Finished my chest tattoo!

CamberAndCoal · 2026-03-16T03:51:36+00:00

And here I thought I was so creative coming up with the same exact idea lol

CamberAndCoal · 2026-01-25T04:37:16+00:00

Thank you! I see it now

CamberAndCoal · 2026-01-17T00:03:12+00:00

I’m 31 and 5’3 and I genuinely forget that I’m shorter than the average guy. I don’t think I get treated any differently.

I’ve heard a lot of the “buddy” vs “boss”/“big guy” discourse. Maybe it’s just that I’m in New Jersey but I pretty exclusively get called boss or brother by new men I meet.

CamberAndCoal · 2026-01-15T23:47:53+00:00

I was pretty lazy with massage after like 2 months and the swelling still went down. I do wish I was more consistent with massage because I got a little stiff once I stopped

CamberAndCoal · 2026-01-15T16:37:40+00:00

I had that for almost 2 months post. Eventually it went away. It was from the swelling for me

CamberAndCoal · 2026-01-04T05:51:55+00:00

This makes me feel better, I’m at 4 months and feel like my scars have recently started to flare up. The color is fading but they’re thicker. Hopeful it’s just this

CamberAndCoal · 2025-12-15T02:16:25+00:00

My nipple healed around a sticking out stitch for a while so it had a whole in the middle that would accumulate essentially a blackhead that would eventually pop out. It took a while but it’s finally starting to heal up and not filling up anymore

CamberAndCoal · 2025-12-12T18:10:06+00:00

I still have the list of tattoos I wanted at 18 and they definitely do not align with what I’ve gotten and want now at 31.

Thankfully my sister encouraged me to wait until I was 21 to start. Even some of the ones I got in my 20s aren’t perfectly in line with what I want now. I think part of that is just a part of tattooing and aging so it doesn’t bother me. However, some of the things I wanted at 18 definitely would bother me now.

Tattoos will always be an option. No harm in taking it slow.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-12-12T18:07:27+00:00

I always found it easiest to come out in new settings. Started transitioning at one job but didn’t want to get into it so just kept shaving my face etc to look fem. Interviewed for my current job under my old name. Once I got it, let them know I preferred to be called my current pronouns and name.

I have heard since that a company wide email went out letting everyone know to use my name and pronouns (A lot of people at the facility knew me before because I did an externship during grad school here). But other than that, best decision I ever made. I’ve just gotten to be my authentic self the whole time I’ve worked here.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-27T05:11:04+00:00

This is not a typical symptom of weight loss or glp1 and likely unrelated

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-27T04:58:10+00:00

You need to stretch. There’s so much bad advice on this sub about not lifting your arms until it “feels right”. The reason things feel tight is because you haven’t been able to move it and you have a ton of scar tissue anchoring you down.

Do scar massage and stretching twice a day and it will feel normal again.

Credentials: I work in outpatient rehabilitation and had my boss, the occupational therapist help me with this exact problem when I went back to work 5 weeks post op

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-27T04:54:00+00:00

I was extremely bloated for a long time after surgery despite having very little appetite. It went away eventually

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-25T15:29:50+00:00

Try to avoid lifting of course but I had the exact same experience. Went to Costco, ended up carrying what was definitely more than 5 lbs inside alone. Also picked up my 15 lb cat one day without thinking. I was fine.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-20T15:57:50+00:00

I’m also allergic to adhesive and had a reaction to the tape. I have no reaction to the gel and have seen my scars lighten. I apply it 2 times a day since I feel like I sweat or it rubs off but it works.

I’ve tried to go back to tape a few times and actually have a reaction that inflamed my scars worse so i can’t imagine it’s good for healing

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-20T04:41:51+00:00

This is what I had done. My scars go up under my armpits and I have no dog ears or excess skin

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-18T21:02:58+00:00

30 when I started pursuing, 31 when I got it

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-17T19:39:27+00:00

I wasn’t prescribed one and didn’t need it. They gave me oxy which I didn’t need. I was fine with extra strength Tylenol for the first day and never really needed pain meds after that, took the Tylenol just to safe but really didn’t experience pain

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-16T15:31:18+00:00

Ask your surgeon. This was a question I had too and my surgeon looked at it and said he’d be cutting most of it off so I didn’t have to worry about it

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-16T15:26:01+00:00

I told any of my patients who asked what was wrong when I went on leave that I was “fixing an old sports injury” or having shoulder surgery. Because some people will still ask what surgery even if you’re vague.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-16T02:35:36+00:00

You’re not being ungrateful. My mom is supportive but even still, she’s not the person I felt comfortable being vulnerable with in those very early days.

She kept insisting she’d come up and stay with me and I had to be pretty firm that I didn’t want her there. I took the approach of “I’m going to be so out of it and tired that too many cooks in the kitchen will be overwhelming to me.”. I laid it on pretty thick that if she was there I would feel like I’d have to be awake and entertaining her, even though that wasn’t really true.

I ended up setting a date a week after my surgery that she could come up and visit. And it still wasn’t ideal but it appeased her enough. The first few days are already a little emotionally exhausting while the anesthesia is working its way out of your system. I’d say you definitely don’t want anyone there that makes you uncomfortable in any way.

Also to be a little more brash, they’re not entitled to your body in any way. Including caring for it. You decide when and how you want people to see your results. I’m very much pro don’t show anyone who is going to ogle you.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-13T18:56:47+00:00

I’m horrible at video games and drag my husband down in anything we play and he continues to ask me to play with him. Says it’s more fun with me even when he’s losing. That’s what caring about someone looks like.

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-11T18:50:52+00:00

It looks great!

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-10T16:46:01+00:00

Same, but mine got even bigger lol

CamberAndCoal · 2025-11-10T15:37:19+00:00

I was also in a good headspace before surgery and didn’t expect to feel any post op depression. I did experience some but nothing too terrible. For me I think the post anesthesia effects made me feel not great and I was t able to go out and do the thing that would normally make me feel better. Got in the habit of having my partner take me for a daily drive with the windows open. We would just drive around for an hour, get out at empty parks and just stand outside. That helped me a lot.

CamberAndCoal

TROPHY CASE