Top Surgery Recovery Updates (a place for all members to update after surgery)

[NathanExplosion]

Alright, thanks Kreuz. I peeked at it a bit and it almost looks like a hole beneath the whitish, yellowish, pinkish mess under there, but it looks like the scab is still attached to some living tissue. I am definitely going to just leave it alone for now and try the surgeon again in the morning! The surgery center is closed now but we have an email in to them and they sometimes respond after hours.

[Bimmer Guy]

My one nipple looked like just a blob of scab attached to a healthy areola for a period of time, too.

Sounds like you are making good decisions in how you are handling this, Nathan (calling the doc, not messing with it, etc.).

One thing I have learned over the last 4 months is that we can all have freaky things happening with our nipples, but they all seem to turn out ok.

[Kreuzfidel]

Nathan, I don't want to gross you (or anyone out), but here's a photo of my nipple at 4 1/2 weeks with the gooey stuff in the center:

[FlightyBrood]

Nathan, I don't want to gross you (or anyone out), but here's a photo of my nipple at 4 1/2 weeks with the gooey stuff in the center:

upon seeing this, nate exclaimed "THAT is more what it looked like"

so he says he feels a LOT better about it, then.

Kreuz, youre seriously like our super hero.

[Kreuzfidel]

Dawwww my pleasure! 

[FlightyBrood]

So we went to bandaid up my nipples and wouldn't you know...the same thing happened to me! So it seems it is just a scab after all!

All that worrying for nothing...hah...

[NathanExplosion]

So I guess I should ask this too - what should I DO about that scab? It's REALLY stuck to the gauze I have on. Like, really stuck. And it's definitely not ready to come off yet, but I need to shower today and I should change the dressing... but the scab is definitely attached to things I shouldn't be pulling off. GRRR.

[Sebryn]

Maybe ask the surgeon if applying a thin <--- and I mean thin! (Too much can cause problems for some people.) layer of triple antibiotic ointment over the scab to keep it from sticking and drying to the bandage would help. My own surgeon prescribed a cream/ointment used for burn treatment to protect the wounds from infection that I've been using from day 1, he told me I could stop using it if the scabs weren't sticking to the bandage...but I tried it yesterday and they still are so the cream went back on last night after my shower.

Oh and be careful showing with certain bandages/tape. I tried with all three different kinds of tape and it made the tape worse to pull off, made it stick worse. So use the shower removal option with caution.

[FlightyBrood]

you all know us, you all love us, some of you cant get enough of us! its time for one half of the comedy duo as funny as they are real (read:not at all) to post his two week update!

Top Surgery Update-2 Weeks Double Incision with Dr.Horowitz in California

So we just got the OK to start cleaning our incisions which means YOU ALL GET TO SEE THEM! Im gonna confess, the lighting in these pictures make everything look GARISH, but everything is spot on beautiful in person. Without further ado, pictures!



look at those beauties! thinner than a macbook air (and twice as durable) and they are barely even noticable. I honestly havent seen them myself, while i was cleaning it it just looked like normal skin! Here I have a bandage over my problem child nipple, the twin brother to my partner in crime's problem child. I was worried to take it off, as the scab stuck to the bandage last night and i have to physically hold it on while i removed the gauze. BUT lets see...



Tah dah! Everything came off completely fine! There they are gents, looking pink and healthy! All those reading this thread, its TOTALLY NORMAL for your nipples to be a bit gooey and black! I didn't know that, I wish I had read this post three days ago...

I still have some strings poking out, spitting sutures i believe theyre called, but ive been giving them a clip as soon as i see them-my advice is use nail clippers instead of scissors. It keeps the suture from bending rather than cutting and thats terrifying.

If you look at my first pictures, youll notice my nipple appears to be escaping my chest-that was due to swelling. Im happy to say the swelling has gone down TREMENDOUSLY and the little guy is right back where hes supposed to be. You'll also notice some yellowish stuff in the middle of my chest. Thats just some medical adhesive that has decided to attempt to become a permanent part of my body. If you're having trouble with that stuff too, try some anti-bacterial soap to dry the stuff out. Then you can peel it away at the edges. Lather, rinse, repeat!

ive got some swelling in the sides there, those are NOT dog ears. I did not have drains and I have no complications resulting in not having them.

