BA & LP Post Op Day 1
February 3, 2006
I looked at the clock at the front of my room and it was 6:00 AM. Jen stayed with me that night sleeping on that lumpy sleeper I don’t like. No matter where we go, Jen appears to sleep well. I rolled the bed to a sitting up position and had a look at my LP, All I can say is it looks really swollen. I put the ice bag back on that area to help reduce the swelling. This was the first time I had a chance to really look at wrapped boobies. All I can really see is one big mono boob in wrapped in ace bandage. I did not really notice the constriction before, but it’s really starting to become a problem for me. Using the insprometer which is one of those chores you do when you get general anesthesia is more work as the wrapping is constrictive. Some time between 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM a nurse came to collect the PCA. I no longer needed it and it was definitely worth having for this combined procedure. The nurse also gave me two percocet to take for pain.
It was about 7:00 when Jen woke up and the medical aid came in to remove my Foley catheter. I was nervous about this as the last time post VAG; I was not able to pee once the catheter was removed and had to be re-catheterized for the trip home and removed a few days later. That was not fun. The aid rolled the bed almost flat, deflated the cuff and pulled out the catheter. This is never a pleasant experience.
He also removed the compression stocking on my calves. I was happy to have then gone as they were beginning to itch. They were on for two days post VAG and got really irritating as time went by. A few minutes later, I felt the need to pee and asked him to unhook my IV so I can get out of bed to the bathroom. The start was not easy, but pee did happen and I was really relieved. That is one obstacle out of the way. Back to bed and he re-connected my IV after I settled back in bed. It was just a matter of time before the IV will be gone too and I’m no longer tethered to the bed by any plumbing. It also means freedom. I got a surprise visit from Dr. Williams, my anesthesiologist from yesterday. This is the first time I have know of an anesthesiologist visiting a patient post-op. Maybe it was our conversation from yesterday’s pre-op that motivated him to visit. We talked about everything from meds he will be using to ETT tube size (in my case 7.5mm), regardless, it was really nice to have him stop by to chat and see how I was doing post-op. Jen came over and we talked about all the events from yesterday. I tried to learn more about her conversation with Dr. Meltzer regarding my surgery. But the questions I had Jen was not able to answer, so this is going to wait until Dr. Meltzer stops by to check on me. I knew he was going cycling with a friend this morning and will not be by until afternoon. Jen and I spent talking about stuff we usually talk about. Some times I wonder what Jen would do without a TV, she can get so glued to that thing. The room aid came by with a breakfast menu and I ordered some food. Yes, it’s the same menu as before. A short while later breakfast arrived and I shared part of this with Jen. They also took food orders for lunch and dinner. Overall, I was feeling pretty good one day post op. At this time, the BA & LP are tied for pain level which is about 4-5 with two perccoet every 3-4 hours. This was quite tolerable for now.
I have been in that bed since yesterday and HAD to get up for a short while. With Jen’s help, we took a short walk over to Amy’s room to see how she was doing. Trisha was there when we arrived and we chatted for just a moment when Debbie arrived, she was surprised to see me out of bed so soon and talking to Amy. It turns out, getting out of bed this early post PL is not a good idea and Debbie told me, “back to your bed!” We took a short walk back to my room and back in bed I went. I decided to write a bit on my notebook. Lunch arrived and when I opened the cover, it was a cheeseburger, coke and chips. This is a Jen meal, not something I would order. I told Jen pass on this and she should eat it. Jen wanted me to eat something, so we sort of split up the meal. It turns out she got my lunch and dinner menu mixed up. Our friend Terri called me on and asked if I wanted anything from Ranch 99. What an opportunity, I just had to have some roasted chestnuts and asked Terri to pick some if she can find them. Terri arrived a while later with two bags of roasted chestnuts and asked it we would like to join them for lunch on the patio. I told her no, as should stay in bed for now. She returned later with a plate of Chinese food, which I enjoyed and Jen found alien.
Time passed slowly while I lay in bed with an ice pack between my legs to reduce the swelling. Trisha and Amy stopped by to visit since this was Amy’s first day for a walk. We chatted for a bit, but noted Amy was getting a bit unstable, so it was back to her room for now. A little while later Terri brought over a slice of birthday cake. It turns out, Roberta who was the morning patient of my surgery date, had her real birthday today and she had an entire group of friends to be with her and support her during this process. With all the goings on in a near by room, I just had to stop by to say hello. While the crowd was just about to take a picture, Dr. Meltzer walks in. He looked at me and was wondering why I was not in bed. This opportunity does not happen often, so we took a group picture with Dr. Meltzer and Roberta in bed one day post op. I headed back to my bed after the photo. Dr. Meltzer arrived n my room to check on how I was doing. He had a look at my LP and while it was swollen, it appeared good. He wanted to look at my BA next. I asked him if he would unwrap me as the elastic bandage wrap was getting tiresome and restricting. He went off to get a pair of bandage scissors, I lay in a semi recline position and he snipped off the bandage, instant relief from that constriction with two cotton pads fall out and my nipple /areola covered with tape that has a opening for the nipple. Only the ends of the sutures are visible. The sutures appear to be under the skin.
