It's been 11 days since my top surgery and I finally have no drains or tubes hanging out! The drain on my right side was removed yesterday as the PA made me "cross my heart and swear that there had been less than 30 CCs of fluid daily for the last 3 days. The last time they talked to me about it the requirement was <25 cc per day for 2 days, anyway, I didn't know how to do the cross my heart thing and he removed the drain. Sweet! Showering is much easier and the only concern I have is keeping water from the shower head from spraying directly onto my nipples. Apparently new blood vessels grow into the grafts in 3-4 days, but the cells that attach them to the existing skin takes a few weeks to get strong. Shearing force (side to side movement) can rip a nipple graft right off so I am very careful when changing shirts.
I am super happy with the incisions on my chest and unhappy with what is going on in my arm pits. Most of that skin is either numb, or screaming about being touched. "Dog ears" is what the surgical result is called, but I had no idea how uncomfortable it would be to feel the bundle of misshapen flesh, with damaged nerves under my arms. There is no escape from it. I am told there are often revisions required, which makes me think about more drain tubes and cutting! Ugh. It would be nice to just be in the healing part of this adventure.
My wife is concerned about intimacy and heart rates. The surgeon told her that my heart rate is not supposed to go over 100 beats per minute (BPM). I am not sure why, but it could be to keep down swelling. Yes, swelling is uncomfortable, but I have no idea when this limitation is supposed to be lifted!
< 5/14 Note, I asked my doctor about the heart rate thing and it is about blood clots. Increased blood pressure could send a clot from the surgery to your heart or somewhere else terrible>
Oh, an interesting thing to mention about me. Before the top surgery I was unable to see myself as I was in a mirror. A lot of people have this issue to varying degrees. Many people see themselves as fatter, or their nose looks too big. In my case, what I saw in the mirror was always good. Now when I look in the mirror it's like some spell has been broken. I can see my wrinkles, my fat stomach, and my stretch marks. I think I see everything now. I attribute this to coping with gender dysphoria. It must have been how I was able to cope, to not see the things that were distressing. So now I know just how fat I am. This is good, and it sucks at the same time.
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