#willschestsurgery

[journeyintomanhood]

I just went swimming for the first time since chest surgery and it was absolutely amazing. I feel great and can’t wait to get back into swimming. I felt self conscious at first but as soon as I was in the water it all went away. Growing up I was a huge swimmer, always doing lessons, and my instructors wanted me to compete but as I went through puberty it became too much. I quit swimming and didn't tell anyone why. I only swam occasionally after and inside felt horrible. I’ve missed swimming but it was just too much with so much dysphoria. I really look forward to getting back into it.

[journeyintomanhood]

Surgical Emphysema after FtM Chest Surgery

A few days ago I was scratching my chest and noticed that on my right side (between my collar bone and nipple) if I pressed down there was a little bubble of air or fluid that I could move around and would make a bit of popping noise. After a bit of research I thought it might be a small seroma. Today, I had an appointment with my family doctor and decided to ask him opposed to bothering Dr. Bowman especially since he is in a different city and explaining it without him being able to see it or feel it seemed difficult. 

My family doctor checked it out and explained that it was surgical emphysema AKA subcutaneous emphysema which is when gas or air in the layer under the skin. Its fairly common after subcutaneous surgeries and isn’t anything to worry about. It will apparently go away by itself. I had never heard of this before. I’d heard of people having other build ups like a hematoma or seroma but never this. I was confident it wasn’t a hematoma and it didn’t quite feel like a seroma. I wasn’t really sure what else it could be. I obviously wasn’t super concerned but it’s good to know that this can happen, that it’s not a big deal and that it takes care of itselt. 

[journeyintomanhood]

Problematic Nipples

*I’m talk about wounds and blood which is unpleasant so if you might not want to read on

This afternoon I was changing the dressings on my nipples. The left one was all good but on the gauze was stuck on the right one. As I pulled it away it started to pull the actual nipple part up and then started to bleed. A lot. Not like a bit after a scab comes off but a lot pouring down. I put pressure onto it until the bleeding stopped a couple minutes later, cut as much of the gauze off that I could, and then re-dressed it. 

I decided to go to the doctor. My GP was able to see me which was good since I didn’t have an appointment or anything. After I got there I was feeling a little embarrassed like I’d over-reacted and was wasting his time. He was really good and assured me it was good to come in. He got rid of the last bit of gauze off and made sure everything was okay. He said the graft and the chest overall looked healthy but that it was just a weird thing that can happen. I guess a scab and some fluid dried around the gauze. He gave me some gauze pads that will hopefully be better and also told me to put a warm, damp cloth on the dressings before taking them off. 

It was scary. I’m not squeamish usually but seeing a bunch of blood pouring out of my nipple and the fear that it was going to fall off to my mess up my results was awful. I felt a bit faint and had to sit down on the floor for a few minutes. I’m glad everything is okay and that I went to the doctor to make sure. 

[journeyintomanhood]

What I Needed for Recovering from FtM Chest Surgery

I thought I would compile a list of the things I needed during the initial recovery from my chest surgery. I had a double incision subcutaneous mastectomy with nipple grafts and male chest contouring on December 14th 2015. These are the things I used for the first week or so. 

Medical & Toiletries 

Latex Gloves for emptying the drains 

Gravol for the ride home

Laxatives 

Extra Strength Tylenol 

Arnica Pills 

Gauze to re-dress the nipples 

Medical tape to re-dress the nipples 

Deodorant wipes since getting deodorant on wasn’t possible at first 

Wash cloths 

Benadryl due to being really itchy 

Food & Drink

Ginger Ale

Chicken and Veggie Soup 

Perogies (it was really easy to have them fed to me) 

Fruit smoothie stuff 

Gatorade 

Protein Bars 

Clothing & Bedding 

Baggy button down shirts 

Lots of pillows 

A couple small pillows for under the arms 

Sweat Pants 

Basketball shorts 

Shoes that are easy to slip on 

Dish cloth for a bib 

Post-Op Vest 

Entertainment 

Netflix

Adult coloring book 

Easy games on my phone 

Easy to read novels 

Other 

Bendy straws 

Pill chart 

Alarm for remembering to take my pills

[journeyintomanhood]

I just changed the dressings on my nipple grafts. Some more of the scab on the right has come off and its really pink. I know it might change color and its still really early but it was a bit of a bummer to see how pink it is.

[journeyintomanhood]

Today I'm feeling really tired and sore. I think I slept weird plus my vest was off for a while yesterday because I had to wash it. I probably haven't rested enough what with moving and then the holidays. Spending the day lying in bed and watching Bones.

[journeyintomanhood]

The drains are out and I finally got to see my chest. It was an amazing moment. I didn’t know how I would feel or react. I’ve seen a huge difference in reactions from other people on YouTube. For me it was like a sort of calm came over me. A feeling of being right. I felt content. It was like my mind and body finally weren't disagreeing with each other The nurse said everything is looking really good. She said it was a nice contour multiple times. I’m still a bit swollen but not too bad and only have a tiny bit of bruising. The nipples are scabbed but looking good. I’ll see Dr. Bowman for a follow-up on January 4th.

[journeyintomanhood]

Post Surgery Day 7: December 21st 2015

1 week. Wow. It’s hard to believe that this time last week I was lying in the hospital recovering and trying to get my head around the fact that it had happened. Actually, I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that it happened but every day its feeling a bit more real. I think after I can finally take this compression vest off and look at my chest it will feel more real. 

At 7 days I’m feeling pretty good but by no means 100%. My chest is still a bit sore especially around the sides and the nipple grafts. There is also stinging and stuff in my chest but mostly around the nipple grafts. I took one regular extra-strength Tylenol this morning and that helped clear up a lot of the discomfort. I’m really tired today though. I think that is mostly because I had a really bad sleep last night. I couldn’t fall asleep and kept waking up. Earlier in the week when I was taking T3s the discomfort of having to sleep propped up and on my back was outweighed by being super drugged out. Now, I’m happy to be off the T3s but I was super uncomfortable all night which made sleep hard. I realized too late last night that I could have taken a Melatonin so I’ll do that tonight. 

Tomorrow is my post-op appointment at 9:30 in the morning. Dr. Bowman will be in surgery so my appointment will be with his nurse Bonnie. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll get to see my chest and hopefully get the drains out. I also want to see my chest. I’ve shown more restraint this past week then I thought I had. Not taking off my vest for a peak has been really hard but I’m glad I did it. I don’t want to anything to compromise my healing. 

This is the last daily update I’ll be making and instead be switching to weekly video and photo updates.