair of Advil have been serving me fine, and the pain is totally manageable.

I have been gently washing the area every day, and replacing the bandages. I've been using watered-down anti-bacterial handsoap (because it's what I've got!) and it seems gentle enough. I've been using 4" gauze, making a sort of rectangular pad, and taping it down, similar to how the hospital sent me home. So far, no drainage, no weird marks, no excess heat--I think it's healing fine.

I am so glad I took two weeks off of work--as an environmental educator/hike leader, I don't think I could do my usual job yet (3 mile hikes through a rocky gorge are much more fun when you're not worried about falling on your stitches!)

As a bonus, I have developed some new skills. Since I'm nervous about bending over, I am now quite adept at picking up things with my toes and transferring them to my hand. I've done maybe 6 loads of laundry this way, now! It's slower, but it works! Also, since I can't really sit down yet, I'm also close to perfecting this pose. All my life I have dreamt of emulating a suave Italian man, and now it is within my grasp! My final skill acquisition has been the painless delivery of butt-puns. I give you this conversation with my sister as proof:

--Hey, don't be so bummed out.
Listen, I'm just kind of sick of becoming the butt of everyone's jokes.
--Well, they sure are easy to crack around you.
You know, that's a real ass-inine comment. You ass-ume you understand what this is like.
--I'm just trying to support you--look at it this way...at least the worst is behind you.

And then we started laughing too hard.

I guess what I'm learning is...if stuff like this happens, learn from it, laugh at it, and take it easy so that you heal well and don't have to repeat it again.

 

[Barefoot]

Woo, it's been a while.

Take that as a good sign.

Here's the sort of play-by-play of what happened in the past month, so that anyone else who ever has this surgery can see the timeline I followed. Given, of course, that every body is drastically different and responds to these things differently.

I healed pretty steadily for the two weeks I took off of work. The first week was mostly just standing up/lying down with absolutely no ability to really bend (I don't know if this was because I was nervous or just couldn't--I didn't want to take a chance popping a stitch). The transition between full standing to my bed was something to behold, however--I think I should get Cirque du Soleil points for creativity.

Pants proved to be quite painful on the stitches--I took to wearing warm leggings with a long skirt over top, and was much more comfortable. If you're a guy...I guess you just should wear baggier pants.

The second week was where I started to get things back every day. One day, I could ride in a car (painfully, with a pillow, BUT I COULD). And I went on a victory lap to Walmart and walked around...slowly.

Walking looked funny the second week. As the swelling started to go down, I still was handling myself pretty gingerly. It was a little bit of a swagger or a waddle, or a swaddle, if you will. It was slow and ponderous, but it kept me from bending my right side (this is the side where they took the tissue for the "flap" part of the "limberg flap." Basically, it means that my rear end is going to be a little lopsided for a while!)

After the second week, I went back to work. Driving was challenging--I sat on a neck pillow to give myself some space between the seat of my car and the surgery site. I stood and typed for the first week, then was able to sit for short periods of time the next week (week 4 past surgery). This was also the week that I started regaining tactile sensation at the surgery site (which meant that I was in a little bit more pain, but it was GREAT because that meant my nerves were coming back on-line!) By the way--on the note of pain, I only took Advil through this whole process. I know that they gave me some opiate-painkiller, but I did not think it was neccesary, and didn't take any of it. If I felt pain, it meant I had to take a break or change my position. This, to me, is valuable information that I didn't want to numb away. Personal philosophy, of course, but I didn't think that the pain was ever unmanageable.

I got my stitches removed around 30 days after the surgery. AND IT WAS LIKE I HAD BEEN SET FREEEEEE. Once they had been removed, I went from about 40% normal mobility to 80% (I'm making up these percentages, but you get the idea). I actually went home, laughing, and rolled around on the floor (I'm an adult, you see.) shouting "I can do a barrel roll!" It was great.

I overdid it a little bit, and while relishing my newfound freedom and bending over to tie my shoes for the first time in a while, I ripped a little bit of the healed scar apart. This reminded me that the healing was not yet done, and that I still had to take it easy. Neosporin became my dear friend. I still kept myself at reasonable activities, not wanting to tear anything else until more healing had taken place.

Now, a month past surgery, I have all my movement back. I'm sitting on my bed, all curled up like normal, and there's no inhibition. I can drive, I can lie on my back, and I think I'm going to give running a try once some of this snow melts (the last thing I want to do is slip and fall on my tailbone! Perish the thought!) I still don't have all the sensation back there (mostly the numbness is just in the flap that is now covering where the cyst once was) but that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind that knows that I probably won't have to do this again (God willing). And I DO have an awesome zig-zag scar...that pretty much no one will get to see.

I hope this gives a measure of hope to anyone who is considering or has just undergone the Limberg Flap procedure. It was much more invasive than I thought it would be (because I had a pretty big cyst), but the feeling of literal and figurative closure that follows is worth it, I would think.

 

[Razzyirt]

Glad to hear about the smooth recovery!

Btw, I actually did slip on ice and fell right smack on my tailbone (on a concrete step no less...). This was 2 weeks post surgery. Owwweeeee! Did it ever hurt! And I got one hell of a bruise! But, the scar held together through that....which, ironically, made me feel better. I figured it it could survive that, then I must be on the road to recovery

 

[nickmono]

Berfoot, glad to hear you are doing really well!!

 

[Mums Spaghetti]

Hi Barefoot,

How is everything two and half years later?

