I'm gonna walk you through this my friend..You go into the clinic, you fill out alittle paper work, then you wait until they call you into the back, they ask you to strip leaving on your underware, you put on the medical rob, they mark your chest with the marker to see how there going to perform the surgery, they take you to where the operating table is, they tell you to lay down, they ask you some more questions, say things to make you feel comfretable, tell you there going to put the iv in your arm if your doing general while continuing to talk to you, then you start feeling grauggy, then your out and you wake up in the post op room. it's that fast..you feel sleepy for what seems like 5 secs then your out. when you wake up you have your garment on, and in about 10-20 mins your ride takes you home. When you get home, rest. Don't touch your chest being anxious to feel how flat it is, don't lift your arms over your head, drink alot of fluids like water and fruit juice, don't eat salt at all, eat fruits, low fat foods, don't take vitamin e, don't smoke if you do, and don't take off the compression vest for 2 days or so, and when your do, get your quick look, take a lukewarm shower while leaving the tape on your incession areas, put garment back on and rest. If you have excessive swelling let your doc know, but that most likely won't happen, but if it does just know that its normal, and above all be patient. Swelling doesn't normally go down in a major way until week 2 maybe longer, so just be patient and be excited for how good your gonna look and how much your life will change for the better.
This is not a hard task, but it is if you know what I mean, so hang in there and keep coming to this site for answers to all your questions. People here know exactly what your dealing with, so that will reassure you when things seem not to be progressing. I just had my surgery on the 18th so Im dealing with this right now. anyways that's it, and good luck...let us know how your doing as well..