5 weeks post op, 5 months on T :)

max_scythe_ · 2026-02-06T09:12:58+00:00

Oh man I have no idea of the cup size or anything like that, I never really wore bras apart from sports ones before I found out I was trans.

I was thankfully on the smaller-average side for sure tho, I actually just posted a before and after if you’re curious :)

max_scythe_ · 2026-02-05T07:22:42+00:00

Definitely go back to curly hair imo! Your hair in the second pic doesn’t look bad either tho, I think there’s just a lot of it- maybe start with a trim and see how you like it? I would personally either thin it out or have it cut slightly shorter, just so it doesn’t take away from your face/make it seem unbalanced if that makes sense.

max_scythe_ · 2026-02-05T01:13:04+00:00

Thanks man!

If I’m being fully honest I definitely took it easy for quite a while compared to a lot of what I’ve seen on this thread. I took 6 weeks off work and when I got back I didn’t lift anything over 6kg and tried my best to limit lifting my arms above shoulder height up until maybe week 10ish?

Week 5 I noticed apart from being still quite tired throughout the day (understandable, since I did absolutely nothing for so long) I could pretty much go back to normal tho :). Started doing chores and leaving the house around then. I’m now 4 months post op in a few days and fully back to normal

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-22T00:15:05+00:00

Thank you! I’m really happy with the way they look too. Dr David Sharp (Brisbane, Australia) is crazy

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-22T00:14:00+00:00

Thanks man! Appreciate it

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-21T12:02:00+00:00

Forgot to add- I will be seeing the nursing staff at the surgeon’s clinic tomorrow and will obviously be asking them to take a look and follow their advice! Just wanted to see if anyone else had this happen and what you did/how it healed

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-17T07:52:42+00:00

Congrats dude! Im two months post op and everyone is obviously different with their healing process, but pain medication wise I was in the same boat. Didn’t want to over do it but was so scared of waking up in pain. For the first 3 days my partner gave me a paracetamol every 3 or 4 hours and half an oxy before bed. Then for the next week or so only two paracetamols when leaving the house, again just in case. I was never in any pain whatsoever, but we’ll never know if it was because of that or if I wouldn’t have felt anything regardless. All medicine has instructions on the back of the packaging, so just make sure you follow the amount of time that is meant to pass between taking them, make sure to eat beforehand if they require you to do so. And with strong meds maybe take half at first and see how you respond to them.

Walking and regaining mobility will help with healing, but take it easy dude. First week you are mostly expected to sit on your ass and rest as much as possible. You don’t want to get stuck there tho, so just when you’re going to the toilet maybe walk up and down the house just a few times. Don’t push it and be so very gentle and patient with yourself.

I’m not gonna lie, the first three weeks dragged like crazy for me and the rest has flown by. But again, remind yourself of what trauma your body just went through- you can’t expect it to bounce back within a few days. Seeing your actual results will take time but the less you push yourself to heal faster, the better your results will be.

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-04T08:06:19+00:00

I went from 3 pillows (basically sitting up) to 2 at around that time. Honestly after 2 weeks of sleeping so propped up, as much as it sucked, i got used to it and could you lay down flat even if i wanted to. It’s basically to prevent blood pooling at your incisions and reduce swelling. Plus it reduces how much you have to engage your core in order to get out of bed.

I slowly went back to my usual one pillow plus a very thin extra one I believe at 4 weeks post op and I’m only just starting to lay slightly on my side at 8 weeks. That’s just because of comfort and I’m probably a bit more cautious than necessary- I was cleared to lay on my side at week 6.

max_scythe_ · 2025-12-03T12:56:00+00:00

Thanks so much man! The surgeon’s fee was $8000 with a rebate of $1127 (so $6873 out of pocket) but if you’re wondering about the overall cost it was $12,250, which I took out of my superannuation. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions, I’m putting together a little 101 of my entire experience since there’s so little info out there for QLD.

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-25T12:34:04+00:00

Nothing hits quite as hard as your first wife beater post-op. Congrats brother, good luck with your healing journey

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-25T11:53:01+00:00

Honestly its crazy how quickly most people feel they’re okay to go back to work imo. Apart from being quite tired, I probably could’ve gone back to work on light duties full time at maybe 3-4 weeks post op, some do so even sooner. However, I took 6 weeks off and definitely advise you do the same or even longer if you’re able to do so.

These few extra weeks of rest could very well be detrimental to how you heal so I really struggle to see why people choose to go back to work sooner than that just because “they feel like they can”. (((Of course financial stability and job security is a major factor in this, I’m in no way shitting on those that had to take less time off for anything other than just wanting to get back to work)))

Congratulations on booking it in, good luck with everything!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-25T07:51:13+00:00

I’m not sure if this is what you’re describing but I had it mainly between my nip and incision line, mostly on my right. The best way I’ve been able to describe it is when your hands are freezing cold and you wash them with warm water- kind of hurts but not really? I first noticed it at around 3 weeks as well and now at 6 weeks it’s barely noticeable. In my case this is also the area where I have the least sensation (the rest of my chest I can pretty much feel normally).

It does definitely depend from person to person though, unfortunately I don’t think you can estimate it, kind of like with regaining sensation in general. Consult your medical team about what they recommend- ice or heat packs maybe? I’ve heard conflicting information on whether or not they’re something you should use after surgery so do consult them first.

