So my name is John and I'm almost 5 days out from surgery and being a high strung anxiety based life form, I'm currently freaking out a little over how my chest looks.
Specifically, my nipples look right in the mirror, but when I look down they look like they're under my armpits, and the part of the pectoral major that runs from my arm to the pec just... drops off, and there's like a large dent there. The dent runs from almost center to the edge of the incision at the sides, and it's clearly concave from a side view (and it doesn't help I have a pot belly and a swayback so my tum presses out a lot). It's like someone took an icecream scoop out of the muscle. I have an appointment this coming Thursday (9 days out) with my doctor - her name is Keelee MacPhee and she's been super nice and answered a lot of weird questions over text at all hours - to get the drains out (thank god they're the most annoying) and I'm required to wear a compression vest until the end of the month.
Has anyone else experienced this weird like, anti swelling? is this something that corrects? I know McPhee says it should even out over the next few months but I'm running on an anxiety high that Everything Is Terrible so like, photos and advice and real anecdotes would be a great comfort.
I can post a photo if necessary but it's hard to tell from that photo and my scars are still hella groady bc it's only been a few days. You also can't see my nipples bc gauze and stitches.
So yeah, any advice? stories? anyone else have this issue? Thanks~
At 5 days out, as long as you aren't in pain I wouldn't start worrying about anything yet. Wait until you see the doctor to get your drains removed and discuss any concerns you have then. She'd also be able to tell you what options you would have if you feel like there is something that needs to be fixed.
^ what he said. Things can look a bit funky for a while. I also have a somewhat small, dent-looking thing happening between where my armpit and nipple (I had peri) are, especially when I flex my pec. Honestly, I felt kinda anxious about it too. I brought it up to the doctor who saw me before my surgeon did and she said it was mostly just how the muscle is and where the swelling is. I do think she's right about it.
Top surgery is a big deal and we want things to turn out well, after all. So it's normal to feel at least some level of anxiety. Your chest now and even 1 year from now will look very different as it heals. Bring it up with your surgeon, but until then there's not much to do but do your best to focus on resting, healing and enjoying another episode of the Big Bang Theory (or whatever you like).
And yes, those drains... ayyyyyy! It's such a big relief when they are gone!
I had the same fear as you after my surgery and when the swelling went down it really looked like too much was taken out on my right side. After I was cleared to go back to normal activities I took up doing some chest exercises. I wasn't consistent with my work outs though, but I did see my chest start to pop out a little bit. So being on a good work out plan will help build the muscle up so it doesn't look like that. It takes a lot of time and patience.
Thank you all so much for replying, just knowing that I'm not being overly dramatic and that this isn't just a me-thing was incredibly helpful.
As an update, over the course of the past few days, I've realized that the reason it looks indented is because the incision, which is still raised, is several inches lower than my basically non-existant pec muscle (I didn't do a lot of working out beforehand), so that in combination with a very prominent stomach makes it look very deep. So hopefully that's it, but to know that workouts might help raise it is also really good.
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Glad to see the guys have started answering your question. With my knowledge being more in the other end of the spectrum.
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With warmth,
Joanna
bench press, pull ups, push ups just a couple you can do when you're cleared to do activities. I avoided as much activity as possible for about a month and a half. When I started exercising again I took it very slow and lifted very light weights. Don't rush the healing process just take it easy and relax, eat healthy and what not.