My post op recovery story

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

I am from India. I weigh around 72kgs and am 25 years old. I am overall a fit guy (can run 5kms in 25 min). I had my surgery (lipo + gland excision) done on 17th June. I was discharged the same night. Came home in a cab. Compression vest on me. No ace bandages. My flatmate was the only person who knew about the surgery and helped me whenever I needed.
The post-op diet I followed : Green  Apple + Oats with skimmed milk for breakfast. Normal meal (avoid chilli and spices) for lunch. Chicken Salad (with lettuce, bell pepper, tomato) for dinner followed by a juice of (pomegranate + beetroot).
I took almost 8-10 hours of sleep daily.
I never took off my compression vest apart from the time I was bathing. Doctors told me that it was OK to remove the vest for 1-2 hours to clean it. But I didn't know how to clean it and dry it in 2 hours. So, I have asked to buy another vest and doctor said it would be available on 23rd June. I will alternate between the two vests. (Edit: It's 28th June and I still haven't gotten my new compression vest. I took my vest off for about 2.5 hours last Sunday and washed and dried it.)
First night: Pain in the entire chest area. But the pain is bearable. I slept on my back straight. I have now read at some places that you shouldn't but I didn't know this at that time. Also sleeping on my back was comfortable.
Second day (18th June) : Pain still there. Cannot lift my arms. Have constipation. But I didn't avoid food. Doctor told me to take sufficient water as I had my surgery in fasting. Took a bath (very difficult. Note that water should only drizzle down you chest. Use a bucket and a mug and pour water on your shoulders). Chest looked messy but flat. Nothing too scary. Also, after bath it can be very difficult to put your compression vest and shirt back on. Ask for help with these. Slept for most of the day but was in OK mood. I read somewhere that it was important to take a 5 min walk every hour to avoid blood clot. And as I was wearing a compression vest. So, I thought it was necessary to avoid clots. I took these walks every day inside the apartment. You can just go for a glass of water and it counts.
19th June: Took my day off from office for 19th and 20th. Pain in the upper area of my chest is subsiding. I can move my arms around a bit but not after a certain point. I had a clear bowel movement (Thanks to green apples I think). Sometimes during the day I feel that the compression vest is too tight. I just loosen it up a little bit and everything is fine.
20th June: Went to the surgeon's office to take my discharge certificate. Although I couldn't meet the surgeon, I told a lady who works there about a white broad line kind of a thing right in the middle of the chest. She didn't look at it but said that it was fine and happened to many. It might be seroma and she said that doctor will not take it out before the 10th day. I think the doctor wants the body to absorb the seroma and heal for the first 10 days on its own. However, the lady told me it anything starts to pain abnormally, I should call the clinic.
21st June: My company offers work from home facility and I am taking it for the rest of the week. I had a perfect bowel movement (in fact better than other normal days). I can move my arms around a bit more but I am not going to test my incision by taking it any further. The pain and numbness is still in the lower half of the chest. I can feel my right nipple but still no sensation in my left nipple. During the day today, when I was doing some office work (on my laptop), I started to feel a little out of breath (like I had to try to breath. It should be involuntary right). I took a small walk but it didn't help. Then, I sat down and started to watch an episode of Two and a Half Men. The problem went away in about 10 min. I guess I had become nervous.
22nd June: The pain is mostly gone and is more localised around the nipple area chest. But numbness it still there.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

23rd June: Today after shower, my chest started to itch a little. I have read that it happens when nerves start to regenerate.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

25th June: The chest area around nipples is still numb and a little pain is there. My left nipple is still numb.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

28th June: Today was my 10 day post-op visit to the PS. He said everything was fine. However, I wasn't wearing the compression vest tight enough. Due to that, the skin wasn't contracting properly and there was swelling. He asked me to wear it tighter for about 6 weeks and then come back for a post-checkup. There is however almost no pain now and most of my arm movement has come back. There however still is numbness near my nipple region chest and my left nipple is still numb.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

2 July: I am now able to feel some sensation coming back to my left nipple.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

16 July: It is 4 weeks post op. I have gained back most of my sensation. The left nipple still doesn't have sensation, though it feels like it is coming back (as I metioned previously). I have gained back most of my arm movement also. 
I can lift my arm above my head but there is some pain. I talked to my surgeon about this and he said it is fine. The tissue there will become free as time passes and that I should have no hesitation in lifting my arms.
Also, 3 weeks post op, he said that I should slowly ease back into my exercise regimen. I have begun push-ups, bench press etc. I used to do 35 push ups before surgery. The first day in my post-op exercise session, I could do 5. I lifted around 40kgs (20 on each side) in bench press before. Post-op on the first day, I couldn't lift even the rod (without any weight) properly. However, from the second day, each exercise will slowly start to happen. My advice to people is to not stress too much and slowly get back to where they started.
Also, the surgeon said that my sutures should have come out by now on their own. He told me not to touch them but I could sense that he was saying that I was being too soft. Next morning after the shower, I tucked at one of the sutures lightly and it came out. So, did all of them except two. I was experiencing slight pain when I tucked at these two. I left them there. But they too came out after two days.

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

September 24th - It has been more than 3 months after the surgery and I feel absolutely fine. There is some weird sensation when I touch my chest but that has reduced over time and am positive that it will go away. I also don't see any scar tissue. Perhaps this is because of the massaging I started to do after 6 weeks (my doctor advised me to do so).

[iamanxiousaftersurgery]

February 5th - I am feeling great. There is no scar tissue and all weird sensation in the chest is gone. However, I still don't have sensation in my left nipple but it feels like the sensation is coming back.