Cheers, gents!

--FB

[NathanExplosion]

Two week update (sixteen days actually)

Alrighty! So showering didn't help my stuck scab. It's DEFINITELY not ready to actually come off, so what I did was just trim down the gauze as much as possible and got it down to two layers. Nothing major - it looks fine under there, it's just all stuck together. Gross!

I took pictures of my chest one side at a time because I wanted to take a break in between peeling all that tape and such off. So here's the "good side"...



Looking good! The only reason my incisions look dark is because I still have some marker on me where the doctor marked where my incisions would be. This nipple is nice and pink and has a thin, brown scab, which is what the surgeon said it should look like.

Aaand... the bad side.



Now, this picture looks WAY WORSE than it actually is! I SWEAR the incision on this side looks exactly like the other side in person. For some reason I COULD NOT get a picture where the incision didn't look awful and garish and red. I'll try again next time I clean. But it's also super thin and healing up great. That little patch of gauze is what is stuck on, and I just slapped a bandaid over it.

The sides are still swollen because I had a TON of lipo there - the surgeon said he drained a liter just from my sides! So those should flatten out on their own, and then more once I start working out and losing weight.

[Kreuzfidel]

Guys, your chests are looking AMAZING!!!  I always expect incisions in photos to look 2x as red as they do IRL, so no worries.  Both your incisions are nice and even and look like they're healing well.  It only gets better from here!

Nathan, ask your surgeon about the sticking to the gauze thing.  I'm not using gauze to cover my sticky nipple - I'm using a silver-infused wound pad.  Maybe switching to something like that will cut down on the sticking.  Again, your surgeon will let you know what he thinks would be best.

Again, congrats guys!  You must be on Cloud 9!

[Bimmer Guy]

You guys look great!  As Kreuzfidel said, it just gets better.  Glad to hear you both are clear that there is still a lot of swelling and that there is nothing to worry about if your chest isn't just the way you want it to look.

Things look really good guys for only 2 weeks.

Congrats!

P.S.  I had planned to do a 5 month update picture, but it really does look the same as the 4 month one!  The only difference, like I said, was perhaps a bit more widening in the incision.  Where I see the widening is in the center where the incision lines were pencil thin. 

The scars continue to lighten, though, although slowly.  I am less upset about how wide the scars are than when I wrote that last post about it.  I take heart in the fact that my old scars are extremely light and also the fact that Garramone has good placement of the scars.  They will tuck in a bit under the muscle, expecially when they get totally flat.  Again, looking at old scars, I can see they get flat with silicone treatment.

I also have to keep in mind that it will not be very often (or at all), that people will ever see my chest.  Maybe a few years down the road on the beach (I will worry about sun exposure for a couple of years), but that really isn't a big deal.  I can't take too much heart in that though, because I worry about the scars for me, and what I see in the mirror.

EDIT:  Just noticed I won't be at 5 months until next week.  I doubt there will be any change though.  I will do a 6th month picture.

[NathanExplosion]

Brett, I'm glad to hear you aren't feeling so down about your scars. I think you're your own worst critic with them, and while it of course matters in this case, I think you should keep in mind that they will always look worse to you than they really are. I think you're right that they will disappear a bit under the pectoral muscle soon!

A tiny update for me - the nipple that is stuck to the gauze is definitely a scab, and it's looking more ready to come off now. There is a nice pink nub under there! It's not QUITE ready to come off yet so I'm still leaving it alone and just changing the bandaid over the small piece of gauze. I feel loads better!

[NathanExplosion]

The infamous stuck scab came off, hooray! There's a pink nub under there! It's still a little gooey, but looking LOADS better. Phew.

[Bimmer Guy]

The infamous stuck scab came off, hooray! There's a pink nub under there! It's still a little gooey, but looking LOADS better. Phew.

Glad to hear it!  RELIEF, eh?

