Shaggy-dude Post Op Diary

[shaggy-dude]

Arrived at the priory on time, Told them I was there and was ushered in to the admin room.

I was paying cash and this seemed to annoy the lady admitting me especially as I had no £5 notes so she could split the payment down into hospital, aneasthatist, and Mr Levick.. she was actually quite stoney faced and annoyed me somewhat with her attitude and huffing and puffing..

Porter took me to the ward and the nurses couldn't have been more different, nothng was too much trouble and they were very professional yet warm and welcoming.

Aneathatist (can never spell that) guy came in, very nice chappy in his 50's.. had a quick chat and he said he see me later.

Mr Levick came in and quick chat.. said he'd see me in a mo in his work gear down theatre.

went down to see the aneathatist, had a very jovial chat and last thing I rememeber is wishing you could buy aneasthtic in bars as it felt damn good for about 3 seconds before I blacked out

Woke up feeling great (the aneasthatist is one top dude !!) no illness, headache or anything. .. but for some reason my fecking chest was on fire   .. well kind of.

It wasnt as bad as I figured initially and it settled quite soon, went back to my room and chilled all the rest of the day, slept pretty good ( I sleep on my back normally anyhow so no difference for me) had some painkillers and it was manageable.

had drains out (waste of time being in as I didnt bleed at all on one side and I've spit more blood brushing my teeth than was in the other side,) left side drain was very painfull, bit like how I'd imagine having a nipple pierced with a blunt safety pin I'd say .. right side was out before I noticed and didn't hurt one bit.

Got up, got dressed, jeez how much fun is putting socks on now , went for a pee .. that hurt too as I had to undoo button fly which meant pressing inwards with both arms.. ouch.

got a taxi to the holiday inn where I stayed for friday and saturday night (nice hotel, quality food, good staff, just a bit on the steep side though), taxi driver just threw bag through first door so I had to charm the receptionist (I've just had an operation and the lazy taxi driver has left my bag at the front door..sob.. sniffle..) to carry bag to my room as there was no porter.

Had a girlfriend come down to pamper me and am very thankfull I did as I'd have been fecked otherwise, couldn't wash myself or get dressed next day due to stiffness and tenderness.

I'd say the feeling saturday and today is one similar to how it could feel if someone had made nice fine incisions in my chest then rubbed salt and vinegar into them and then given me a good stamping on.

I'm £3650 poorer, black, blue, purple, yellow, red, brown but a Sh** load happier than I was lastweek

It's early days but I'm happy with what I've seen so far even if it does hurt like a slap in the face each time I sneeze or move to quickly.

I'll do some before and after shots in a bit..

[doddy]

Well done. The first few days are by FAR the worst, pain/movement wise.

I went through the exact same thing 11 days ago. I feel great now and my life has changed so much for the positive. Good luck.

[shaggy-dude]

Ok before and 2 days after pics are here

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/jumpB?i=EeAN2jdw0ctHDgQ&open=1&x=1&sm=0&sl=0&open=1

had bandages off at 2 days to retighten them as they'd slipped.. seeing as I'm such a shaggy dude they took pity on my and spared me the sticky tape you guys had to suffer..

I'd have to let it grow off naturally lol.. either that or unpick the bandage thread by thread.

got banadages back on nice and tight 2 mins later, fecking left nipple is burning on fire, pics dont' adequately show the hollowing that's present at the moment.

Mr Levick took out 400 ml from each side and 30 grams of gristle... I'm happy at the moment so I'm expecting to be well chuffed later when it's all settled down .. am dreaming of ice cubes on my left nipple as I type.. ahhhhhhhhh tsssssst ...

[shaggy-dude]

day's 3/4 were much the same, lots of localised tenderness, didnt really take pain killers for the pain as it wasn't so bad, just popped the odd ibruprofen as it takes inflamation down apparently.

Went out to the car last night and made the mistake of lifting the boot with one arm OUCH major stab in right nipple occured and it kind of felt like a tear so I'm thinking all the nice flesh that had stuck down since the op has now just been unstuck.

woke up this morning with some swelling/fluid !? there where I had pain lastnight. :-/

retightend my bandages extra tight so hopefully it will be ok.

Bruising is coming out well now, am a nice shade of nicotine all over.

Left nipple burning has calmed down now and isn't annoying me me, in fact yesterday was probably the worst day "burning" wise, it feels ok this morning.

Think I am going to keep one layer of bandage on nice and tight and then start wearing the compression vest over it, probably start with the vest on wednesday thursday which will be one week post op.

major pi$$ed at myself for opening car boot .. grrr just goes to show you gotta be very careful

[shaggy-dude]

day 5

Right side has swelled quite a bit now, not sure if it's a combination of opening the car boot and the fact that it was more bruised than the left to start with.

I think post op it's quite easy to freak at the slightest thing but I'm taking the long view, I look 10 times better in bandages than I did pre operation.

