I also went to Brassard, and I should have added that I actually did tear out one of the external stitches at about a week and a half post-op. All that happened was that a spot about 1/4" long gaped wider than I was really happy about, and healed a bit more slowly, but it did heal; not even a scar now. (I did check with the surgeon and sent photos, and they said it'd be fine, and it was.)
That first month was so brutal I had a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. 🙂 After that, it eased off sharply.