Kendra,
So glad you are healing so quickly. I am a curious about the breast message. Have you started that already? I go back Tuesday for post-op visit. No one has mentioned massage yet as something that I need to start. I know we have very different sizes, but I never seem to get doctors  who stress this massaging. I get the feeling they want things to settle on their own to start with at least. I will call today. I was not expecting to be unconscious  for the post-op instructions. I feel like I am missing something, or maybe nothing at all.
Heal up.
Moni

Quote from: HappyMoni on July 13, 2018, 04:27:49 AM
Kendra,
So glad you are healing so quickly. I am a curious about the breast message. Have you started that already? I go back Tuesday for post-op visit. No one has mentioned massage yet as something that I need to start. I know we have very different sizes, but I never seem to get doctors  who stress this massaging. I get the feeling they want things to settle on their own to start with at least. I will call today. I was not expecting to be unconscious  for the post-op instructions. I feel like I am missing something, or maybe nothing at all.
Heal up.
Moni

In most cases the breasts will drop on its own after BA. Most of the doctors advice to massage them though. I don't think it is mandatory. The main thing is how the pocket is created and which size and shape of the implant is used. The massage maybe helps. Anyway follow the instructions of your doctor.

Thank you @Reborn! I think I will just feel better knowing that I am doing what the doctor is directing and that nothing was lost in the shuffle. My doctor did call after the surgery but I had phone off to rest, so I missed him.

I started breast massage the first day post-op.  I've always thought of massage as a circular or kneading motion but that's not how this is done - the goal is to firmly push them together and downward, not too gentle, and hold them there for 5 minutes.  I was told to expect this type of massage will hurt and it does.  Not terrible but not exactly pleasant.  With arms a bit weaker, applying pressure to the breasts for 5 continuous minutes involves a surprising amount of muscle strain.  So my boyfriend Saha has been very glad to help me out. 

Surgeons have different ways of locating these puppies under muscle, and different implant manufacturers may have surface textures and other factors that affect how this all settles in.  Size might be another factor - with a smaller implant I'm at risk of having a larger gap between breasts and massage may help reduce that during the healing process.  It's possible massage isn't good for one patient and is essential for another. 

Quote from: Kendra on July 13, 2018, 12:36:44 PM
> So my boyfriend Saha has been very glad to help me out. 

Heh, heh!

Quote from: Saha on July 13, 2018, 12:40:09 PM
Heh, heh!

Cheeky!!

Kendra, so happy for you both, and Saha..!!

Luv n hugz
Katie

 

Thanks Katie

Great to hear you are progressing nicely. The massage sounds pretty logical when you put it in the terms you have. I guess its not forever and there will come a time when "massaging" the girls will actually be a fun and totally voluntary pass time  ...Hope the recovery continues to go well. 

Take care

Liz

Kendra, congratulations, I am happy for you. You do look fantastic

I got a card for my wallet with the mentor information on it. I did not need to do any massage.

Good luck on the healing.

This goes under the heading of "If only:"

If only, we lived closer together and I needed to massage too and you didn't have a boyfriend massaging yours, we could  get together and help each other out, Kendra! lol
Thank you for your post on massage. I hear someone doing something and I think I should be doing it too. Maybe, instead of massaging mine, I will message mine and tell them to loosen up and not be so sore.
Moni
Have you treated yours  to a night on the town yet?

Today is 6 days post-op from the latest round.  Was that a pun.  No Moni I haven't treated my new breasts to a night on the town but walked around a street fair in Seattle yesterday and dinner with Beth & Saha.  Compression band stays on 6 weeks, for now that takes the fun out of any cleavage I might end up with.

The labiaplasty goes ouch and I've figured out the ice pack is cold.  I have a fairly large but light area of discoloration on each side of my waist and bottom/center area of ribcage - I think this is just stuff draining down, no big deal.  I had similar discoloration in my neck a week after FFS, looked like I had been doing really weird things with makeup. 

Time to remove the one set of stitches that aren't self-dissolving.  Mine were installed using a small incision under each areola - not posting that but I can PM photos to anyone considering this type of surgery.  I can also PM photos of exactly how I removed the thread/line holding the sutures together.  Fingers might have worked but I found pliers were easier to grip.  The sutures are actually still in place and will now self-dissolve - this non-dissolving line is what held them together the first week. 


Monofilament line attached to pliers, removed today from under each areola (click photo to enlarge)

Is it as barbaric as it looks? Glad there is no lug nut wrench, ouch.
Moni

Quote from: Kendra on July 15, 2018, 04:43:56 PM

Monofilament line attached to pliers, removed today from under each areola (click photo to enlarge)

Yikes!  OK, I guess I'm just fine with an A-cup, thank you! 

Glad your recovery is going well, Kendra!

I would have been terrified my whole boob would unravel   

Quote from: Kendra on July 15, 2018, 04:43:56 PM
Today is 6 days post-op from the latest round.  Was that a pun.  No Moni I haven't treated my new breasts to a night on the town but walked around a street fair in Seattle yesterday and dinner with Beth & Saha.  Compression band stays on 6 weeks, for now that takes the fun out of any cleavage I might end up with.

The labiaplasty goes ouch and I've figured out the ice pack is cold.  I have a fairly large but light area of discoloration on each side of my waist and bottom/center area of ribcage - I think this is just stuff draining down, no big deal.  I had similar discoloration in my neck a week after FFS, looked like I had been doing really weird things with makeup. 

Time to remove the one set of stitches that aren't self-dissolving.  Mine were installed using a small incision under each areola - not posting that but I can PM photos to anyone considering this type of surgery.  I can also PM photos of exactly how I removed the thread/line holding the sutures together.  Fingers might have worked but I found pliers were easier to grip.  The sutures are actually still in place and will now self-dissolve - this non-dissolving line is what held them together the first week. 


Monofilament line attached to pliers, removed today from under each areola (click photo to enlarge)

Channel locks are a little extreme.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Always use the correct tool for the job!  Is that a medical grade tool?  The channel locks in my tool box are not that clean. 

Instructions from Dr. Ley's office assume you'll use fingers to pull this suture out.  After the line slipped a couple times I probably should have grabbed tweezers, but pliers worked fine.

I've used an oil filter wrench to open some jars in the kitchen...

"I've used an oil filter wrench to open some jars in the kitchen..."

Me too!

Quote from: Kendra on July 15, 2018, 10:03:58 PM
Instructions from Dr. Ley's office assume you'll use fingers to pull this suture out.  After the line slipped a couple times I probably should have grabbed tweezers, but pliers worked fine.

I've used an oil filter wrench to open some jars in the kitchen...

I showed my wife the "surgical instrument" you were intending on tugging on your stiches with and she, as a scout nurse working in a sterile theatre, was suitably horrified and said...I hope she dips that in some alcohol...so cheers 

It seems over the last 6 months my strength has diminished substantially and recently for the first time I had to "employ Mechanical intervention" to open the lid to an old jar of jam.

Liz

One uses the best tool that is close to hand and will do the job.  In this case sterile is not that important.  Just don't use those hammer pliers to knock the suture loose if it sticks.

You are looking great.  So glad your healing is going so well.  I still find it amazing how quickly you are healing from each surgery.

Have you started singing again?