#surgery update

[constantfragmentation]

Good News!

Biopsy came back benign on my ovarian tumors!!! Yea! No cancer. Im sooo relieved.

[celineile]

Post wrist surgery scribbles (2x Oscar + 2x landoscar) look at your own peril

I can still kinda draw!

Day 3: big ouch and probably shouldn't have done it but

Day 5: lots of small sad Oscars, here's one I made earlier

Day 8: I definitely overdid it and will probably not be able to sleep with how my entire arm is throbbing now lmao but it's the closest I've come to a notion of a drawing!

Day...10? I found out I tore my stitches (duvet inchident on day 2) FREE PRACTICE NAPS

(you can gauge my level of suffering by the clear struggle happening in the layers in each)

Day whatever: I'm not going to say what happened today!!! Rough sketch inspired by the fic Salt Skin

I'm just going to keep dumping sketches in here until someone notices lol

Gym shenanigans

[traveledlight]

Was able to go for a small walk today. Pain still sucks but pushing through.

[vaksthemutt]

I don't know if this is interesting to anyone, but I figured I'd share since this was a whole experience that might help others. Vaks has been gradually losing his sight to cataracts for the past year or so. The past 5-6 months he's been almost entirely blind and not very happy about that. He'd be fine when I was home, but it was clear that he slowed down a lot, was less sure of himself and he obviously needed help with finding everything including his water. The minute I left he was no longer feeling safe. That's not how I want my dog to feel. Vaks is almost 18 years old and I did a lot of debating with myself if this should be his last summer. I just couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was too soon, because apart from losing his eyesight, he's doing really well, very active, no arthritis, no movement impairment or anything like that. He's a very active dog despite his age. It just was too soon. After a lot of debating, we ended up deciding that we would look into cataracts surgery. Fair warning, it's very expensive and did eat up a lot of our savings, but if he was a good candidate, we were gonna go through with it. Initial consult looked at the condition of his eyes and the vet was a bit worried, that there was a fair chance that he couldn't see "under" his cataracts, so we had to do a thorough examination with mild sedation, we had to look at pressure in his eyes, all of that. Thankfully, Vaks had good function in his eyes, despite having severe cataracts and being so old. Surgery itself was the next day and went really well. There wasn't any major concern, though he did gain a small scratch on his cornea, that we caught the next day for first control. Now... This is where I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't otherwise in great health, because he does not like eyedrops and we had to give those 13 times a day for a few weeks. We're down to 4 times a day now for about another month, but that's a lot more manageable. There's also always the risk of complications, which we did have a few of as well. It wasn't actually majorly related to his eyes, but his one vein where they had put in a catheter got infected. He was in so much pain. In that moment, I really was wondering if I had made the right choice. We obviously rushed to the ER vet, and he was given all the right meds, so he could once again be pain free and we could deal with the infection. A few days later, he had black poops, which was determined to be from his small intestine being a bit inflamed from all the meds. Thankfully not anything serious, but it was once again a trip to the ER vet for some fluids and bloodwork to make sure it wasn't serious. Within a few days his leg looked great again, his stomach was fine, no major issues followed after this. Because he had the cornea scratch, he couldn't have antiinflammatory eye drops in that eye until the 2 week control, so his iris did get a mild infection in that time. That was quickly adressed with some oral medication. We are now 3 weeks post op and I can confidently say, despite all of this, that I don't regret this decision at all. Vaks can see, even at night (though not as well as he would if he wasn't almost 18 lol) and he is SO much happier in every way. He gets excited for walks, he sleeps less, he walks around more, he explores, he's happy to greet people, he almost played with Sprinkle, he runs when we go for walks again, he goes up and down the stairs no problem, he's just overall so much more energetic and happy. I was really worried when I made this choice, that he would still be slow and old and not back to his normal self, but I am so happy to report that this isn't the case. I don't know how long I have with him, but I know that however long I have left with him (with his current health, I'd guess a few years still) will be with him being really happy and enjoying life to the fullest again and that makes these past few weeks more than worth it.

[girlactionfigure]

[m0nost4tic]

officially get to start eating soft foods tomorrow. who cheered

still very sore but im not actively swelling or oozing anymore so ‼️‼️ im making it

[totallyshattered]

Surgery update:

I've been home a while, and I'm feeling okay.

I am slightly in trouble with wifey, though.

Apparently, the doctors gave some specific "Do not" instructions, which I do not remember at all because anesthesia.

So, of course, I've already violated like 4 of them.

And she real mad.

She's gone full protective lioness on me to the point where she, my she, introverted, autistic wife, just left the house in a fury to go chew out the pharmacy because they still haven't filled my pain medication prescription. I pity those people.

I feel so loved ❤️🧡💛

[beautifulqueerexistence]

One Week Post-Op (DI Top Surgery update, TW MENTION: Surgical procedure, surgical complications, medical transition, top surgery drains, Hematoma)

Wow, holy crap, my surgery was a week ago already!

I met with my surgeon yesterday for my first follow up! It was really nice to be able to talk about the small hematoma (a blot clot, more or less!) in my left side, and have her concretely tell me that it’s breaking down the way it’s supposed to, that the neon color drainage IS normal (for a person with a hematoma)… And I got my right side drain out!!! The left will continue to stay in until (at least) my follow up a week from today. The hematoma needs to reliquify slowly and drain, either via my drain or by spreading to the surrounding porous tissue by converting to bruising. That being said, my bruising is gonna WORSEN before it’ll get better, but bruising is a good sign that my hematoma is healing. Swelling is pretty consistent on the left, and she said that everything looks amazing, all things considered!

I realized yesterday that I will never again have to deal with underboob sweat, that weird “tuck your shirt under them so your skin doesn’t stick and get all sweaty gross,” or having to “rest them” while leaning on a table. That was a trippy realization, that at some point I did that for the last time, and now I’m just free of it. I was able to soooorta tilt to my right while sleeping last night, and as a side sleeper, I’m ecstatic about that. I looked at my pre-op photos for the first time since surgery this morning and I’m gonna be honest… I’m already forgetting what they felt like. It feels so dissociated bc my brain just so easily clicked into “Yep, this is what my chest is supposed to look like.” Even with the incisions and bruising it still feels like MY (flat) chest just had some surgery. And that’s a super fucking cool feeling, having my chest feel like MINE, finally feel familiar.

My mom thanked my surgeon yesterday for “that (my) smile” and said “it was an overnight difference with him. I can just see him glowing with relief.” I think that’s a pretty accurate anecdote to leave this update off on. More to come as things progress.

Side note- If anyone has any questions about top surgery, drains, hematomas, or anything adjacent, I’m happy to talk! My DMs are always open. I’m by no means an expert or qualified doctor, but I’m always happy to share my experience in the hope that it helps someone else.