[Jeatyn]

Looking great you two! The no drain technique seems to work well, I wonder why it's so common to have drains when it doesn't appear necessary. I probably would have been fine with no drains, less than 10ml even from the first time they were emptied. To quote Brett....ah well, maybe next time

I'm very much enjoying working out and being active I was a little worried that I was just using the "I'll try harder after surgery...." line as a scapegoat but it really is sooooooo much better now. I can breath and jump and even do press ups for the first time in my life it's waaay easier without the evil twins getting in the way.

I'm finding myself walking to places I would usually get the bus to, hell the other day me and my partner bought some chairs and then carried them the 2 miles home no trouble at all. It's nice that I can keep up with him now, he's very excited at the prospect of going hiking together at last.

I never used to understand anyone who said they enjoyed working out and all that talk of endorphins and whatnot, all I ever used to feel when I exercised was pain and dysphoria, I only did it because I had to xD I get it now! I feel amazing! Nobody can argue that this surgery is purely cosmetic, my quality of life improvement is off the charts

[NathanExplosion]

Looking great you two! The no drain technique seems to work well, I wonder why it's so common to have drains when it doesn't appear necessary. I probably would have been fine with no drains, less than 10ml even from the first time they were emptied. To quote Brett....ah well, maybe next time

I'm very much enjoying working out and being active I was a little worried that I was just using the "I'll try harder after surgery...." line as a scapegoat but it really is sooooooo much better now. I can breath and jump and even do press ups for the first time in my life it's waaay easier without the evil twins getting in the way.

I'm finding myself walking to places I would usually get the bus to, hell the other day me and my partner bought some chairs and then carried them the 2 miles home no trouble at all. It's nice that I can keep up with him now, he's very excited at the prospect of going hiking together at last.

I never used to understand anyone who said they enjoyed working out and all that talk of endorphins and whatnot, all I ever used to feel when I exercised was pain and dysphoria, I only did it because I had to xD I get it now! I feel amazing! Nobody can argue that this surgery is purely cosmetic, my quality of life improvement is off the charts

Absolutely seconding the "quality of life" statement. I can't WAIT to get back to working out and I HATED working out before. Everything is so much easier now!!!

[aleon515]

Wow fresh pepperonis!! Sorry you need the drains in. I had a friend who couldn't get his drains out til a week later. That's a major pain, but looks like it will look good when all is done.

--Jay

[Kreuzfidel]

Your chest is looking great, chipper!

Sorry to hear about having to keep the drains in longer.  You'll be alright, though.  Time will soon start to fly.

[Bimmer Guy]

Your chest looks, GREAT, chipper!  I'm glad you decided to come in and post with a picture.  I know what you mean about wondering what the areolas/nipples would look like under the bandages.

Speaking of which, I was looking at my areolas/nipples today.  I find that now that I am over the wonder of having a male chest, I have gotten more critical of how my chest looks.  I mentioned my disappointment with having scars wider than expected.  I feel like I have been able to "let go" of this, but it was interesting the way I had this intense sadness for a couple of days about it.  Very unexpected.

Anyway, today I noticed that my left nipple is too large for my areola.  A couple months back I spoke about how my areolas look stitched on... little red pieces of areola pulled away from the base and stitched against my pale skin, all the way around.  Well, as those "pulled" pieces get absorbed (as expected), the actual size of the areola is more apparent.  It is smaller than it first appeared.  Subsequently, the nipples look larger.  The left one looks too large for the size of the areola, in my opinion.  The nipple also looks like it has "plumped up" recently or something.

I am not unhappy with size of the areolas, I love their size.  I just wish the size of the nipple was a bit smaller.

I wonder if you can get a revision on a nipple?  Could Garramone just do a simple cutting down of it?

Jay, what is up with your areolas/nipples?  Are yours stitched on like mine?  It is very hard to explain, so I am not sure I am making in clear.  In looking at the close ups of other guys on here, it seems as though their areolas have smooth edges right out of the gare. Mine, on the other hand, are growing into being smooth.  How are yours?

Congrats again, chipper!