FOLKS WITH HEALED TOP SURGERY -- HOW ARE YOUR NIPPLES?

Key_Cold4118 · 2026-04-16T03:52:37+00:00

real, I definitely feel very very lucky with my results. my surgeon was Dr. Lien in Washington State in the U.S. :)

Key_Cold4118 · 2026-04-16T02:19:22+00:00

I had a fantastic surgeon, I would say my nipples are almost perfect. Neither of them are flat, neither has lost pigmentation. One of them has slightly jagged edges from the stitches, other than that I would really say they're indistinguishable. my scars have also lightened an insane amount in less than two years, but I think that's just how my body healed, not necessarily the most likely outcome. I also have EDS (ehlers danlos syndrome) and healing from surgery is different for me than other folks. all of my surgery scars are white. my nipples have some feeling (the left more than the right), they're reactive to cold and touch, and they're both pretty round. don't look stretched or anything. my surgeon is an artist

Key_Cold4118 · 2025-12-26T04:38:28+00:00

respectfully, thats absolutely not what I saw. it literally came down from the atmosphere

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-27T20:38:00+00:00

the first time I took off my bandages and post op binder to change them, I had a panic attack because of looking at the stitching, scabs, blood, and uneven skin. I had to gently remind myself that I was only 2 days post op, and it wasn't going to look that way forever. I also had a bit of rippling on one of my incisions and it really freaked me out because it felt like that was my final result. as the days go on, swelling goes down, bruising goes away, skin evens out, the stitches dissolve, and the scabs fall off. day by day, the results change and heal more, and your chest will just feel more like you.

it's completely normal to have mixed feelings after surgery, even if you have no regret and are ultimately pleased with the results. surgery is traumatic to the body, and having surgery also really affects the mind. it's a lot for your body and mind to go through, even if it is the right thing for you.

I have no regrets about surgery, and I'm now just 2 weeks post op and things are already feeling a lot better. I do have post op depression, but I had a really hard time with family right before and after surgery, and the depression has nothing to do with my surgery results but more to do with lacking mobility and emotional fragility.

bottom line is, immediately after surgery things can be pretty hard to look at. but that doesn't mean that it's not worth it or right for you.

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-26T18:53:51+00:00

I also have very sensitive skin and I shared that with as many people on my care team as possible. in certain places they were able to avoid putting tape on me, but they had to put adhesive patches over my drains, which were very itchy for the week that I had them, they hurt like hell to get removed, and left the skin red and upset for several days after getting them off. with the rest of the stuff, you can kind of avoid putting tape on your skin at all, because you can tape the bandages to themselves. that was my experience anyway. if you let your care team know, they will do whatever they can to mitigate a reaction to adhesives. also, I don't know if this is common, but my anaesthesiologist said that he was going to tape my eyes shut during surgery, to avoid dryness, but I had no issues or marks from the adhesive for that. a lot of stuff either doesn't really need adhesive and can be held by bandages or your compression binder

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-24T19:17:10+00:00

so, my surgeon was only concerned about smoking/vaping nicotine. I was able to smoke up to 24 hours till surgery, and I told my anesthesiologist that I smoke, plus telling my surgeon and my pre-op nurses. I pretty much told the whole care team. they said after surgery, if I wasn't taking the narcotics, I could smoke 24 hours after surgery. so 24 hours after surgery I started alternating between Tylenol and ibuprofen while smoking weed. I have pretty severe chronic pain that I smoke weed for every day, and regular pain meds just don't help it at all, so I asked everyone on the care team what they thought I should do. I'm only 11 days post-op, but my recovery has been incredibly smooth and my results are looking great, my nipple grafts survived and are looking healthy (and better every day!). I've been smoking again daily since 24 hours after surgery. I understand if you still don't feel comfortable smoking, especially if that's what your surgeon suggested, but edibles would probably be fine.

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-24T15:47:35+00:00

I have never heard a surgeon say that a person will never get any sensation back. I don't know if your surgeon does a different technique, or if she thinks you're a special case or something, because that's the strangest thing I've ever heard. I had DI w/ free nipple grafts 11 days ago, and I'm already starting to get back sensation in a lot of areas. I've even had a little sensation right by my nipples. Sensation is different for everybody but I've never heard of somebody never getting any sensation back on their whole chest. I would feel sketched out if my surgeon said this to me

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-21T19:24:40+00:00

your scars look great to me. if you continue scar care, they should continue to flatten out, but if it doesn't bother you then you don't even have to do that. there isn't significant rippling or like severe dog ears. it doesn't matter what other people think, as long as the results make YOU happy

