Top Surgery Timeline
I got my top surgery on August 26th 2020. The days leading up to surgery, I endlessly poured through various sites to try and find information about the surgery, and what to do if I got an infection, among other things, and couldn’t find much of anything. So I documented many parts of my surgery recovery, including when I got a (non serious) infection. I share these photos with you now in hopes maybe it’ll help prepare you for your possible upcoming surgery. Please be aware that some of these photos may be shocking or disturbing to those sensitive to imagery of wounds. Please also be aware everybodies body is different and there’s different surgeries you can get. I personally got a double incision by Dr Mckee in Burnaby BC. With that aside, I hope this is a useful resource for you. If you have any questions, feel free to just ask.
Directory
Below you can find the various dates photos were taken and a short summary of what I was experiencing during that time. Images that I think may be more disturbing (like when I got an infection) will be noted with a (tw)
The first week I had to wear a compression vest 24/7 and was not allowed to remove it. So unfortunately, I couldn’t get photos of the wounds. As for general quality of life, a lot of pain and a lot of sleeping. Not much to document.
This was when I was finally allowed to go without the compression vest for very short periods of time. I took it off once every other day for an hour or two to shower and relax, then had to put it back on. There was no feeling in the incision area. As you can see my incisions go quite far back. This is abnormal, but as I’m a bigger man it was to reduce what is called “dog ears”. Unfortunately I still have dog ears, which you’ll see plenty of. During this time my nipples looked pretty grim. They were discoloured and flaky, seeming to scab and then peel over and over. During this time I put Vaseline on a bandaid and put them over my nipples before putting the binder back on to reduce chafing.
During this time it somehow felt like everything was healing very quickly, and also very slowly. I had mild discomfort and still couldn’t fully move my arms. There was also still complete numbness around incisions. This is also when I noticed my nipples were healing lopsided.
During this time, the bandages were starting to come off which got me very excited! Still no feeling, but otherwise uneventful.
Unfortunately due to my compression vest rolling down due to the fact I’m overweight, the bandages also rolled down and eventually rubbed raw, causing an infection. It looks quite disgusting, but was thankfully not dangerous. I went to the ER and was prescribed antibiotics, which I took and eventually healed. Due to this my scar on my left side is far thicker though, which you’ll see. The photos in this gallery could be considered quite graphic though, so look at your own risk.
At this point I’m settling into my post op life, as my infection had healed and I was able to resume life. Still no sensation around incisions, and not much else to note. Around this time I finally stopped putting bandaids on my nipples.
So everything feels completely healed at this point! This will be updated as time passes. Still no sensation, and my scars are quite thick and the dog ears very visible. But I’m happy with the results!
