35yo male, tummy tuck and chest reduction after losing 100lbs in the gym -

In my early 20's I ballooned to 21st 4lbs (294lbs) although managed to then drop to 14st (196lbs) through hard work in the gym and healthy eating. However my skin had lost its elasticity and sonny tummy, flanks and chest never recovered. I spent years hiding it, feeling uncomfortable on a daily basis, struggling to wear clothes I liked, hiding on holidays and trying to fix it in the gym but you just can't fix empty skin if the fat has gone. So I met 6 surgeons and realised that the fix is out there and the scarring is minimal. 3 things for me:
1. I've done the hard work, why not finish it off
2. Any scarring is minimal and if for any reason I wasn't happy, at least I'm comfortabe for the 350 days a year I'm not on holiday ie Inhave my shirt on
3. It's only money... I released it from my house and this way, it's doing something that makes me genuinely much happier.

I've never had surgery and was nervous, but after the operation I woke up feeling great. I was dosed up on anaesthetic and morphine and felt no pain at all... and bearing in mind my operation was 8 hours (extended tummy tuck 300 degrees around my body plus both sides of my chest were drained and lifted), and had 2 drains collecting fluid from my pelvis, I was amazed. I was in hospital and all evening was bouncing off the walls - partly relief, partly adrenaline.

Day 2 was similar, refused morphine as I was numb from the operation and it was only on day 3 before going home from hospital that I took the Morphine on offer.

Days 3-6 I was at home with my drains in and was confined to the sofa, legs up and pillow under my knees (helps so much to take the pressure of your back!). When laying down I was pretty numb and pain free. When getting up it did hurt in my abdomen, but you learn which movements and which muscles being tensed cause the pain, to avoid it. Once up, there was no pain when walking - just inconvenient having the drains. If your gf/wife is around to help pull you up to avoid using abs to their full extent, then make the most of it!

Showering was amazing every day, just let the water hit you, low power, don't use shower gels etc. I've had no infections and think this helped that.

Day 6, drains out... thank god! The pain from getting up and down is vastly reduced and certainly bearable. Sleeping is easier although I've been on my back in bed for 2 weeks which with a pillow is easier but not ideal. It didn't hurt having the drains out and they go in a lot further than I realised! I have some slight fluid build up since the drains came out on one side, but the doc gave me some antibiotics to avoid any infection developing and today (day 20) I'm seeing my surgeon for my scheduled visit and I doubt he will simply drain this off.

Day 7 onwards... thank god for Christmas TV but not so much for the Christmas food that's everywhere around me - tempting but have generally been pretty good. I've had no alcohol and only had a few drinks when it came to New Years Eve on Day 13. My mobility from Day 7 onwards has got better and better every day... I'm wearing a corset for my chest, binder for my waist with cycling shorts and an under armour top underneath to help avoid irritation and blistering.

Day 12 - belly button stitches came out - everything else is dissolvable or glue. Some slight yellow fluid but is blokes find that fascinating. Its all fine though and healing well, remember not to touch any of the wounds and change dressings all the time - make sure you have enough! One part of my waistline (back of the hips) became loose so I put the skin healing strips/tape over it to ensure the skin healed in place as it had slightly come apart. All fine now.

At first every was very very tight and I couldn't stand up straight for 10-12 days. Even now, 20 days on it's a bit tight but much more mobile. No exercise for 6 weeks is tough but all of the surgeons I saw told me this so I'm not rushing myself back into it thinking I know better... because I don't.

Some concerns which would be great to hear from anyone hats experienced similar...
1. Big improvement but I don't feel as though my chest swelling is reducing - do you see much reduction beyond day 20?
2. My waistline looks a lot better but at Day 20 my waist is an inch or two bigger than it was previously - I'm back to work on Monday (23 days post op) and it's not looking great for getting into ny suit?!
3. The left side of my chest is bigger than my right, which it was pre-op also, but I had hoped this would be corrected now.
4. My surgeon used the doughnut incision around my nipple which leaves the nipple pinched with the drawstring effect - to me this is a better option than having scars across my chest, but wondered how others found the pinching around the nipple would relax, over time?
5. I've noticed as the skin tightening has worn off that my flanks may have bulged slightly from day 5 to day 20... I'm not sure if it's because I'm inactive at the moment, the skin relaxes, we have DNA in our body that says where to store the Christmas turkey? Any thoughts? I don't want this to grow back!!!

Happy to answer any questions but this looks to be life changing for me!

I'm 6 weeks post op and a little concerned. 1 week after the op I felt a lot trimmer, tighter, flatter in my chest, hips and tummy. Now it feels as though things have started to relax, sag and bulge and while there is an improvement since before the operation, I'm worried where this is going and what I'll be left with. I saw my surgeon 3 weeks after the op and he assured me that I had swelling which would reduce but if anything it's been the opposite?

Worried

8 weeks on and rather than swelling going down, swelling has got worse. Has anyone else found this? My surgeon tells me that I will return to normal anything from 4-6 months post op (I'm 2 months at the moment) which I hope will happen, but really interested to hear any other stories? The attached picture shows the difference from 1 week post op, to now which is 8 weeks