Day 8:
Feeling the best I have yet this morning. Still some numbness in my chest near the scars (sides of nipples), but nothing too crazy. I took off the vest to clean up a bit and noticed there's definitely some asymmetry between the two sides (the pecs don't quite look the same as far as shape goes, and one nipple is a bit indented compared to the other one). My guess is that there's still swelling causing quite a bit of this, and it also may be because people aren't perfect and maybe a little more got lipo'd from one spot on one side than the other. There's also tape over the stitches on the nipples that my be causing the indentation of the one in comparison to the other. I'm trusting that things will even out over time as the swelling goes down.
Even with the swelling that I assume is still there, my chest is notably smaller in appearance than it was. I've never had a particularly strong looking set of pecs anyways, and some of that fatty tissue was probably just masquerading as muscle the whole time, so now that it's gone/reduced, I'll have to build a proper set of pecs if I want to have a powerful looking chest. I'm fine with that, especially now that I have the resources and knowledge to really focus my hypertrophy training and diet to maximize growth where I want it. I intend to implement more chest specific work in my program once I get back to lifting in order to prioritize this.
Went back to work today. Lots to do, even though I worked from home last week, it's not the same as being at the job site and able to walk and talk to the crew.
Glad to be getting back in the routine.
I've been told the vest will come off when I go in for my appointment on Friday. As long as I don't need it anymore, that's certainly fine by me. It's annoying but most of the day I forget it's even there. If I was told I had to wear it 5 more weeks, I would, but I don't expect they'll say that. The worst is at night, when it itches or digs into the skin and there's nothing to disctract me from it.
Probably the worst part about trying to sleep right now is still sleeping on my back at an incline. I'm going to check w my surgeon today and ask if I can go back to my normal sleeping position (sides and stomach) and see what she says.