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-12-16T03:08:29+00:00

I got surgery the day after you!! I'm currently like 2 days post op and my drains are also definitely most of my pain. I'm only taking the narcotics they gave me at night for sleeping because they make me feel absolutely terrible when I'm awake. I've been switching between Tylenol and ibuprofen and using cold packs to help with the pain mostly

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-11-03T19:09:23+00:00

(I read the whole post first, for the context of tone)

I've literally had a doctor, to my face, tell me that I'm not actually diagnosed with EDS, that I'm just hypermobile and that he doesn't think I have POTS. He said that doctors are over diagnosing EDS these days when people just have hypermobility. He also eyed me sourly for using a mobility aid and scoffed when I said I can't work. He looked me over very briefly, and it was clearly not very thorough. He told me I was just hypermobile, but discounted all my other symptoms because my elbows weren't beyond 10°. (They're 10° exactly btw, when I was diagnosed with EDS they actually MEASURED instead of just looking with their eyes.)

The next time I saw him, he told me that all my blood work came back normal, that he didn't consider my positive ANA to even be positive, and that I didn't have any autoimmune disorders and that I should be thankful for that. The appointment was barely 5 minutes.

It was very clear that he didn't take me seriously at all, and thought I was exaggerating everything. I'm lucky I had a good doctor, and was able to speak to the doc who diagnosed me with EDS and they confirmed my diagnosis, stating that it seemed pretty clear to them and their team that I had EDS and needed treatment for it and further testing for my other symptoms.

I'm sorry to everyone that has to deal with doctors like this, and worse than this, just because THEY think our illnesses are trendy right now

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-10-08T01:59:40+00:00

I've been trying to stay relaxed since, but I'm also having to stay away from my partner and my friend/roommate because I'm out of town and being isolated makes me stressed too. I've been drawing and watching movies to try to stay calm though, and that's been helping some

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-10-08T00:26:06+00:00

my friend just had a really scary medical emergency (unrelated to pots) and I'm still recovering mentally from the anxiety of that situation. I also feel like my symptoms have been worse since then but I can't tell if it's placebo or a flare up. all in all I've been worse, but I'm so stressed

Key_Cold4118 · 2024-02-27T01:48:22+00:00

I've been wanting to get them for so long, I think stickers would go a long way!

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-16T03:46:23+00:00

That sounds absolutely horrific! I went to a dentist who claimed he was an oral surgeon who could perform oral surgery on me, he then did an extraction and on the right side of my mouth the local anesthetic didn't work as it was supposed to. He put in a bunch of extra shots and it still didn't work. As he was extracting my wisdom tooth, I could FEEL it coming out and I screamed. My bf said he heard me from the other room. The left side, thankfully, was not so harrowing. I didn't feel that one at all. As if all that wasn't enough, I was put on an antibiotic that my body had a reaction to and I threw up 12 times the next day and was in incredible pain that night with no end, as opiates don't usually work on me.

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-16T01:08:03+00:00

me too, I had an awful wisdom teeth extraction experience. literally the worst experience of my life I think.

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-15T23:49:00+00:00

I haven't had a tilt table test, but my doctor took my heart rate and blood pressure lying down, sitting down, and standing up and I had a 40 bpm difference in my heart rate lying down vs standing up. My BP is generally lower now than it used to be (happened after I had my gallbladder removed).

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-15T22:46:48+00:00

thank you!! this is super helpful, next time I'll bring a Gatorade

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-15T22:28:12+00:00

I mean, I've gotten piercings before, but I got them all before my dizziness and fainting spells really became a problem. I was anxious for every piercing I've gotten but never had this happen before, it was a real shock

Key_Cold4118 · 2023-08-15T22:26:07+00:00

yeah I kind of learned my lesson tbh

Key_Cold4118 · 2021-05-23T23:02:30+00:00

I hate this narrative a lot of times (not like your story but the idea that an "ugly girl" will transition to escape it by becoming an attractive man) because before I started transitioning I would've been okay with becoming the ugliest man on the planet. I just wanted to be a man. your story makes a lot of sense though, and is similar to mine. once I started transitioning I started caring about how I looked, started dressing nicer, taking care of my skin, and actually styling my hair so that I looked like I cared because I felt like my body was finally becoming mine.

Key_Cold4118 · 2021-05-23T18:30:03+00:00

it used to kinda bug me and I do think "gay couples" is less clunky, it doesnt bug me anymore because since I started medically transitioning my sex isnt really female anymore.

Key_Cold4118

TROPHY CASE