My take on DI surgery

*I wrote this blog a while back and found it in my drafts.  I'll go ahead and post it as I want to get my story out from my point of view.  I'll update some more later*

Ok, now I want to talk about the surgery itself.  As much as I researched, as much as I talked with other guys, as much as the surgeon tried to explain everything in detail....I wasn't prepared for the recovery, not at all.  Now in the past I've considered myself to have a mild pain tolerance.  I don't like pain but when it happens I can suffer thorough it.  And I was a good patient.  I stayed down and chill for the first two weeks.  Then I started slowly getting around.  I wanted to be so careful as to make sure I got the best results possible.  Then I hit my 6 week mark and thought that was it.  I had the notion that at 6 weeks it all magically healed and I was perfect again.  So around that next week I needed to get back to work...well, work that I can get anyway.  I'm doing gardening for home gardeners.  I only worked about 10 hours over 2 days which isn't much. But man did I pay for it.  I was swollen and had the most pain since the surgery...more even because first couple of weeks after surgery as I was on morphine and felt no pain!
So I'll be honest...I've been incredibly frustrated at how long it has taken.  All the meanwhile my sweet nurse girlfriend kept trying to tell me these things but I just thought I was different, I was strong and healthy.  Ugh, don't fool yourselves.  Listen to your body.  Mine was bitching and moaning longer than I ever expected. 

So much to catch up on...I'll start with biggest news first.

So, here it is...me! The real me, the me I've wanted for so long. I am incredibly blessed to have been able to get my surgery. I'm not sure if you have consistently kept up on my inconsistent blog but if you have you would know I had been very unhappy at work. And I suspected they were edging me out. So in December they dissolved my whole department. Those bastards after slaving us away all summer, apparently in preparation of this event, let my whole crew and I go 2 weeks before Christmas. Well besides wanting to say a big FUCK YOU to them, I should actually count my blessings. My surgery probably wouldn't have happened without being let go. I wouldn't have been strong enough to take 6 weeks off and come back a different person. So maybe I should thank them....maybe. So timing is a funny thing. And I suppose fate has a bit to do with things as well.

So anyway, I scheduled my surgery with Dr Peter Raphael in Plano TX for late April. I had actually cashed out my 403b to assist with being unemployed and decided to just go ahead and pay for the surgery with it so I could start out new employment as the real me. I would highly recommend Dr. Raphael. Beyond being a charming nice individual, he is a gifted surgeon and lets you know what your role is on getting the best results. This is a 50/50 situation. One must prepare beforehand and then care for themselves properly afterwards to help the surgeon achieve the best results. Now I'm not saying some surgeons don't botch surgeries but I think sometimes people in general think plastic surgery fixes them without having to do the homework. His homework for this surgery was to do chest exercises. Build my pecs up so he could see my natural lines and work around them. Well, I probably got serious about 7-8 months beforehand about exercise in anticipation I might be having surgery...then once I had the date, it was on like donkey kong. I focused primarily on my pecs and shoulders. And let my tell you, I don't love working out. It's just another chore to me like laundry or dishes. But it had to be done, reluctantly. So there you have it. A short update on what I've recently been up to. I'll write another one about the actual surgery and recovery and such. If anyone has questions, post on the comments and I'll answer them in my next blog.