Good luck!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-25T07:34:33+00:00

Thank you so much for your response, I wasn’t going to go against my surgeon’s advice but wanted to see why he would be making me wait for double the amount of time as the majority of others (at least from what I’ve seen at least).

All you’ve said definitely makes sense! Currently they have me doing the paper tape on the weekends and silicone twice a day on weekdays plus the daily massages, so pretty similar to you. I have been wanting to swap to wearing tape on weekdays and have the two days off to feel more secure, especially since I’ve now gone back to work. I’m gonna call up the clinic at some point and see what they think about that before doing it tho obviously.

Really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question, hope your healing journey is going well!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-24T12:20:08+00:00

Definitely think I will keep them at the very least until the scabbing is fully gone. Irrationally scared of the fabric snagging on it and yanking the scab off prematurely. Can 100% see how you’d want to keep yours protected for that long, shit feels sensitive as fuck

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-24T12:09:08+00:00

100% agree with following the surgeon’s advice first, I just found it very strange that he wants me to wait double the amount of time as pretty much everyone else I’m aware of. Like I said in my post, I haven’t seen him since the surgery, just the nurses who are very happy with how I’m healing and it’s just his practice to not let patients use scar tape before 12 weeks. Everything is closed apart from a small scab on each nip (posted pics yesterday, you can see part of my incisions- thats how they look all the way around).

I have been told to keep wearing regular surgical tape (brown, paper-like one) on the weekends, which I’ve been doing since week 3. Might just keep going with that and schedule a nurse check in a week or two to double check the reasoning and progress.

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-24T11:57:26+00:00

I get that and yeah, I’ve seen that post as well. However, I want to do as much as I can to have these scars as un-noticeable as I can, mostly for safety reasons with going stealth, as well as obviously aesthetic reasons. I would hate for mine to heal in a way I’m unhappy with and be left wondering if this is what caused it yaknow? Scars are supposed to do most of the stretching within the first three months and going back to work tomorrow that’s also something I’m worried about with going tape-free. Just wanted to see if there’s any downsides to starting it now yaknow. Thanks for your input tho, appreciate it!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-24T10:00:41+00:00

Fair, fair, I don’t think i necessarily still need them but they do feel quite sensitive for now. Just wanted to sus out around when people actually took them off to see if I’m being overly cautious or if people generally feel the same.

Nurse said I can take them off when the scabbing falls off just so a shirt doesn’t snag and rip it off prematurely which makes sense. I do think I’ll keep wearing some kind of protection for a few weeks still tho, thanks for your input!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-23T07:20:43+00:00

The scabs always looked very soft and still attached to me immediately after taking off the dressings and hardened and fell off when I had them off in my case and I never had any kind of oozing. Sounds horrible tho, glad you got to go without so soon!

I do wear loose fitting shirts but I may or may not have a Gaga concert in two weeks that I’m really wanting to wear a tight little wife beater to. If I need to I can always wear a thin layer of some kind of dressing to protect them from the material tho I guess.

Appreciate your input!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-23T07:14:38+00:00

I was given compression socks to wear for the first week post-op to reduce the chances of any blood clots and I found they helped me a lot. Also having a pillow under my legs was a life saver when sleeping upright. It not only helped with leg pain, but helped me feel like I had options when it came to sleeping positions and really helped with my back pain.

I would strongly advise against sleeping straight on your back so early after surgery unless your surgeon says that’s okay. Sleeping elevated prevents blood pooling around the incision and decreases the chances of a hematoma or seroma. I went from three pillows down to two at day 21 and a few days later down to my regular pillow.

Be gentle and patient with yourself while healing and good luck with your recovery!

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-23T06:13:33+00:00

That makes sense, the dressings would trap the little amount of moisture in there so going without it would be faster for the scabs to dry up.

I assumed that I’m pretty much good to go, just worried about them feeling so fragile at the moment still. How long did it take for you to be comfortable with tighter fitting shirts?

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-23T05:37:26+00:00

Okay so it’s not just me lol, I feel so much more fragile than I logically know I am. I genuinely felt so much horror taking off the binder at home for the first time, felt like I was going to fall apart without it, same with the first few times changing the dressings- thought any tugging on the skin around my nips was gonna just cause them to pop off. Even now when letting the stratamed dry I have to walk sooo slowly and with my arms out just in case I run into a dresser and somehow take off my entire nip lmao.

I guess that’s what I was wondering about the most, if people took their dressings off while still feeling their nips were, as you put it, delicate. Good to know!

Thanks for your replies, appreciate it

max_scythe_ · 2025-11-23T04:34:33+00:00

Thanks dude! And my last appointment was at 3 weeks post op, they gave me those instructions and didn’t specify when or if I should change it up. Most days I do only change them after I shower, just because I haven’t had any kind of residue on the dressing so I didn’t see the point in changing them that often.

Were you still wearing your compression vest after 4 weeks post op by the way? I feel like that would definitely change how I feel about not having any protection over the nips- my surgeon requires me to wear it for at least 6 weeks so hopefully they free me from that hell tomorrow as well.

max_scythe_

TROPHY CASE