Well, had the drains out a couple of days after I met Terri (on day 6 after surgery) and got the stitches out two days later. I was surprised that it didn't hurt much. One of the drains hurt a little; it'd been bugging me for a couple of days by that time. That was the one that was causing me pain and meant I had to go nap after Terri and I met.
For those who don't know, the surgeon does an incision along the bottom of each pec and basically stitches what used to be the top of your breast to the bottom incision. The nipples are then grafted back onto the chest in a more male position (and trimmed down to a male size). One of the risks is losing a nipple, in which case you can have one tattoo'ed on. Mine both look good and seem to be taking fine.
I was up and moving the day of surgery and continued to get out and walk as much as I could each day after that. I didn't get to see the results until yesterday because I was lying down when he removed the stitches and stuff. I am very pleased with the results and really happy not to have breasts any more. I have to wear a binder (sort of an elastic wrap, about 8 inches wide) around my chest for another week and I'll have little bandages on the nipple grafts for another week after that.
Pain-wise, there isn't much. It's mostly discomfort and the worst of it is the lesions where the binder dug into my skin. I can hardly wait to have that off. I have some limitations in arm movement as well, but they're getting less and less each day.
All in all, a successful experience and I'm looking forward to being fully healed up. Plus it was great to meet Terri. I only wish I'd had a little more stamina.
Dennis
