Transfem Body Contouring - Night Before Surgery!

I'm feeling a LOT better now, but still very swollen, and pretty bruised and sore. I also get overheated and exhausted very quickly when going outside, but am still trying to walk about an hour a day now. I come back as an exhausted, sweaty mess. But, I'm starting to settle in my body and feel SO GOOD outdoors. I felt so embarrassed & uncomfortable with my body in public before the surgery, and it feels so much better already.

I still weigh ~15 lbs more than the day before my surgery, and my surgeon pressed their hand in my abdomen and it acted like memory foam, which is all swelling. My shape is fantastic now, I just hope the swelling goes away but I maintain a similar shape.

After I got my drains removed and I felt less like I just got hit by a car, I noticed my compression garment fit HORRIBLY and was digging into my skin really bad in my thighs and crotch, acting like a transmasc binder on my chest, and barely touching my waist. I figured out they gave me a men's garment which is pretty f'ed up considering my gender and the surgery I got, but they told me they give that to anyone with a long torso. Idk, I honestly doubt they do to cis women. This is the only gender annoyance/transphobia I've had with this surgeon or their staff.

I talked to my nurse who has been AWESOME, and she told me that I could use some firm shapewear (spanx) and wear my compression foam over it. Luckily I already had some -- two pieces including a long cami and very high waist shorts that I got from Target online. It fits so much better, but I also found the company that made the men's garment (Design Veronique) and asked them to make a custom women's garment with a longer length. They took care of it very quickly and I'll get it delivered in a few days. Expensive, but worth it if it helps at all with my results for the next month. I talked to my nurse and surgeon about that and they were interested in getting these custom made garments for taller transfem people. If you get this surgery, you should ask during your consult or in advance what type of garment you'll get, and if you can get a custom one if needed.

I am still avoiding sitting and it still hurts when I sit for short periods. My BBL mattress got a small hole and was deflating every 2-3 hours, which was a huge bummer. I tried to lay and sleep on my normal bed or couch with some adjustments, and it just was not comfortable and I couldn't find a way it wasn't pressing against my abdominoplasty incision or fat transfer areas. Luckily, I got enough energy and pretty easily was able to find the hole to patch it. I realized how valuable the BBL mattress is- it might be the #1 supply I'd recommend before this type of surgery.

I'm still laying on the mattress maybe 21 hours a day. I go back to work on Tuesday but luckily I work from home, so I'll still probably be on the mattress with a laptop.

I'm feeling really good about the results so far and it's been worth it. A quick photo showing a pretty euphoric image of my (swollen) shape in my shapewear.

I got my drains removed yesterday and was able to take a shower, wash my compression garment, and wash my bedding. WOW, what a difference. I'm no longer laying in my own filth all day (as much as I was, anyway).

I still have low energy, but not quite as low as I had before. The foam binder I'm still wearing all day is having a big effect on my energy, I think -- it compresses down on my lungs and chest pretty hard. But, it's supposedly there so my lipo areas heal smoothly and not bumpy/uneven, so if that's true, then it's worth it. I stop using it my next appointment on Friday - 3 days from now.

I was not expecting my crotch to be an issue at ALL post surgery, but it's maybe been my most uncomfortable/painful area. The swelling is almost all gone there finally, and I'm no longer elevating my legs, but it is still 100% bruised and VERY painful due to the massive swelling I had. It also looks like my compression garment was really cutting into my skin down there while it was swollen. It's not cutting into it anymore. I hope it heals well and quickly.

I am moving onto ibuprofen from my percocet. 600-800mg every 6-8hrs. I'm throwing in one of my percocets here and there due to crotch and tummy tuck incision pain, but ibu's mostly cover the worst pain. I'm glad, the last thing I need is an opioid dependency.

I've moved onto solid food and ate 2 veggie burgers with collards for bfast and lunch. I don't eat burgers much but it sounded so good this morning. Weird cravings. It's all pretty low sodium, whole wheat buns, etc. I might buy a salad this evening for dinner to get some actual fresh food. I don't have the energy to deal with prepping all those ingredients. I hope I can go for a walk. I'm still laying in bed most of the time.

I weighed myself yesterday before my shower and I weigh 15 lbs more than the day before the surgery! This has got to be all swelling and maybe water retention. I haven't been eating a whole lot and I got some lbs removed (maybe just about 3 lbs net) during the operation.

I checked yesterday and this is what I had done for volume:

- 315g of skin removed (0.7 lbs)
- 3000cc of fat lipo'ed from abdomen, flanks, lower back
- 970cc of fat transferred to both sides -- 1940cc total

Here is a picture of before and current. It is still very far away from the final results!! I am very swollen, so that my waist is the exact same size as it was before the surgery. My lower thighs are very swollen even though there was no fat injected there - I believe that's the same gravity issue that causes crotch swelling. The fat injected areas, especially the top of my butt, are VERY square. My surgeon says that will resolve itself and is common after every plastic surgery due to swelling. It has gotten a bit better than my day-after visit so I'm hopeful.

I hope my new hips (upper thighs) don't shrink much, and they're not hard as a rock like my butt so I hope that's a good sign. I'm fine with my butt shrinking down a bit, at least as far as projection outwards goes. I'm really hoping my front deswells a lot, as there's not a huge amount of difference between before/after right now there except my belly hang being gone.

Anyway, it's looking promising!! I know I don't look like a model in my afters, but that's not what I'm going for (or would be possible ha ha).

Swelling will hopefully be way down by my next appointment on Friday, and I'm hoping to have more energy.

Not much new today besides minor recovery progress. Bed day.

I managed to walk around the block today and pick up a package. When I got back I was exhausted, nauseous, and sweaty. I cooked up some vegan chickpea mac and cheez with frozen broccoli and soy curls (high protein & greens, low sodium). It was nice to eat some warm food.

I'm still leaking a little bit, way less than before, and have changed my diaper a couple times. I'm supposed to get the drain taken out tomorrow, I'm not sure what that means if I'm still leaking. I'm looking forward to a shower, which supposedly I can do once the drain is taken out. I really want to stop wearing this foam binder that feels like it's crushing me.

I'm so swollen I still don't have a good idea of what my body will look like. My waist is the same circumference as it was pre-surgery, but that's all swelling, since there's clearly a lot taken out from both lipo and the abdominoplasty. My hips are a really good size right now and I hope they don't shrink too much. Meanwhile, my butt has more projection than I'd like. But who knows what the proportions will look like when the rest of my body stops swelling.

<3