Sure it's annoying to see swelling but I'm still yellow and purple so whilst ideally it would be flat all over realistically I've been dyno-rod'd, sliced and diced and had chunks of fat and gristle chopped out of me so it's only fair to expect my body to show some outward sign of that in the form of swelling and bruising.

I'm not in any pain really now, right side is a bit tight and the nipple is annoying but not painful, still taking inbruprofen tablets but more from the inflamation point of view rather than pain.

[shaggy-dude]

Day 6

right side still swollen and quite warm, think it may be fluid as it's springy.

Kept bandages on and had a bath last night which was nice.. got out ..got dried, took bandages off then got into compression vest.

Felt much loser than last time I tried it on before the op altho have decided to just wear this and no bandage as I think the bandage was agravating the swelling more than it was helping it.

I'd gotten used to the tightness of hte bandages and it made it easier to move around with more tension on, now there isn't that much there it's quite difficult to move without feeling pain.

It's much easier this morning than it was lastnight.

right side is main trouble now.. left side is no bother.. it's still tender but no real swelling where as right side nipple bleeds if touched and the swelling is quite warm and springy feeling which leads me to think it could be fluid/blood altho I'm not too worried at this point..

will give it a week or so before I rind mr levick I think.. unless you guys think different !?

new pics posted, link in sig below, am in an fcuk t-shirt (with vest underneath) I would never have dared to wear before.. bit of swelling is visible but hey ho.. still looking 1000% better than before even now.

[shaggy-dude]

Day 7

Having a spot of bother sleeping last couple of nights.. am tired but really want to roll onto my sides.. but can't yet.

the right side swellign was down this morning but soon swelled up again when I'd been upright for about an hour.

Left side feels 95% flat and no bother, right side feels about 45% flat and quite uncomfortable.

compression vest is far looser than bandages but still doing the job I think/hope, I readjusted it lastnight so the bottom didnt keep riding up and it feels better now.

not much else to report today really, left side ok.. right side still not ok.. thats about it..

only 7 days in soo long long way to go

[Yorkshireman]

Congrats mate, you look a LOT better than pre op!

Im almost 6 weeks post op, and things are still changing almost daily, its pretty weird really....

Good luck!

[choice]

Yo Shaggy Dude - I am 7 days post-op, courteousy of Levick and having identical experiences to you.

Just took off my bandages tonight. OUCH. Had a bath and have now donned my gimp vest.

Keep well.

[shaggy-dude]

Day 8

Chest was on fire all day yesterday, loads of swelling on right side, felt like you feel when you have flu and every joint aches.. not pain but really uncomfortable.

Had quite a bit of lumpyness on right side which I massaged out (not sure if I should have  :-/ tho) and a little of left side.

Right side continues to be the problematic one but it was more swollen from day one so I kind of expected it.

found it easier to move lastnight than over previous days despite the swelling and discomfort.

Still very optomistic, if my chest stayed as it is now and the pain went then I'd still be happy with how it is and I'm thinking it can only get better as long as there isn't excessive scar tissue formation.

Soon as I know when it's safe to get deep tissue massage in there I'll be booking in as many times as is recommended a week to get the scar tissue worked on/stopped from forming.

think I am going to ring levick on monday and see when it's best to start propper massaging and whether I should be massaging the hard lumps at only 8 days post op.

[shaggy-dude]

Three weeks

Been chilling out for the last couple of weeks just lettiing things take their course.

left side is pretty good, scab peeled off nipple .. which wasn't painful and was ok, daren't touch scab on right nipple as it looks quite thick,

It's quite dry so I just keep slapping some moisturiser on it so it'll come off when it's ready

The only problem I have now is hard tissue on the right side especially, it's as thick as ya thumb in places but will start massaging this weekend so we'll see.

I'm not sure if mr levick has removed all the fat (am 100% sure all the gristle has gone so that's cool) unless the tissue swelling still hasn't gone down as I seem to have some still left, but having said that it's only 3 weeks so still time to settle loads more yet.

it's quite funny but I find I'm covering up as it's a bit embarrasing /worrying when someone says something like "feck me .. you had dysentry or something ? the weight's dropped off you" which gets me a bit paranoid they gonna say.. "hmm there's no way you lost it naturally"

am just in process of booking a holiday for end of the month to take my daughter away so am thinking / hoping my chest should be virtually not worthy of taking as second look at by then so I can get some sun on me .. not that It used to stop me before but I think this holiday will be far more "panic free"

[Pferdestärken]

Shaggy,

Couldn't help smiling at you latest pics there mate! Yes, that is "Cool as Fcuk"!!!! I have to get one of those tees for my new bod.

I have a wardrobe full of shirts and drawers full of tees I've bought, didn't feel comfortable in (you know what I mean), and never work again. I am SO looking forward to not having to buy XXL tees just to hide my chest.

Anyone else wish they made shirts with 46" chest and 16" collars? By the time I get enough chest room in a shirt I have 17.5" collars. Now after years of serious gym time I don't exactly have a skinny neck, but Mike Tyson I'm not!