consult is scheduled/ surgery scheduled/ all done

[max_badger]

 
I made the 1st step, calling to schedule the consult, but now it gets more difficult.  This will be my 2nd attempt; my 1st was some 30 years ago with a general practitioner who was a dr. JERK. It took me this long to build up to nerve to try again.  I called a plastic surgeon in Quebec, no referal required and will meet in 10 days.
Now I'm at the age where my hormones are lower and I suspect that I may be in another growing phase.  They are not that big, they are smaller than most pics I have seen, but somehow it is always more acceptable when it is on someone else.  I need the surgery.

What are the questions I should ask, not wanting to appear as a total idiot.

Another big point is that I won't have anyone to accompany me to the surgery; have always been a loner, no friends,  no family except for 1 parent in a nursing home.  There must be some service available in these cases; right?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 

[Storm]

If nothing else I'd suggest pre-making a bunch of food and setting up a bunch of things for yourself in the day or two before the surgery so that you are essentially looked after for basic necessities after the surgery. You may end up having to take a cab to and from the hospital, that's about all I can think of. I suppose there might be a service available for being looked after post-op like a nursing service or something along those lines though, I have no idea.

[max_badger]

It turns out that my situation of not having anyone to accompany me to the surgery is not that unusual, the doc knew exactly what to do.
The consult went well, short and sweet. The doc told me what I expected, no surprises, but then I was well prepared from having read so much.
I was really freaking out from the stress fed by a bad experience with a doctor jerk G.P. and decades of bad memories. I don't know if anyone can relate but for me the worst is over, the surgery is scheduled, it will be all over soon.  I'm not looking for perfection but I would be happy if I don't get odd looks with a tight shirt; feeling comfortable with shirt off in public would be a bonus.
Here is what will happen:
1- get and EKG
2- in a few days the nurse will call to answer any other questions I may have
3- fill out prescription:  morphine, anti-nausea, ....
4- the day before surgery I call to confirm exact time I should be there
5- surgery at the clinic, general anesthesia,   lypo + excision
6- then the nurse will drive me to a nearby convalescent facility which is essentially a retirement home that also handles short term patients following surgery.  They provide private room/bathroom + 3 meals / day; most of all: no worries.  After a minimum 24 hours I drive back home.

wish me luck
 

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi Max

 First off let me wish you Good luck !

If I could ask you about how old you are, because I am over 40 and often wonder if its too late for me. And if you could tell me the name of the Doctor and where the clinic is located in Quebec. I know its a question for the doc but what is the recovery time that you are predicting?

Thanks

[max_badger]

My age is mid-fifties.
I am sure it is never too late for this surgery, limiting factors is general health and possibly skin elasticity.
My surgeon will use same technique as described by Dr, Lista so I expect minimal scaring which possibly will never go away completely cause of my age but it will also be hidden in the chest hair.

Although I have full confidence in my doc, I'd rather not post  name or location, so I will private message it to you.

[Nutsandbolts]

Thanks Max 

[shaknbake]

I just had a consultation with Dr. Lista yesterday.  I like his technique of using only a small incision on the side of the chest.  I booked the surgery for mid January!  I'm pretty happy to finally get things underway, as I'm sure you are too. 

[opus_dei]

Congrats man! Sit back, pop a beer and enjoy the new chests in January! Keep us posted about your experiences with Dr. Lista.

I chose Fielding over Lista, mostly because of members on this forum citing his success with removing gland tissue (I had a lot of gland tissue). Fielding's incision marks are bare even visible, but I do have a lot of scarring/ bruising currently (not sure if it is caused by the lipsuction or gland removal).

[shaknbake]

Congrats man! Sit back, pop a beer and enjoy the new chests in January! Keep us posted about your experiences with Dr. Lista.

I chose Fielding over Lista, mostly because of members on this forum citing his success with removing gland tissue (I had a lot of gland tissue). Fielding's incision marks are bare even visible, but I do have a lot of scarring/ bruising currently (not sure if it is caused by the lipsuction or gland removal).

Ya, I'm pretty stoked to get this done.  I think I have a tendency to scar more than most people, so for me, the fewer incisions the better.  I was afraid if I went with a procedure that had an areola incision, it would end up being really noticeable, and I would STILL be embarrassed about going shirtless in the summer time.  We have a boat, and use it often in the summer, so that was a very important factor for me (enough to pay much more for Lista's surgery than with Fielding).

[max_badger]

9 days post op ! and I had the 1st follow up visit with the P.S. today.

My surgery lasted just over 1 hour, the bleeding was negligible, no drains, no sutures, no leakage. I have very little swelling, deep black, blue and yellow bruising that are fading fast.

The technique used was as described by Dr.Lista except in my case my P.S. had to 'adjust the procedure' after surgery began. Lypo was also done from 2 extra incision sites towards the center of the chest and lower than the areola. A decision I am totally ok with because the results are excellent, the 2 extra incisions do not look at all like incisions, they are too small, more like skin imperfections and that is after only  9 days.  The other 2 incisions from where the gland excision and most of the lypo was done are about 1.5 cm long and in an inconspicuous area all easily hidden in the chest hair which thankfully I did not need to shave. It can be a pain to remove the bandages though.

