6 weeks, finally full gym and activity clearance aside from overhead lifts!
I’m very happy with my result. a couple of niggles where some bits of tissue are bothering me which I covered last week, no change there atm which is to be expected. The contours are starting to settle in now as the swelling continues to go down. I am now 100% scab and stitch free, huge relief. I’m feeling almost healed now. There is just one little pocket of swelling that needs to hurry up and absorb and then I’ll be feeling much more on form.
Mobility/range of motion is fully returned in my right arm and shoulder, still a little stiff in my left shoulder but mobility exercises seem to be helping to loosen things up.
Scars:
Scars are looking extremely good for 6 weeks post op. They are mostly soft and flat apart from at the middle of my chest and the very ends just by my armpits where they are a little firmer and raised, the ends of my scars also still get a little sore. They are a pinkish colour with some areas that look a little purple which is normal for me. I’ve been wearing my scar tape in bed at night and when I’m out jogging/at the gym. I’m not 24/7 with it because my skin gets a little upset, like really white when a plaster has been on if I wear them for too long. They seem to be doing the trick though, my scars seem to be lightening way fast than after my last op when I did no scar aftercare at all. I’m optimistic that they will fade well. My nipples looks excellent, all the scabs fell off to reveal very healthy well pigmented skin. There’s a little bit of pigment loss in patches but it doesn’t look too weird.
Now that I’m fully cleared for the gym & swimming i’ll be getting back into it from tomorrow and will keep you posted on how it goes.
Overall I feel good, I’m still getting used to how things look and feel but at the same time it’s almost as though I’ve never looked any different.
My new race hat is here! A student in Miss @larnww Williams’ classroom drew this and I knew I had to have it. On a hat. #runfaster #originalart #misswilliams #bbbutt #triathlon #racehat
#ok #misswilliams #georgia #shebeenpoppin Repost @audriwill_ by @media.repost: We are in for a wild ride this school year, but let’s make the best of it! What better way to release all of the anxiety, doubts & fears of the school year than to dance & turn up 🔥 What’s poppin’?! 😏 20-21 School Year, Let’s get it! . . @overstreetmediaservices Makeup: @allurebyalex . Go check out @_coolcal vid! 😎 . #YourFavoriteTeacher #RapperTeacher #iteach #teachersofinstagram #NadaWay #ThatGreenThatGold #teachersfollowteachers #ellen #theshaderoom #whatspoppin #JackHarlow #WhatsPoppinChallenge https://www.instagram.com/p/CEDSqKnBg4C/?igshid=qomf7yook95u
So, after the big bloodbath I went to A&E (The ER for my american friends) and they put a huge pressure dressing over my whole chest which basically functioned as a binder to keep everything protected until today.
I then hobbled up to Manchester to get everything looked at. When I was around 5 minutes away from the hospital my Surgeon called me to make sure I was almost there and that I was okay. As soon as I arrived she bustled in and looked very maternal! She made me feel very safe and looked after. whipped off the dressings and had a good look.
She said that after seeing the photos of how much blood there was she was worried, but that actually things looked really great in person! (huge sigh of relief). She concluded that I have a hematoma, possibly as a result of the amount of scar tissue they had to scrape out, that suddenly decided to start draining manky old blood everywhere. The drainage has now almost totally stopped. My nipples are healthy and pink with excellent blood supply apart from one small patch on the left one where its blood supply was restricted a little due to the hematoma but she’s confident that it will recover just fine.
(more info & pics below the cut)
It honestly looks better that I ever imagined and my nipples are so small!!! Which is such a joy after having 1.5 inch wide nips for the past 4 years. I have a feeling that I’m going to have pretty thin scars, I am very lucky in that I heal well, my previous scars were barely visible after 6 months. I have a very small flap of excess skin on the left side around half an inch long right near my armpit that might need a small revision but in the grand scheme of things that’s nothing to worry about.
I’ve been given a course of anti-biotics and some absorbant dressings to catch any remaining drainage. Overall. I’m pretty chuffed!
Pics below:
(Pics taken immediately after dressing removal, before the wounds were cleaned. you can see the dark spot on my nipple closest to the tattoo, the hematoma bruising and the little overflap of skin right by my armpit. Overall I’m very pleased)
(Aquacel foam dressing to absorb goop, two small gauze dressings to continue protecting grafts and one other small gauze where the cleaning causes a little bleeder to show up on my incision but I’ve take that one off now.
