Quote from: Underground Panther on January 19, 2007, 12:06:02 PM
By Dr. Beverly Fischer.
Any other guys here have large breasts removed?
Mine weren't that big, a b or c, but I think the recovery's pretty well the same for double incision regardless of original size.
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Can any guy here who has had it,tell me what his chest reconstruction surgery was like for him?
How much pain/swelling did you have to manage?
How long were the drains in?
How long did you have to have another person help you out?
Any complications? (I know Dr. Fischer will tell me all of this but I am asking for others experinces anyway.)
The surgery was a snap. I was up and walking around 45 minutes after waking up from the general. There was minimal pain, just some discomfort. I did use the pain meds as directed though, but they never made me feel fuzzy, so I don't think they were that strong. I kept the binder on afterwards as directed and there was no swelling. I think it was for 3 weeks or so that I wore it. No complications at all.
Drains were in 5 days.
I didn't really need the help of the person I brought. I was capable of getting up, walking, dressing myself, emptying my drains, and pretty well anything that didn't involve raising my hands. It was very helpful to have her there to wash my hair though. And, had I not had post-surgical constipation for a few days, I would've needed help in that department. Thank god for side effects of general anaesthetic.
For the first few days, I could only manage a few hours of walking and was easily tired. My endurance built gradually. By the time a month had passed, I was pretty well back to normal, but wasn't working out yet and wasn't up to full energy. But I did go back to work after a month and could've gone back a week or two earlier.
My scars were pretty well faded after a year.
Oh and the cat. The cat was a pain in the butt. She's even worse about insisting on sleeping on me after I've been away for a while. It got pretty automatic for me to push her off my chest without really even waking up.
I would say the most difficult part about the surgery was sleeping on my back for 3-4 weeks. I found it really difficult to get a good night's sleep (which probably factored into me feeling so tired all the time).
I would suggest taking the following things with you for surgery:
Sweat pants, pajama pants
Button down shirts (you won't be pulling a shirt over your head for a while)
Slip on shoes
Bendy straws
Latex gloves for your caregiver if you need help with your drains
Books that don't require a long attention span or magazines or a gameboy or something
A couple of safety pins to pin your drains to your shirt (don't EVER put them in your pants pocket) in case the doc doesn't do that.
Stool softener/herbal laxative
Snacks for those days you don't feel like going out for food
Good luck with it, it isn't an overly onerous surgery, because they don't cut any muscle. Make sure you follow directions and listen to your body for what it wants.
Oh, and you asked how long till I could go out without a shirt and pass. You're not supposed to get any sun on it for a year afterwards (I think it affects the scars). I had mine done in August 2005 and was shirtless on the beach in Mexico this Christmas with no problems. I changed my shirt on the beach last summer as well and same, no issues.
Dennis