I have just had the limberg flap procedure done 1 week ago and didnt realise it would be so invasive or that I would feel the way I do. So I searched the internet trying to find discussion about what to expect after to see if it was similar to mine and this was the only post I could find so I appreciate that you wrote it, and wrote so well.

Things that I am trying to come to terms with:
1. I genuinely feel like I have lost half my bum crack. When I touch my flap it is numb and cushy and I just sense having my right bum cheek inserted as a third bum cheek in the middle of my bum. I just thought it would feel like tight skin but at the moment it feels like a cushy pouch. Which is quite disconcerning because - although I am not having pain wearing pants like you say you did, when I wear pants the flap/pouch when pressed against my pants it gives me the sensation that I have something foreign stuck between my bum cheeks like a pad etc. And thus it feels quite uncomfortable.

2: Does the flap swell after surgery and if so, how long for? Appearance wise my bottom looks at the moment like the flap is it's own cushy little mountain between my cheeks. I still have staples in and wonder if when they are released the bum will stretch/spread more? But also wonder if this is what my flap will look like always or if it is still swollen at the moment 1 week after surgery?

3. The feeling of the flap feeling like a foregin object and having half a bum crack concerns me a bit, I feel a bit uncomfortable and thus I have also been having trouble going to the toilet. At first it was constipation, small pellet like stools and difficulty to get it moving. I thought this may be due to pain killers but I haven't had any painkillers since my second day out of hospital. I have taken some stool softners that have helped but I still am finding it difficult to feel regular. Was this something you experienced as well Barefoot?
Part of me wonders if its because of the flap feeling like a numb foreign object stuck between my original bum cheeks and that I feel half the bum crack is gone, that my anus might be protecting me from anything getting too close and has closed its gates - Nothing comes in! Nothing gets out!

I know it's been a while since you posted so I am not sure if you will get an email or anything to know I have added to this thread but any information you could pass on in regards to your experience with how your flap initally looked/felt (eg mine feels like a numb cushion) and also about being regular with your bowel movements.

Did your bottom feel different? And if so/does it return to feeling like the flap is part of your regular bottom or does it also feel like there is something foreign there?

Kind Regards

 

[diseasedone]

Woo, it's been a while.

Take that as a good sign.

Here's the sort of play-by-play of what happened in the past month, so that anyone else who ever has this surgery can see the timeline I followed. Given, of course, that every body is drastically different and responds to these things differently.

I healed pretty steadily for the two weeks I took off of work. The first week was mostly just standing up/lying down with absolutely no ability to really bend (I don't know if this was because I was nervous or just couldn't--I didn't want to take a chance popping a stitch). The transition between full standing to my bed was something to behold, however--I think I should get Cirque du Soleil points for creativity.

Pants proved to be quite painful on the stitches--I took to wearing warm leggings with a long skirt over top, and was much more comfortable. If you're a guy...I guess you just should wear baggier pants.

The second week was where I started to get things back every day. One day, I could ride in a car (painfully, with a pillow, BUT I COULD). And I went on a victory lap to Walmart and walked around...slowly.

Walking looked funny the second week. As the swelling started to go down, I still was handling myself pretty gingerly. It was a little bit of a swagger or a waddle, or a swaddle, if you will. It was slow and ponderous, but it kept me from bending my right side (this is the side where they took the tissue for the "flap" part of the "limberg flap." Basically, it means that my rear end is going to be a little lopsided for a while!)

After the second week, I went back to work. Driving was challenging--I sat on a neck pillow to give myself some space between the seat of my car and the surgery site. I stood and typed for the first week, then was able to sit for short periods of time the next week (week 4 past surgery). This was also the week that I started regaining tactile sensation at the surgery site (which meant that I was in a little bit more pain, but it was GREAT because that meant my nerves were coming back on-line!) By the way--on the note of pain, I only took Advil through this whole process. I know that they gave me some opiate-painkiller, but I did not think it was neccesary, and didn't take any of it. If I felt pain, it meant I had to take a break or change my position. This, to me, is valuable information that I didn't want to numb away. Personal philosophy, of course, but I didn't think that the pain was ever unmanageable.

I got my stitches removed around 30 days after the surgery. AND IT WAS LIKE I HAD BEEN SET FREEEEEE. Once they had been removed, I went from about 40% normal mobility to 80% (I'm making up these percentages, but you get the idea). I actually went home, laughing, and rolled around on the floor (I'm an adult, you see.) shouting "I can do a barrel roll!" It was great.

I overdid it a little bit, and while relishing my newfound freedom and bending over to tie my shoes for the first time in a while, I ripped a little bit of the healed scar apart. This reminded me that the healing was not yet done, and that I still had to take it easy. Neosporin became my dear friend. I still kept myself at reasonable activities, not wanting to tear anything else until more healing had taken place.

Now, a month past surgery, I have all my movement back. I'm sitting on my bed, all curled up like normal, and there's no inhibition. I can drive, I can lie on my back, and I think I'm going to give running a try once some of this snow melts (the last thing I want to do is slip and fall on my tailbone! Perish the thought!) I still don't have all the sensation back there (mostly the numbness is just in the flap that is now covering where the cyst once was) but that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind that knows that I probably won't have to do this again (God willing). And I DO have an awesome zig-zag scar...that pretty much no one will get to see.

I hope this gives a measure of hope to anyone who is considering or has just undergone the Limberg Flap procedure. It was much more invasive than I thought it would be (because I had a pretty big cyst), but the feeling of literal and figurative closure that follows is worth it, I would think.

Thanks for posting in such a descriptive manner. I am recovering from the same surgery and your post was very informative.