I told him my nipples / breast sensitivity were OK and we were both relieved. He was a bit worried to ask, so I told him how my nipples felt before they were un wrapped. Once they were unwrapped, I had a better sense of how they really were. It turns out, they might be overly sensitive. We talked a bit about my BA. I asked him if he did anything different in my case and he said not really, he was just really careful with pocket dissection and encounter no nerves during the process. I shared my theory of me being on hormones for over 6 years might have made a difference since my muscle mass has completely changed and softened making the pocket dissection process easier, he agreed and mentioned that in FFS patients, the skin is quite different between those who have been on hormones for years compared to no hormones. It becomes much softer after a few years on hormone therapy. I think the risk for nerve damage during BA pocket dissection might be greater due to the bigger and stronger male pec muscle regardless of who the surgeon might be. A TG woman friend went to Thailand for FFS and BA, her surgeon refused to do sub muscular BA placement due to her pec muscle development and she got a sub glandular procedure. IMO, they don't look that great, but she is happy. In my case, push ups were easy for me to do years before my transition, now I cannot even do one. That was an eye opening discovery.
We went on to discuss breast massage. Dr. Meltzer gently pressed my implants towards the center and then from the top down. It was slightly painful but more uncomfortable and strange feeling than anything else. He showed Jen how to do this also, as this is going to be one of my post BA chores that she gets to do. I made a post-op exam appointment for later next week and they will remove the sutures then. With all this done, he headed off to check on his next patient.
RN Nancy appeared with my discharge instructions and had me sign them. She told me ring for help if you need it.
I got back in bed to rest while Jen watched TV for a bit. Dinner arrived and we shared the meal. When we were done with dinner, Jen got all of our stuff packed and moved down to the car. We walked over to say goodbye to Roberta and her group of friends. When this was done, Jen did not want me to be walking around anymore and got a wheel chair to wheel me around in, I said no, but she insisted. So I sat down and she wheeled me into Amy’s room to say goodbye. When we arrived Trisha was there too. We shared our warm goodbyes with Amy. She told us we are such a “cool couple”. I asked her why? Amy being a romantic told us that we have a nice warmth about us that is just nice to be around. She said many couples are not like this. We smiled and thanked her for the complement. Jen wheeled me down to the car and I got into the front passenger seat. We drove back to our B&B. I got into bed, tired from the events of the day and so relieved that my BA turned out the way it did.
I looked at the clock at the front of my room and it was 6:00 AM. Jen stayed with me that night sleeping on that lumpy sleeper I don’t like. No matter where we go, Jen appears to sleep well. I rolled the bed to a sitting up position and had a look at my LP, All I can say is it looks really swollen. I put the ice bag back on that area to help reduce the swelling. This was the first time I had a chance to really look at wrapped boobies. All I can really see is one big mono boob in wrapped in ace bandage. I did not really notice the constriction before, but it’s really starting to become a problem for me. Using the insprometer which is one of those chores you do when you get general anesthesia is more work as the wrapping is constrictive. Some time between 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM a nurse came to collect the PCA. I no longer needed it and it was definitely worth having for this combined procedure. The nurse also gave me two percocet to take for pain.
It was about 7:00 when Jen woke up and the medical aid came in to remove my Foley catheter. I was nervous about this as the last time post VAG; I was not able to pee once the catheter was removed and had to be re-catheterized for the trip home and removed a few days later. That was not fun. The aid rolled the bed almost flat, deflated the cuff and pulled out the catheter. This is never a pleasant experience.
He also removed the compression stocking on my calves. I was happy to have then gone as they were beginning to itch. They were on for two days post VAG and got really irritating as time went by. A few minutes later, I felt the need to pee and asked him to unhook my IV so I can get out of bed to the bathroom. The start was not easy, but pee did happen and I was really relieved. That is one obstacle out of the way. Back to bed and he re-connected my IV after I settled back in bed. It was just a matter of time before the IV will be gone too and I’m no longer tethered to the bed by any plumbing. It also means freedom. I got a surprise visit from Dr. Williams, my anesthesiologist from yesterday. This is the first time I have know of an anesthesiologist visiting a patient post-op. Maybe it was our conversation from yesterday’s pre-op that motivated him to visit. We talked about everything from meds he will be using to ETT tube size (in my case 7.5mm), regardless, it was really nice to have him stop by to chat and see how I was doing post-op. Jen came over and we talked about all the events from yesterday. I tried to learn more about her conversation with Dr. Meltzer regarding my surgery. But the questions I had Jen was not able to answer, so this is going to wait until Dr. Meltzer stops by to check on me. I knew he was going cycling with a friend this morning and will not be by until afternoon. Jen and I spent talking about stuff we usually talk about. Some times I wonder what Jen would do without a TV, she can get so glued to that thing. The room aid came by with a breakfast menu and I ordered some food. Yes, it’s the same menu as before. A short while later breakfast arrived and I shared part of this with Jen. They also took food orders for lunch and dinner. Overall, I was feeling pretty good one day post op. At this time, the BA & LP are tied for pain level which is about 4-5 with two perccoet every 3-4 hours. This was quite tolerable for now.
