One Year Post-Op

Well here it is one year after my bilateral mastectomy! I will say that having this surgery was by far the best thing that I have ever done for myself. Last summer was awesome. For the first summer in my entire adult life, I was able to wear a tee-shirt without a binder underneath. It felt so nice without the extra sweaty material against my body.
I was rather rash about getting this surgery done. I had wanted it all my life so the first opportunity that I got I jump at it. I figured that it was now or never! My company offered a FSA so I took out the max amount allowed and used the money to have a mastectomy. I did not care about a plastic surgeon I just needed the D sized growths removed from my chest. I was not concerned about scaring nor did I really care to be able to walk around without a shirt on. My main concern were the binders that I had been wearing for almost 25 years. They had hindered my breathing, comfort and just overall performance.
Now it is a year later and I am still very happy. If I had my time to go over again I would have done a little more research and had gotten a better surgery for the same price.
Even though I am still happy to have the growth removed. I would encourage all to please do your research and don't let your desire to have a mastectomy make you jump at the first thing to come your way.
Love to all!

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Sometimes the best place to start is OVER!

The Chattahoochee River
Well this is just what I did! After 20 years I am back home in Georgia! It feels so good to be home. I also made a trip to Alabama where I lived when I went to high school. Now that my fiend was 25 years ago! Wow was it really odd feeling to be there again and this time not in trouble of some sort. I have so much history in Alabama some I wish to forget and some that I never want to forget.

I have also been trampling around in some cemeteries! No I am not a morbid person although some do think I am. I just love to do Genealogy research and it led me to some old cemeteries. Wouldn't you know that it rained and stormed all day. I felt like I was running from tornadoes all day! Although non were spotted or reported.

I am not 41 days post-op and sometimes it is hard for me to remember that it has only been six weeks since my surgery so I have to slow myself down some. I find myself lifting and doing things that I should not be doing until week ten. My healing has come along so good that it is easy to forget. Until I get that little pain in my chest that reminds me.

Well Inanna my cat is for sure a queen. She should be having her kitten on or before May the ninth. She is being a nightmare to get along with. I assume it is hormonal just like humans go through. She is being so picky about her food. She no longer likes what she has been eating her entire life so we are having to experiment on different cat food to find something she likes. Mostly it seems she wants human food which I know is not the right kind of food for her.

Well I will blog more later! Bye folks!!

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Day 24

Well it has been a while since I have blogged but I have went back to work and I have had a hard time getting readjusted to working. I did not realize how my range of motion had been impeded with my surgery. The scars still feel really tight as in when I lift my arm I can feel the pull near the incision site. As a manager my work week consist of 6 days. So I went back this week and I stayed home only one of those days when I had a lot of swelling going on.

Most of my steri-strips are gone now. I have about a two inch strip left on my left side that I have been a little nervous about trying to remove. I keep reading that I should let them just fall off. I had to coerce mine into coming off because on day 21 they still acted as if that had no plans of ever coming off.

I went back to work two weeks after my surgery. Honestly for having a total mastectomy I think that was to soon. The first day I went I had major soreness and lots of swelling. I put my Ace Bandage back and put ice on it and that helped. So now I am afraid to go to work without my Ace Bandage on. So I think I will just wear this thing until most of the tenderness is gone. Personally I would recommend that one should wait at least four weeks to insure that they are through the rough spots. I would have but my doctor said it was okay for me to go back. So my job expects me to do what my doctor thinks is best.

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Obama appoints transgendered as Advisor

Looks like President Obama is holding true to his slogan "Yes we can"! I have been so proud of what he has accomplished. If we can get past the fact that he walked into a White House that was already broke. He has tried to make some changes and what is making most so mad is that he is doing this for the little people. I don't like to discuss politics so I will stop at it here.

Amanda Simpson, 49, is a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality board of directors, and is taking over the spot as the Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Industry and Security. On December 31st, Simpson was quoted in a statement hoping that her appointment will open doors for other transgender people:

Ms. Simpson has thirty years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry. She recently served as Deputy Director in Missile Systems in Tuscon, Arizona. She holds degrees in physics, engineering, and business administration. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot.

“I’m truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me,” said Simpson, in a prepared statement released by Transgender Equality on Dec. 31. “And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government,” she said, “I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.”

Amanda Simpson you truly inspire me!

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Day 15

I have about 30 more minutes and it will be the start of day 16. I will have to say I have been very lucky with my recovery. To date I have not had any complications. Maybe a good bit of pain because I do not like taking strong pain medication. Most of my pain management has been with Advil. I am an Aries so I like to be alert and doing something all the time. I never did anything really physical but I have been up and around a lot.

