4 Weeks Post Top Surgery

Movement Updates

I have been doing daily CARs since getting my drains removed one week after surgery. Before I got my drains out I sporadically did CARs based on what movement my body allowed comfortably. Since implementing my full daily CARs routine again, I see progress everyday in my mobility. I haven’t started to implement other aspects of the FRC system, but see huge benefits in incorporating my CARs as I was able to. It’s also a great example of the point of CARs being to take my joints through MY range of motion. The way my body moves now is not the same as it was before surgery, and that is both expected and totally okay! It’s absolutely a lesson in patience for me, as I focus on letting myself heal and not pushing myself faster than my body is ready for.

I’ve been really appreciating the new post-op recovery protocol that the Gender Confirmation Center and Dr Jen Crane released in December. You can get the link to download by clicking learn more here on Dr Crane’s website. The release of this new protocol was wonderful timing for me personally, I was really afraid of the old standards that I head read about that involved not raising your elbows above your shoulders for six whole months! Utilizing this resource since day one post-op has definitely helped me to alleviate pain and tension from the first week of sleeping at an incline, and overall decrease in movement that recovery has necessitated.

I was able to participate in a dance cardio class on Sunday! It was so nice to move my body in that way, and get in some cardio that felt fun. I couldn’t do all of the arm motions involved, and that was a good lesson for me in remembering that it’s still worthwhile to participate in movement and group classes when you need to adapt to your own capabilities. The goal is always progress not perfection! The dance cardio class was a Black History Month event run by Leslie Jordan Garcia (@liberatiwellness) and Ashantis Jones (@iamashantis) who are both creators that I admire. Both of their instagrams have more information about their work and how you can support them!

Healing Process

At about 3 weeks it started to seem like my incisions had healed to the point of being just scars. Day 25 post op I removed the rest of the glue from my main incisions and got to get a better idea of how well I’ve been healing and what my scars look like! I’m so stoked on this progress, and now I’m working on consistent after care for my scars.

My nipples are still scabs, the larger scab on my left nipple fell off yesterday. My body healed in a way where there were large thick scabs over my nipples. Last week I got a bit concerned that there was something going wrong with my nipple graft healing process, but I sent pictures in to the Gender Confirmation Center and they reassured me that I was healing properly.

The scabs have become progressively more annoying and hard to not mess with. I want to spend time without my shirt on, but I find it challenging to not mess with the scabs, and I know that I need to let them heal and fall off by themselves. I had hoped both large scabs would fall off by today, so I could have more of a full reveal of my new chest as I hit this four week mark. Even though I lost one yesterday, the other seems like it’s going to be here for a few more days at least. This process of course falls under the lesson in patience that recovery is putting me through.

Other Updates

I can drive now, but I was pretty hesitant to try until after 3 weeks, my Jeep takes some effort to move the steering wheel, and it felt stressful to take a risk. I’ve taken 2 short drives in the last week, they both felt fine and safe!

I’ll be announcing a March Mobility Challenge next week! Stay tuned for that and definitely sign up, its free!!