I have been in that bed since yesterday and HAD to get up for a short while. With Jen’s help, we took a short walk over to Amy’s room to see how she was doing. Trisha was there when we arrived and we chatted for just a moment when Debbie arrived, she was surprised to see me out of bed so soon and talking to Amy. It turns out, getting out of bed this early post PL is not a good idea and Debbie told me, “back to your bed!” We took a short walk back to my room and back in bed I went. I decided to write a bit on my notebook. Lunch arrived and when I opened the cover, it was a cheeseburger, coke and chips. This is a Jen meal, not something I would order. I told Jen pass on this and she should eat it. Jen wanted me to eat something, so we sort of split up the meal. It turns out she got my lunch and dinner menu mixed up. Our friend Terri called me on and asked if I wanted anything from Ranch 99. What an opportunity, I just had to have some roasted chestnuts and asked Terri to pick some if she can find them. Terri arrived a while later with two bags of roasted chestnuts and asked it we would like to join them for lunch on the patio. I told her no, as should stay in bed for now. She returned later with a plate of Chinese food, which I enjoyed and Jen found alien.
Time passed slowly while I lay in bed with an ice pack between my legs to reduce the swelling. Trisha and Amy stopped by to visit since this was Amy’s first day for a walk. We chatted for a bit, but noted Amy was getting a bit unstable, so it was back to her room for now. A little while later Terri brought over a slice of birthday cake. It turns out, Roberta who was the morning patient of my surgery date, had her real birthday today and she had an entire group of friends to be with her and support her during this process. With all the goings on in a near by room, I just had to stop by to say hello. While the crowd was just about to take a picture, Dr. Meltzer walks in. He looked at me and was wondering why I was not in bed. This opportunity does not happen often, so we took a group picture with Dr. Meltzer and Roberta in bed one day post op. I headed back to my bed after the photo. Dr. Meltzer arrived n my room to check on how I was doing. He had a look at my LP and while it was swollen, it appeared good. He wanted to look at my BA next. I asked him if he would unwrap me as the elastic bandage wrap was getting tiresome and restricting. He went off to get a pair of bandage scissors, I lay in a semi recline position and he snipped off the bandage, instant relief from that constriction with two cotton pads fall out and my nipple /areola covered with tape that has a opening for the nipple. Only the ends of the sutures are visible. The sutures appear to be under the skin.
I told him my nipples / breast sensitivity were OK and we were both relieved. He was a bit worried to ask, so I told him how my nipples felt before they were un wrapped. Once they were unwrapped, I had a better sense of how they really were. It turns out, they might be overly sensitive. We talked a bit about my BA. I asked him if he did anything different in my case and he said not really, he was just really careful with pocket dissection and encounter no nerves during the process. I shared my theory of me being on hormones for over 6 years might have made a difference since my muscle mass has completely changed and softened making the pocket dissection process easier, he agreed and mentioned that in FFS patients, the skin is quite different between those who have been on hormones for years compared to no hormones. It becomes much softer after a few years on hormone therapy. I think the risk for nerve damage during BA pocket dissection might be greater due to the bigger and stronger male pec muscle regardless of who the surgeon might be. A TG woman friend went to Thailand for FFS and BA, her surgeon refused to do sub muscular BA placement due to her pec muscle development and she got a sub glandular procedure. IMO, they don't look that great, but she is happy. In my case, push ups were easy for me to do years before my transition, now I cannot even do one. That was an eye opening discovery.
We went on to discuss breast massage. Dr. Meltzer gently pressed my implants towards the center and then from the top down. It was slightly painful but more uncomfortable and strange feeling than anything else. He showed Jen how to do this also, as this is going to be one of my post BA chores that she gets to do. I made a post-op exam appointment for later next week and they will remove the sutures then. With all this done, he headed off to check on his next patient.
RN Nancy appeared with my discharge instructions and had me sign them. She told me ring for help if you need it.
I got back in bed to rest while Jen watched TV for a bit. Dinner arrived and we shared the meal. When we were done with dinner, Jen got all of our stuff packed and moved down to the car. We walked over to say goodbye to Roberta and her group of friends. When this was done, Jen did not want me to be walking around anymore and got a wheel chair to wheel me around in, I said no, but she insisted. So I sat down and she wheeled me into Amy’s room to say goodbye. When we arrived Trisha was there too. We shared our warm goodbyes with Amy. She told us we are such a “cool couple”. I asked her why? Amy being a romantic told us that we have a nice warmth about us that is just nice to be around. She said many couples are not like this. We smiled and thanked her for the complement. Jen wheeled me down to the car and I got into the front passenger seat. We drove back to our B&B. I got into bed, tired from the events of the day and so relieved that my BA turned out the way it did.
posted by Rupunzell | 2:28 PM
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