#not me coming back once a month ish to post 3 pics and dip again im sorry yall

[foreverxdaydreaming]

if you know any of these, i respect you and your taste dearly... but also, how hard is that nostalgia hitting you rn? pretty bittersweet, eh?

[dog-teeth]

3 weeks post-op top surgery update!! details & pics under the cut, these ones arent nearly as gross as the last two sets but its still scars & a bit of scabbing so be warned!

for people who don’t want the details but just a general update: i’m healing really well, still pretty mentally foggy and physically weak but i think it’s more from doing nothing but rot in my bedroom for 3 weeks during seasonal depression time during the pandemic when i already have depression. but i’m done with all the really gross n bad parts of surgery, now i just keep my nipple grafts moisturized and clean & do scar care stuff, plus i wear my ace bandage wrap still. more on all that below!

so my chest looks really good for 3 weeks post op! no more bruising, but there is a bit of swelling around my incisions near the center of my chest. there’s also no more bleeding except for a tiny tiny amount from my nipple grafts that i see when i clean them, but its good to have bleeding from the nipples because it means there’s circulation, and it’s not enough to have to scab over again. i don’t have any more numb areas which is good, but some of the sensations are a bit odd because my nerves are still recovering. it’s not noticeable unless i stroke the spots with my fingers.

nipple care: i clean my nipples twice a day with a q-tip dipped in water, just to take off any blood and gently rub any scabs that are ready to fall off. i also very gently run my finger around the areola for a bit to prevent scar tissue buildup. the grafts are slightly raised right now, especially the left one, so i want to make sure they end up as flat as possible by doing a super light massage. as you can see, the areolas are currently pink with a few brown splotches, and a tiny bit of scabbing on the left nipple. i’m hoping the brown splotches are my pigmentation coming back! i miss my pretty brown nipples lmao. it can take a few months for the pigmentation to fully return and settle, but i’m excited anyways. i put healing ointment on my nipples and then a thick layer of aquaphor twice a day and put them under gauze squares, which is why you can see a square indentation in my skin around the nipples where the gauze is pressed down my my ace bandage wrap. i didn’t lose any part of the grafts during surgery or recovery, which is awesome! sometimes some or all of the graft fails, so i was really worried about that even though its uncommon with good surgeons.

incision care: as you can see, my incisions are fully closed and are currently dark pink. they have stretched a tiny bit since last week which is definitely expected, but i do need to be more careful to stop extending my arms so much so they don’t stretch unnecessarily. twice a day, i gently clean them with a cotton ball soaked in water, and then i massage silicone scar cream onto them for 5-10 minutes. in the shower i let soap and water run over them.

general care: i still can’t reach my arms out or stretch/bend my torso very much, it doesn’t hurt but it does tug on my incisions and grafts which doesn’t feel good and means i might be stretching them. i also can’t lift things over ~5 pounds because the tissue on my pecs is still healing. i wear my ace bandage wrap all the time, and i’ll be doing that for another week or two. my surgeon left it at my discretion, saying at my 2-week post op appointment to wear it for ‘a couple more weeks’ and stop when i see fit, so after a week or two, once i’m confident that my nipple grafts won’t get hurt from being exposed and my swelling is gone, i’ll stop. i am eager to stop having to wear it all the time, but i also don’t want to rush it!

i’m really happy with how my results look. my incisions will continue to stretch and my nipples might change shape a bit as all my skin settles and my musculature changes. my nipples are a bit uneven/asymmetrical in shape but i don’t really care, what’s more important to me is i’m 100% happy with where they’re placed, they’re healing well, & i like how my nipples still stick out past my areolas like they did pre-op, which sometimes doesn’t happen after top surgery. i also really love the shape of my incisions, the flat line in the center with the curve near my sides, i much prefer it over the totally straight lines & semicircular-ish curves ive seen from other surgeons, i think my surgeons style is really masculinizing and aesthetically pleasing, and it looks natural on my chest.

my nipples look a bit shiny in these pics, that’s from the aquaphor i keep on them at all times, my incisions also have the silicone scar cream on them here.

you can see on my side there at the end of my incision there’s a small bump, it looks more pronounced here than it does irl because of the lighting, but it’s just the spot where my skin was brought together & it will flatten out once my internal sutures dissolve and my tissue heals more.