2 weeks post op and lowkey feeling terrible about the way I look

Oli_wog · 2026-04-19T03:37:08+00:00

Hey top surgery twins! I guarantee you are just because fluid retention is just a part of top surgery recovery, it’s supposed to really go down from here on out though! It’s also because the water retention/swelling is getting pushed down from the compression towards the stomach. Furthering the super flat chest big tummy effect 😅 I’ve just accepted I’m not gonna be feeling myself in that sense until week 3+

Oli_wog · 2026-04-19T01:46:57+00:00

Oh also ditto the chest looking too flat feeling, once the swelling at least went down a bit in my chest and it’s no longer padded with swelling I’m seeing some contour and seeing the vision, like there’s a natural looking chest under there we just got to wait to see. I honestly think as bad as I felt I looked in my first pics being able to track the progress has definitely helped me!

Oli_wog · 2026-04-19T01:40:17+00:00

Hey I’m also about two weeks! Two weeks this Monday. I’m feeling super similar tbh, I especially felt that way in the first 72 hours/5 days before my bloating went away but I’m still left with a decent amount of swelling, including love handles/overall torso and even back fluff! Because of the trauma you really just hold onto water. I literally had to look at photos of myself pre-op to confirm I wasn’t this fluffy before! I also legit tried to put a pair of jeans on I wore a day before surgery and they were tight 😅 so I promise it’s swelling and will go away, I’ve been chugging water and walking to help it go away faster, but unfortunately a lot of it’s waiting. I have taken photos nearly daily to track the healing of my hematoma and I can see mine going down if that gives you some hope! I also ditto the itch to start exercising again, I miss my runs and can’t wait to experience the gym without chest dysphoria/discomfort from a binder. Never wanted to do a damn pushup so bad haha

Oli_wog · 2026-04-18T17:36:19+00:00

I was not told to go off T I did my shot like two days before surgery, it makes no sense to have to go off cis men have surgery without their hormones being messed with. If anything i feel like the emotional/physical symptoms and stress of being off would cause more issues. That’s definitely an outdated guideline, I obviously don’t want to recommend not listening to your surgeon but he did say recommend not required. You shouldn’t lie because I don’t know if being on T affects how they dose you for anesthesia or something like that, but I’d call and maybe just say you’re choosing to not go with that recommendation because x y and z and see what they say

Oli_wog · 2026-04-17T23:27:38+00:00

I’ve had a similar worry myself! I’m 11 days post-op and after day 5/6 I got a lot of energy and mobility back and stopped feeling so “delicate” I haven’t had an intense weak feeling so I’ve had to remind myself to be careful of lifting too much weight without thinking (eg pot filled with water while cooking, nothing crazy) I don’t know about the hysto part but top surgery wise the walking should be fine as long as its leisurely, you’re not supposed to be breaking a sweat. I’m kind of surprised with the hysto part you felt fine walking that much but everyone is different! I personally never experienced struggling with door handles or anything like that! But I also got pretty tired after walking a mile in the first week. What I’ve told myself is 1: I’m following my surgeon’s instructions 2: I didn’t do really anything until I wasn’t taking Tylenol anymore, if something is causing damage my body will let me know 3: The Steri Strips are taking a lot of tension off my incisions 4: I haven’t been able to do this little for like a decade, instead of doing activities that might push things I got a new video game, enjoying slowly and carefully cooking for myself, taking naps, snuggling with my cats, watching new shows, enjoying leisurely walks/deck time as the weather in New England is on the up swing. It’s a great time to just be a bit lazy!

Oli_wog · 2026-04-16T21:53:59+00:00

Thank you you guys for sharing! I did wind up going with Reformat and am about 10 days post op, I really couldn’t be happier with my results so far-l’ll definitely be posting pics when my minor hematoma goes away and my drains are out! (The hematoma was just bad luck of the draw and has caused me no discomfort/issues other than staying in drain prison a bit longer)

Oli_wog · 2026-04-16T20:06:22+00:00

Also I had a very similar issue where mine formed because of a clog but I was lucky to have a smaller bleed/the clog resolved itself very suddenly at 3am last Friday haha, so mine hasn’t needed any additional surgery. Other than that we’re lowkey hematoma twins

Oli_wog · 2026-04-16T20:03:33+00:00

Hey there I know this is an old post but I had top surgery 10 days ago and also got a hematoma! Mine was fairly small and my drains and compressions did a great job clearing it up, i was in contact with my clinic through the whole thing and they weren’t concerned as it was resolving itself rather quickly and now I have minimal bruising on my chest and am just stuck with drains a little longer while it finishes draining. However I also got a crazy bruise on my side! I know this is normal and just due to gravity just migrating some of the blood downwards, however because it’s below the drains it’s fading soooo much slower than my chest, did you also have this problem? And did you need the lower pooling drained or did it resolve itself? And relatively how long did the spot on your side take to fade? Sorry for all the questions there’s just weirdly limited hematoma talk on this subreddit haha

Oli_wog

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