(no subject)
8 Days After Surgery:
Things continue to go well with healing. I am moving with more ease and getting used to the binder. The actual binder itself is an elastic abdominal binder like a lot of guys use pre-surgery. The part that is so hot is the thick padding I have to wear across my chest and more gauze over my nipple dressings. I spend some time each day with the binder off, probably about 45 minutes. It feels good to let things air out some and to be able to breathe more easily. I know having the binder on does make a big difference though, because even after just that short amount of time I notice a little more swelling than before.
My nipple dressings are really driving me nuts. They are bulky and I worry whenever the binder is off that they are going to get caught on something and pull on the grafts. I can't take a shower because I can't get them wet, so I have been taking baths or just washing up at the sink. I have eight more days until they are removed and I can't wait. I am not in a lot of pain. Of course there is some soreness, mostly on my left side where it is more bruised, but also in the area at the top of my chest and out towards my armpits. I think this is where Dr. McLean did the most liposuction. I have normal sensation in my chest down to about where my nipples are, and then starting again below my incision lines. There is some feeling in the space between, but it's a deeper sensation, not really on the surface of my chest. It's like touching a limb that is really asleep before it turns to that pins and needles feeling. Some areas of my chest are really soft, some are harder and more lumpy. I assume this is from the brusing and healing tissues and it should even out in time. The scabs are coming off my incisions slowly but surely. No rush there. I think my scarring is going to be pretty uneven. It's been nearly impossible for me to be as sedentary as I probably should be, so I wouldn't be surprised if I don't have the least prominent scars ever.
One of the hardest things has been not being able to get comfortable at night. I am pretty able to sleep on my sides (right is more comfortable than left) and even on my stomach now if I lay on top of a fluffy pillow. For the first four or five nights I didn't sleep well at all and ended up napping or feeling really exhausted during the day. I've also been frustrated with not being able to hold or wrap my arms around my partner the way I want to, although even this is getting almost back to normal now, thankfully. We joked for a while that I had "T-Rex Arms" because I felt like they were about 6 inches long and I couldn't move them the right way.
Things continue to go well with healing. I am moving with more ease and getting used to the binder. The actual binder itself is an elastic abdominal binder like a lot of guys use pre-surgery. The part that is so hot is the thick padding I have to wear across my chest and more gauze over my nipple dressings. I spend some time each day with the binder off, probably about 45 minutes. It feels good to let things air out some and to be able to breathe more easily. I know having the binder on does make a big difference though, because even after just that short amount of time I notice a little more swelling than before.
My nipple dressings are really driving me nuts. They are bulky and I worry whenever the binder is off that they are going to get caught on something and pull on the grafts. I can't take a shower because I can't get them wet, so I have been taking baths or just washing up at the sink. I have eight more days until they are removed and I can't wait. I am not in a lot of pain. Of course there is some soreness, mostly on my left side where it is more bruised, but also in the area at the top of my chest and out towards my armpits. I think this is where Dr. McLean did the most liposuction. I have normal sensation in my chest down to about where my nipples are, and then starting again below my incision lines. There is some feeling in the space between, but it's a deeper sensation, not really on the surface of my chest. It's like touching a limb that is really asleep before it turns to that pins and needles feeling. Some areas of my chest are really soft, some are harder and more lumpy. I assume this is from the brusing and healing tissues and it should even out in time. The scabs are coming off my incisions slowly but surely. No rush there. I think my scarring is going to be pretty uneven. It's been nearly impossible for me to be as sedentary as I probably should be, so I wouldn't be surprised if I don't have the least prominent scars ever.
One of the hardest things has been not being able to get comfortable at night. I am pretty able to sleep on my sides (right is more comfortable than left) and even on my stomach now if I lay on top of a fluffy pillow. For the first four or five nights I didn't sleep well at all and ended up napping or feeling really exhausted during the day. I've also been frustrated with not being able to hold or wrap my arms around my partner the way I want to, although even this is getting almost back to normal now, thankfully. We joked for a while that I had "T-Rex Arms" because I felt like they were about 6 inches long and I couldn't move them the right way.