Bottom line:  I am flat chested as a man should be, no gland at all as far as I can tell, no unusual shapes.  Very happy with the surgery.  

Vest was put on after I was awake, but barely. Woke with a dry mouth and stayed in a recliner for over 4 hours, sipping cool water until a clinic nurse was free to drive me to the convalescent facility, there I spoke briefly to the nurse there, walked up to my room, then puked suddenly violently all the water consumed since I awoke, only then did I become hungry, hadn't eaten at all in 20 hours. Following morning I was dizzy as soon as I tried to get up, the dizziness comes back after every time I lay down for a while but clears up after a few minutes on my feet. My doc quickly dismissed the dizziness problem when I said I had this occasionally all my life but it never lasts more than 2 or 3 days.  I drove home 28 hours after surgery no problem.

My doc says in my case it is not important to wear the vest after 2 weeks, but I think I'll continue until Xmas just to be on the safe side.

A word of advice, always try to remember after showering to pat dry, not to rub, ... OUCH!      

I still need time to heal, to increase the comfortable mobility range of my arms before I can do anything remotely ressembling exercise; still too early to jog, stretch or lift heavy objects, but brisk walks are ok.

Next follow up visit with my P.S. is in 6 months.

[max_badger]

In case anyone is following this thread:
I was diagnosed with B.P.P.V. a problem with the inner ear causing the dizziness or more precisely vertigo.  My G.P. reached the diagnosis within a few minutes and then 1 easy visit to a physical therapist and the problem was easily and quickly fixed. The B.P.P.V. which was described as dislodge crystals in the inner ear was not caused by the surgery but had a direct link to the unusual position my head was in during general anesthesia.

There was some pain following surgery in the nipple area when I had to lift heavy objects or raise my arms too high which was expected, and mild discomfort from the vest in the upper belly, but that is all unless extra pressure is applied to the area. Those deep black, blue and yellow bruises were under the lypoed area, no idea why I would be bruised there nor why there wasn't any discomfort, only the odd coloring. Also curious about how the incisions were closed since I did not have sutures or staples, looked like they were glued and covered with thin sticky tape. The skin surrounding the incisions in no longer raised so I expect very good results there too.

I noticed scar tissue on my right side about 6 weeks after surgery about the diameter of a nickel and 3 coins thick, size varies no bigger than a quarter, no smaller than a dime.  I only started massaging after discovering the scar tissue which feels hard, foreign and can be painful during massages.  Now it has been 3 months since surgery, the foreign feel to this scar tissue is mostly gone, I still massage a few times a day, and it has never been big enough to see only feel.
There is some scar tissue on the left but not enough to quantify and it breaks up easily with simple stretching/exercising but it tends to come back

I was told before surgery that massaging could be helpful but it was not explained how forcefully it should be done.  How much force  / discomfort seems to vary according to the doctor.  A New York Gyn surgeon's post operative page specifies massaging 'should not be painful, just tender'.  So I'm not really sure if I'm doing it right for my case.
The weird mild burning numbness to the entire lypoed area is almost gone but I have always been a slow healer.
Still extremely happy with the results, 2nd follow up visit in 2 months.

[shaknbake]

Glad to hear your healing is coming along nicely Max!  I'm now almost 5 weeks post op, and have been massaging now since just after the first week.  You're right, it is quite painful at times (or it used to be anyhow).  It's not so bad now.  It seems the longer I wait between massages, the more tender it is to get started.  After a minute or so, it doesn't hurt anymore.  As far as how much pressure to apply while massaging, my doc said, and I quote,"if it doesn't hurt, you aren't doing it hard enough".  Well, after only one week post of to start massaging, the hurt part didn't take much LOL!
I see as well you were diagnosed with benign positional vertigo.  My wife was diagnosed with the same thing after a car accident about 7 years ago.  She had terrible dizziness for almost 2 months afterwards until a specialist was able to perform the Hallpike maneouver.  I'm sure you are familiar with some form of this.  It's the one where they lay you down with your head tilted a certain way, then they roll you over while holding your head in another position before sitting you up straight.  It's supposed to re position the particles in your ear back to where they should be.  My wife got SO sick after having that done.  She said it was like the worst sea sickness you could imagine!  But, once everything settled down, she was good to go.  It's happened a few times since, and I've managed to learn how to do the maneover on her myself, so it saves time and a trip to the doc!

[max_badger]

Almost 9 months since surgery, still very happy with results. The incision scars are a light brown which I expect to continue to fade, don't know if it will disappear completely but this is not important.  What is important is that I am flat chested, I can go shirtless  without anyone giving me odd looks. Totally normal looking chest.

During the first few months it was very easy to confuse the remaining gland tissue for scar tissue because of the weird burning numbness and swelling. During that time I sometimes tried to break apart what I mistakenly thought was scar tissue, duh! I guess I was influenced from reading too many posts; all my doc said about massage is that it can be helpful following lypo, no mention of how hard, how often or how to recognize the need for massage. I guess the importance of massage depends on the doc, the procedure and the patient.

It's all over, alleluia !

Why could I not have had this done 40 years ago.

[Nutsandbolts]

Thanx for the update Max

I still haven't pulled the trigger....