One week after “my big day”!

One week ago at this time I was under general anesthesia in the middle of my masculinizing mastectomy. 

In a couple weeks I’ll be starting physical therapy and hopefully in 3-4 weeks I can start running again — maybe even swimming carefully, if my scars are healed enough to avoid infection… 

Last night I was able to sleep on my side again for the first time in a week — YAY! 

The sutures for my nipple graphs pull and ache but hopefully that will also feel much better after my second post-op appointment tomorrow. 

My upper-body still feels tense and very constricted, and my energy levels are still very low, very far from my normal, but my range of motion is steadily increasing, slowly but surely. And every glimpse I get of my “new” chest, of my flat chest — even with the long dark scars and the irritated skin and the bruising and the nipple bolsters — I love it. I love this flat chest, I love it all, I really do. It’s so me.

This is me! 

And I can’t wait to be healed and strong enough again to show this to the world!