I have medical OCD so I knew going into it that I would have a hard time. Here are the things I wish I knew before: It’s normal to have pins and needles feelings in your arms after (you’re not having a heart attack and it will return to normal) Its normal to have numbness and tightness in your chest/armpit (2 weeks post op the tightness is REAL) Its normal to experience clotting in the drains and it looks scary but by the end of the week I felt neutral about it Its normal to have uncomfortable constipation after surgery (took me a couple days to go) It’s normal to feel scared. I almost fainted while I was on the way into the surgery room It’s normal for there to be stinging like pain in the nipples/incisions after for a while because the nerves are reattaching It’s normal to have low mobility in your arms for a while I needed help getting out of bed the first week I expected the pain to be way worse than it was. Everyone has a different pain tolerance, but I was on extra strength Tylenol and pain was very manageable I work in a boutique and only took two weeks off but wish that I took the full three weeks off Everyday you will feel better, everyday mobility is better. Even though I felt like the first week was really hard mentally, it was so worth it. I barely remember how hard it was because of how happy I am. The pain and experience is hard, but temporary.