Ask a trans person!

[theoddz]

Originally Posted by The Oopster

Hey theo and Linus!

Did either of you use arnica before, during, and after your surgery?

Since the two of you also went to voloshin and I know he sometimes doesn't use drains, I am curious of the factor.

I know thinker and I did use it and although he went do a different dr, both of us didn't have drains.

I'm wondering if that played a factor.

I know some in the medical community will say it isn't so, but I am curious.

No, Koop, I didn't use Arnica. Dr. V recommended that I use Nivea Cream (the one in the jar, not the tube) after my surgery, so that's what I did. He said that the other stuff was just "expensive" and it didn't do anything that the Nivea cream wouldn't do for me. I remembered that my sister used Nivea cream on my nephew when he was a baby (he's 21 now, and coming to visit me in July!!! ), so that was good enough for me.

I think that the reason for the drains has to do with how much tissue is removed. Like it was pointed out in Chaz's documentary, the purpose of the drains is to siphon off any accumulated fluid that the body generates to try to replace the excised breast tissue. Wearing the binder post-op, as directed, really helps with that, too. I didn't have my drains in for more than an day, either. It all went pretty quick, I think.

~Theo~