2 days post op Dr Delgado -- SCARED

[scared111]

I felt fine, the surgery went fine, I didn't even use a single pain killer.  The drains were taken out today, there wasnt much drainage though anyways.

When he was removing the drains, I didnt want to look.  When I came home and looked hours later, I have no bruising but i look like a mess.  The stitches or whatever dont seem very tight.  On one side, there is tape applied to one of the stiches, and it isnt even adhering to my body.  The flesh looks loose and soft and my nipples just appear weak.  It seems as if I could just scoop out the flesh and throw it away.  When i take off my vest, my skin sticks to it slightly, that is scary.  Reapplying the vest is hard for me to do, I just get the feeling my doctor should be doing this stuff.  He rushed out to lunch as soon as he finished with me and my mother remarked that it didnt look like he closed the stiches.

Please help.

Everyone who has had surgery, please reply and describe how your chest looked this soon after.

[jc71]

Look at Bambu's pictures after surgery.  In that first set of pictures, he was a mess too.  Now he looks much better. Give it some time.

Ran off to lunch?  That just doesn't seem too appetizing!

Please try to relax and give it time.

[scared111]

I dont have the bruising or bloodiness Bambu has, but his nipples look a lot more stable than mine.  The tape and stitches appear to be working on him, they dont appear to be working for me.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Delgado gives a free touch up, ill keep that in mind, but i have to wait a year.

I'm scared to take a shower, I dont think I will bathe my chest  until the next appointment, a week.

Does anyone have any early bathing experiences?

[vaio]

Bathing won't happen for at least 3 days. Its hard to do. You cannot reach the other shoulder or arm. I couldnt at least. Even taking a crap was a mission.

I would go back to him and let him look. If the skin heals crooket it will heal that way. My doctor put stitches under the skin and on the top used some sort of glue, so the top layer scar is nearly invisiable. Maybe try super glueing the skin closer?

Also leave the compression vest, or band on 24-7. Don't take it off for any reason until a week or so goes by. The first 1week is the most critical.It has the most impact on how everything turns out.  Its where the outer skin heals togather.

Just rest as much as you can.  Take it easy.

[scared111]

no super glue for me

delgado told me it was fine to take off the vest and put it back on, i took it off and put it back on twice but i will not do so for the rest of the week.

oh shit

[scared111]

im going to try to force an appointment with him tomorrow, tell him im really concerned

[Daveo]

Good, and if he says no then tell him to go to hell because he owes you the time from his little lunch date the other day.

[4tuneit1]

You should do just fine...don't over-react just yet, your body does wonders healing itself.  

BTW...what did you have done? How much did it set you back??

[scared111]

im not as concerned now.

i got a lot of rest last night and he is one of the most experience gyne docs in california, he said i looked fine.

maybe im just overreacting.

i had the standard procedure, it set me back 7k.

[vaio]

$7,000  outch!

Im eager to see you results and compare them to mine.

A $3,000 surgery vs. a $7,000 surgery.  
From what my ps said, all board certified plastic surgerys will have very close to the same results.

[scared111]

6k, it was a typo

[rcbrown23]

My advice...keep the vest on, and apply pressure with the palm of your hands as MUCH as possible. Y'know, like fold your arms, and keep the palms of your hand pressed hard against your chest.

I just had a consultation with Dr. Hamas down here in Dallas and he said this is one of the most important things to do, especially right after the op. He said if you do this, and apply a lot of pressure, it can make the differenece of the healing process taking 6 weeks vs. 6 months. He also said it is a major factor on if the scar tissue ever kicks in.

I'm  sure your fine as far as the "loos skin" and what not. The first couple of days after is very scary, I remember mine and I was a mess. I usually have a fairly muscular chest, but that first day after, my entire chest looked all sunk in and weak, even where the muscle is! It took about a week to go back to almost normal contours...

Hang in there, it'll be fine. Keep the vest on with pressure.

               -Brown

[scared111]

thanks man

[scared111]

i think i will take off the vest and have a peek tonight, see if im ready to shower, its been 6 days

[scared111]

i just took a look at my chest, i am 6 days, just under a week post op.  i look exactly the same as i do 2 days post op, in fact, there are more bruises and what i think is swelling.  ive been getting 12 hours of sleep a night and been doing everything i can.

the nipples look better than before, but the one thing that bugs me is they appear so low on my chest.  the top part of my chest is either incorrectly scuplted by delgado or swollen, it looks like my nipples are under my pectorals or breasts or whatever you want to call them.

this compression vest is frustrating, i cant fucking believe he didnt show me how to put it on, he just muttered put it on the way it was.  i am furious, things better improve within a month or the last year of my pre-adult life will have been fucking wasted and my family will have spent 6 thousand dollars on nothing.

maybe i need to calm down, but this is how i feel right now, if he tells me i look fine on wednesday, i will tell him that frankly, compared to most of the pictures ive seen online, i look like shit and that i think something is wrong and that we might have to do that second surgery a fucking year later.  i will respect his professional opinion, but i would respect it much more if he was more attentive and helpful.