As of today my Steri-Strips still do not act like they are ready to come off at all. I was told by the nurse to let them peal and just cut them down as they come off. Well this is not happening for me. When I make it to day 21 I will have to try and encourage them to come off. She said for me to take a long shower and get them really wet and try to peal them. I don't know if I am crazy but I am really afraid to take them off. I wish they would just do like they are suppose to do and peal.

This week I have been really sore. When the Dr. took my drains off on Monday she made me promise to leave this ace bandage on for a whole week. Well that means on Monday the 15th I can take it off, but again because of the steri-strips I don't feel comfortable taking it off because it still feels as if I am going to split open. I go back to work on Tuesday the 16th. That is 18 days post op. My job is a very physical one so I asked the doctor for light duty for a while. She gave me a note for light duty until the end of the month. Well I am sure that will work out great for me.

I will be so glad to take this ace bandage off. My incisions do not hurt much they just feel a little tender like a bruise feeling. This ace bandage is a nightmare though. It has made the muscles under my arms ache they almost feel raw. I have put padding all around my underarm but it has not relieved all the pain. I was a good boy though I followed Dr. orders to the letter.

I am a restaurant manager and guess who is coming for a visit to eat breakfast. My surgeon is coming with her family. She is on a diet but she said she is going to let it go for one day so that she can come and eat. I think that is so great! My doctors are great! The name of the restaurant that I work at spells hardening of the arteries.

Here is to looking forward to Monday. 25 years of binders will be no more! :)

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Unconditional Love

I still remember when I was young, my grandmother was talking about a guy from work. She said that he was a cute little guy. That he use to bring her mail to her every day that he would jump up on her desk. Kind of makes me think of Nanny Fine! Lol! Than she said that one day he left on a trip over seas and when he came back that he was now a she. She still remembers him calling her to meet for lunch. She says that when she saw him that she was wearing a beautiful white dress and was very pretty.

I remember looking at her in amazement and I asked her, "Can girls get changed to boys?". She looked at me very odd and her reply was don't you ever say that again. Now this scared me! I felt like I had really done something wrong.

Well I didn't bring it up to her anymore until I was much older and felt that I could out run her. She listened to me but I really did not get much of a reaction from her. She has brothers and sister that were religious and I am not sure that they would of understood. In the end she stood up for me as if she dared someone to say anything negative about me. When my grandmother passed away she defended me as her grandson. She even sent me a grandson birthday card one year.

I learned a lesson from my family in all the turmoil I went through. They are people too, and they need time to adjust. Especially when they don't understand. I found that for the majority of my family they proved unconditional love and support as far as my TS goes. Now we argue like most families do but it had nothing to do with my gender issues. All and all I will say that my family has been great and they are very happy for me every step of the way.

I am so happy to of had the family that I had and the ones that I still have. My mother passed away in 2006 and she would go after someone with any weapon she could get her hands on if they talked bad about me. Unconditional Love!!

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Drains Are Gone!

I am so excited! I went for my post-op appointment today. The office was a little behind so I had to wait an extra 30 minutes, but I was not bothered by that. I had been waiting for this surgery all my life and 30 minutes was not going to break me.

When I was finally seen and the doctor says I was doing great. The drainage was down so now she should be able to remove the drains without a problem.

First of all let me tell you, I had watched a youtube video of the drains being removed from a person. Now when the surgeon removed that persons drains they looked all shocked and said "are you done? I didn't feel a thing". I was so relieved because I was so sore I just don't think I could deal with more pain.

Okay now back to today. Well the surgeon had me to lay back on the bed and she took her little scissors and sniped the stitches that hold the drain in place. She said at the count of three and then she pulled it out. OUCH that hurt!!! Well just my right side hurt the left side did not hurt at all just a little burning sensation. Which leaves me to believe that maybe I was just having a little problem with the right side. She told me that the burning was normal that every body had mentioned that before.

When she was done she covered the holes up with gauze and started wrapping that Ace Bandage around me again. What!? I thought I was done with that. Well I have to wear it for one more week just to make sure I don't have anymore fluid build up and to make sure the skin connects to the chest muscle. Okay the 25 year logic once again comes to mind and all is well.

Well my wife took me out to eat to Sweet Tomato and I really enjoyed it. We were going to go see the movie Shutter Island but decided to wait until Friday. I was just really sore. I am sure that after I sleep tonight it will feel much better. It feels like I have been working my upper body out today with weights.

I am getting really tired now so I will go to bed and blog again tomorrow. I am sure I will feel a lot better then.

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