TW: blood, surgery talk (this is a surgery blog and should go without saying really lol)
I had my top surgery revision on the 4th of June 2019 with Andrew Ives.
I was told to arrive at the hospital 9 am, but due to distance traveled and traffic, I arrived about 10 minutes late. I phoned reception and they were fine with it, and were helpful in walking me to the area I needed to go, and showing my dad (who came with me) where to go when he walked in after finding a car park. The receptionists there are really welcoming and will make you feel comfortable. By the way, I just had to pay them a 100 dollar fee for my revision.
My actual revision was supposed to start at 11:45 am, but they invited me into the room at around 9:30 am. Andy and a nurse called Iffy was there, and they asked me a couple of basic questions, then told me to take off my shirt, Andy drew on my chest, and then told me to lay down on the operating table. I hadn't been worried at all until that point, and that's when my hands became really clammy and I started to shake. In the photo where Andy drew on my chest, you'll see that's the area where there's some extra fat that he took out. That's the only thing he worked on in my revision.
He shaved some of my chest hair, then began giving me local anesthetic injections. He told me that it'd be the most painful part of the surgery, and he was right. I got multiple shots over the course of a few minutes. He did 2 rounds (waiting between for my chest to start getting numb), and in the 2nd round, he told me they wouldn't be as painful, and he was right. Don't worry though if you're also having a revision. You have had injections before, and this is no different really. Then Andy wiped my chest to get it clean, and draped this big blue sheet thing over my chest, that had a hole in it, and the surgery began.
Iffy was amazing the entire time, and super comforting. She held my hand during the whole surgery and kept talking to me and asking me questions to help keep me distracted, which I really appreciated. I kept my eyes shut, looked at her, or looked at the ceiling and occasionally to Andy's eyes, but never far enough that I'd see what he was doing. It was weird for me to shake so much since usually I don't care when I have surgery, but I guess being totally awake did it for me. I felt no pain, except maybe 2-3 times I felt a bit of a pinch that only lasted a split second. Otherwise, nothing at all. I did feel some movement and some tugging. I hated it. The sensation just felt really wrong to me, which I can boil down to my SPD but I guess no one would enjoy that feeling.
When he made his first cut, I felt something run down my side and onto my back... it felt like water but I'm going to guess it was blood, because at the end of the surgery Andy got some wipes and told me he was just cleaning the blood, and had me roll over and he patted my back. I'm just putting this out there in case anyone is bothered by that sensation or concept and would like to mentally prepare themselves.
About half way through the surgery, Andy and Iffy told me not to worry about sounds I would hear from a machine and also said they were nearly finished. I was so relieved haha, and felt like it hadn't been much time at all They had rolled over what I assume is a cautery machine, and at times I could hear sizzling and see what looked like steam or smoke. Sometime later, I could see Andy's hands come up and knew he was doing the stitches, which freaked me out a little to know, and then it was all over just after 10 am! I was surprised at how fast it all went by. I had been told it would take around 45 minutes so I was really pleased that it took probably only 25 minutes in total for the surgery.
I sat up slowly, had a look at my flesh in a jar (as you do because I asked to see it, lol), thanked Andy and Iffy, received some post op care instructions from them and confirmation of my next appointment, and headed out. Don't sweat it if you're getting a revision. It was easy really. I felt no pain until later on in the day, not until around 3 pm and was instructed to take panadol for it. They said have 2 panadol pills 4x a day for around 3 days, but I only had some until the next morning. They wrote me a script out for some antibiotics too, which I took for a few days.
I'm glad my dad came along as after any surgery, it can feel draining physically and mentally. I hadn't had the best sleep the night before, but I was also really tensed up and felt like I couldn't relax my left shoulder or move my left side/arm at all, and then my body was probably trying to start healing the surgery site. I was pretty tired afterwards and didn't really feel like doing anything that required me to think or move much. I suggest having someone drive you there and back home, and taking in a baggy button up top. Andy will tell you to do the same too.
Over these last 6 days, I've been doing well. My chest was honestly really quite sore that night, and it was difficult for me to find a position to sleep in. I was scared to move my arm but I should have, so I could find a more comfortable spot for it. I caused myself needless pain by keeping it stuck against my site, and thus, stuck against the surgery site!! I felt soreness for 2-3 days or so on an almost constant basis but it was mostly really manageable with panadol the first day, and then just sitting down and taking it easy helped me. I had to be gentle when I walked my dogs the first few days, as it did feel a bit tender to walk. I found that I didn't move my left arm a whole lot either for about 3 days, and then felt plenty of confidence to move it about more. My range of motion is now back to normal, and I have to be mindful not to lift heavy still just in case. I almost forgot to mention that at times, I felt itching on the site. It got really intense around night 4 and was super annoying for about 3 hours.
Now it's nearly a week later, as I write this post. It's 10:40 pm on Monday the 10th, and tomorrow I'll be having my post op checkup. I hadn't seen the surgery site yet, so I pulled off the bandage to have a look, and so I can do it at my own pace now instead of having Andy or Iffy do it tomorrow. I attached photos above so you can now see my fresh scar. I expected to see stitches and am a little confused about where they are. Oh well, guess I'll find out tomorrow.
