Hi everyone, I'm new here and thought I ought to post in order to provide some useful information that I never really read before my top surgery..
I'm now 17 days post-op and doing alright. My procedure was conducted by Dr. Morehouse and his wonderful staff in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I can't say much about the doctor, as he's a little rushed but good at what he does. I chose not to go with nipples due to my body not having a good ability to heal (I have no idea why, it's just always been this way. It's rejected every piercing, modification, treatment, but tattoos). I'm getting them tattooed on soon or just getting a large piece on my chest later.
As of 17 days, the original tape directly over my scars has yet to come off due to my fear of showering throughout this entire process. i've had plenty of sponge baths, and have been grateful for help from my partner. A lot of the complication that arose from my surgery was my initial bad reaction to the effects of anesthesia and major nausea that developed from this and lasted on for quite a while due to the Scope Patch that was put on me to stop the nausea. It actually caused worse nausea once taken off (mainly due to it deriving from the plant called Devil's Breath, which is used controversially in some medicine, but also known as a date-rape plant in some countries, and is very poisonous). I suffered for many late nights, crying from terrible bouts of nausea and losing all sense of reality/perception/everything. I'm now on a tapering regimen of Ondansetron and Meclazine. This regimen has saved me from nausea, and now the worst is over- I'm very grateful. I also had pain from constipation, but worked through that easily after starting a 5 day regimen of putting a serving of Miralax in each cup of water that I drank- not to exceed 4 servings in a day! (Personal regimen: 5 servings day 1, 3 servings day2, 2 servings day3, 2 servings day 4, 1 on day5, but it's debateable if it was actually needed at this point). Taking a lot isn't detrimental to health, but it will give you diarrhea, which to me was a god-send at the moment, and the few days that it lasted afterward, but this is something of a person-by-person preference. Constipation doesn't bother many, but it was painful for me.
I had a hematoma on my right side and, as a result, my right-side drain needed to stay in for 12 days. This was highly annoying, but didn't hurt me much. The drain on my left-side caused immense pain, and that was mainly due to it not having anything to drain. It was taken out a little late and that ordeal was extremely painful for me. But, the nurses that work with Dr. Morehouse stayed with me for hours helping me when they didn't need to, and that has meant the world to me. His staff is really five stars. At 15 days, I had a needle stuck in me to drain some blood (30cc's!) left over in my right side, and have another appointment for 2 days from now, and will most likely have some taken out then, too. I thought that the draining of the blood through a needle was going to be painful, but with all of the pain that I have been through, it was nothing at all. I've heard of the surgeons who don't use drains after surgery, and if I had had the money at the time, would have went that way for surgery.
What I've been surprised most about is the pain of the nerves in my chest. i looked it up, and since these nerves received trauma and were stretched, I now have to re-train them to know that a touch isn't causing pain. I've been using a good cream called Amazing Cream (I bought it in a local pharmacy, for muscle pains, and all-over aches, but it's offered elsewhere and online I'm sure). My scars don't hurt, largely, and I've been instructed by my surgeon to massage them, even though it will be painful. He said the harder I massage them, the more flat and non-noticeable they will be. So, I've been rubbing them, and it doesn't hurt much, which is awesome, but I still have yet to see any scars, since my original taping has yet to come off or be pulled off by me.
I'm wearing a light chest binder that's quite comfortable; even if it rides up, it doesn't both me too much.
I'm no longer taking pain meds regularly (stopped on day 11; Oxycodone was prescribed to me), yet still need one or two small 5mg's at night right around 6pm, as my body starts hurting at that time and I have to slow down a lot.
I will keep updating, and add pictures once my taping comes off.
Overall, if you're reading this before your surgery, I would suggest you know how your body responds to certain medications such as morphine and the like, as the overwhelming nausea was by far the worst part of the post-op recovery for me.
