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avian

436d

i'm getting top surgery a month from today :)!! any recovery tips?

Top reply
    • avian

      430d

      @Kaistove94 thank you so much!! and congrats on your surgery too!

    • Kaistove94

      431d

      Have everything ready BEFORE surgery. Make sure you have Tylenol, gauze, medical tape, aquaphor, baby wipes. Get a cup with a reusable straw and keep water accessible always! I picked up a bidet at Walmart for about $30(I know... It seems intimidating but it's a life saver!!!). Pillows pillows pillows! I just had surgery less than 3 weeks ago! If you have any more questions please message me!!!

      • avian

        430d

        @Kaistove94 thank you so much!! and congrats on your surgery too!

      • AnimalBoy

        431d

        @Kaistove94 a bidet makes so much sense in wish i had thought of it!

        • Kaistove94

          431d

          @AnimalBoy full disclosure I have been married for 6 years.. and honestly the worst thought for me wasy wife having to help me after using the bathroom!!! I know that probably sounds silly but I am so glad I sprung for the bidet so I could handle my business on my own!! Also, buy a stool softener like Colace and take it BEFORE you have a problem! Once you can't poo... It's too late lol

    • AnimalBoy

      436d

      Easy food, button up shirts, easy to remove pants/shorts, rearrange your most used space/items so everything can be easily reach at about chest-face level, dry/leave on/wipable hygiene products for the period of time you can't shower, enough pillows to prop yourself/your arms up, benadryl for when the bandages start itching, so much entertainment, and my all time bestfriend was the grabber claw. I was given drainage tubes and a pain ball, which was a local anesthetic in a pressurized ball with two small tubes connected to the center of my chest, because of this a realized much much to late that during my homecoming someone should have put up my jumpy dog until i was safely seated with tubes out of reach. If you get tubes and have a pet that risks pulling them do not be like me, it was very painful and I almost had to go back to the hospital to get it put back. Also if you have drainage tubes prepare yourself for it to be gross and painful and annoying, it does an important job but because of the location they can be easy to bump and mine didn't get the local anesthesia because they were to far from the injection site. They were definitely the worst and most painful part and on top of that having them removed feels very unsettling. There is also sometimes some leakage, this scared me into thinking my nipple was infected and between my panic and an urgent care doctor's neglect it was drained and that ruined the results a bit. Make sure to look for other signs of infection like swelling and redness not just the leakage before panicking. Follow your surgeons advice as closely as possible, a lot of the reasons surgeries end up botched/wrong come from bad post OP care so be careful. And the last warning I can think of right now is a little tmi, wiping after using the bathroom is going to be the one of the hardest tasks you can do. I never really found a solution but I wish I had been warned and had a chance to try and practice first. I had to learn all of these things the hard way during or after my recovery, despite that and it getting way more complicated than it typically is top surgery was genuinely the best decision I ever made and im still very pleased with the results.

      • avian

        435d

        @AnimalBoy thank you so much!! i appreciate all of the details cause i definitely haven't heard any of it before, thank you for sharing with me šŸ™

        • AnimalBoy

          435d

          @avian no problem! I had quite a few unpredictable complications and no preparation other than the things my surgeon told me which were all fairly clinical steps to healing and not so much any practical/comfortable ways to do manage recovery. It still managed to turn out pretty well aside from what I now lovingly refer to as "medical malpractice nipple" even though the recovery was something I had to navigate mostly by myself. But on the bright side now I have a ton of advice for you and other transmascs who need it :3

      • AnimalBoy

        436d

        @AnimalBoy If you have questions feel free to ask

    • Sox

      436d

      Get some easily made food, as cooking sucks during recovery Also, I wasn't allowed to sleep lying down... which I didn't realize until the day of surgery. Be prepared for some sleepless nights :/ I experienced minimal pain, but the lack of sleep sucked.

      • avian

        435d

        @Sox ooh yeah i heard about that šŸ˜¬ i guess i'll have to get a ton of comfortable pillows

    • Greenie23

      436d

      Button up shirts will be your best friend! Make sure you donā€™t mind getting blood on them though. Moving my arms up was basically impossible for the first two or three weeks, so button ups were a lifesaver. Also I had two drains and I had to empty them every night and I spilt a little bit and it stained my shirt. Aside from that, just make sure you have a good support system that can help you out, whether that be by carrying heavy things or by being emotional support. If you want to talk about anything Iā€™m always down!

      • avian

        435d

        @Greenie23 ooh button up shirts are such a good idea, i didn't even think about that. thank you so much!!

    • deathlost

      436d

      Lucky! Hope it goes well! I wouldn't know the first thing to tell you but congrats!

      • avian

        435d

        @deathlost thank you!!

    • Autemi

      436d

      Congratulations in advance!! Hydrating lotion! After it has healed. :)

      • avian

        435d

        @Autemi thank you!!

    • pixelpup

      436d

      firstly, congrats!! i'm so happy to hear that:) i haven't got top surgery yet, but i've done a lot of research. the biggest things are: take more time off work/school than you think you need! one week probably isn't enough. have a set of 6 or so ice packs or bags of frozen veggies so you can rotate the packs. have someone with you for the first few days to help you get around! good luck!

      • avian

        435d

        @pixelpup thank you so much!! i'll make sure to get a lot of freezable stuff

    • CharlieAlien

      436d

      No tips sorry, but I'm very happy for you!

      • avian

        435d

        @CharlieAlien thank you!!

    • Tabatha

      436d

      Stay home and rest a lot

ā˜ This content is generated by our users and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision

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