I dont know if I can trust my doctors (TW for surgery scars and healed sh scars)
Hey everybody, I just wanted to ask some questions on here about my double incision mastectomy I got 1 month ago on 20th July. Just some basic info to start it off, I'm from Germany, nonbinary and I live about 4 hours from Berlin, which is where I got my surgery. With being an apprentice, I can't just quickly pop over to my surgeon to ask, but I can text them basically all the time. For the aftercare I went to my usual doctor who is slightly transphobic I guess, but still treats me lol, who did everything just fine up until this point but really doesn't seem to have much expertise on this medical branch, which I get, as he isn't a specialist.
Now to my issue/s: Since last friday, I was allowed to take my compression vest off and shower properly for the first time. My surgeon told me I can slowly start massaging around the scars to loosen up the skin/detach it from the muscle beneath, which makes sense. My usual doctor told me to not massage at all, as it isn't entirely healed and that way, I could rip open the stitches, which also makes sense.
I went to my usual doctor this morning for check up on the scars and the healing, he said that sure, I could "spend that money on scar gel/cream later, but you chest will never look better" and that discouraged me HEAVILY and also made me rethink if it was the right decision (I cried happy tears the moment I woke up after surgery so I like to think it was). This is my first ever transition step aside from official name change and I'm still figuring out what I want/don't want as I go (as I just turned 18 this summer) and this feels like a punch in the stomach, as I'm not quite happy with the outcome just yet.
As you'll see in the pictures (idk if I should put a TW for those?) where my scars start in the middle of my chest, there are folds in the scar itself/a little pocket above my scar. My doctor said there wasn't any wound fluid underneath the skin after patting that area a little bit. The stitches I got and the thread used for the double incision are supposed to be self-dissolving but in the area of the folds the threads are still there and havent dissolved yet.
Now, finally (I'm so sorry for the long rant, I just really don't know who else I can talk to) to my questions:
- Should I massage yet or not?
- Is my usual doctor correct about my chest never looking better?
- Will the folds go away?
- Should I rather talk to my surgeon (pictures may not be 100% accurate to real life, quality wise already) or to my usual doctor?
Thank you in advance to everyone :)