My experience so far with Dr. Lista (updated with pics)

[morpheus11]

Congrats on the surgery Shake--those are some fantastic results!!! 

Good luck with the recovery.  Believe me, after the first week, it flies by.  It's only been 6 weeks for me and it already seems like I got the surgery so long ago.

Buy some new shirts for your new chest.

[shaknbake]

Thanks Morph!  I'm feeling pretty good right now.  I'm trying not to lift my arms up too high so I don't stress out the area on the sides of my chest too much.  That seems to be the most tender so far.  Sleeping is a bit tough too, but I figure sooner or later I'll just pass out from exhaustion if I don't get enough sleep LOL!  I have to clean the stitched area twice a day, if anything changes during the times I take off the vest, I'll post what I see.  Thanks again man!

[mark22]

I am so happy to hear that your surgery went well, and that you feel pleased with your progress.  The pictures look great!  Congrats and keep posting when you can it is good to follow and learn perspectives of others going through this.  My son has an appointment in a couple days with his rheumatologist/hematologist, and from there we may be investigating a surgeon to give their opinion on his situation and whether surgery is an option.  Congrats to you and good health to you and your family.

[shaknbake]

Hey Mark!  Good to hear from you! Thanks, I wish the same for you and your son as well.  I'm feeling great right now.  There was a note on one of the post op forms I had been given that said there were no unexpected complications, and everything went to plan.  I'm on schedule for another 85g round of IVIG this Thursday, so I'll let you know how that goes.  I'm feeling a little bit like a pin cushion though LOL!  All said and done, I think everything went really well.  The swelling is there, but relatively even.  It's a bit more pronounced on the left chest where he made the liposuction incision, but other than that, I think it looks better now than it did the first day I had a look!  Bruising is settling in quite a bit as expected, and it's difficult to reach forward without a sharp pinch under the nipple area.  But I've got long arms, so I've been able to keep the reaching to a minimum  .  I'm supposed to go back to see the nurse (not the P.S) for the one week follow up on Tuesday (even though it's not a week until Thursday).  I'm not sure if I will be able to make the drive (3 1/2 hrs away) since I have to drive myself this time.  I don't think I'm quite healed enough to safely complete such a long trip on my own, especially if the weather turns bad.  I'll likely see if they can reschedule for another day perhaps next week.  I'll keep an eye out for any updates on progress with your son as well.  Good luck!!

[shaknbake]

Well, I had my one week (not quite a week) follow up visit yesterday.  Traffic this time was super smooth, so I ended up getting to the clinic about an hour early.  No biggie, I expected to relax around in the waiting room until my appointment time, maybe play a game or two of Angry Birds to pass the time  .  To my surprise, about 5 minutes later, they called me in!  Sweet!  I met the nurse Diane at the door, and she led me to room 6 to do a check up on me.  Diane was super pleasant to deal with, and very informative.  I took off my shirt and compression vest so she could have a look and see if there was anything out of the ordinary.  Nothing unexpected at all.  I'm bruised and swollen as I should be at this stage, and she said it will get worse before it gets better.  (I'm really glad to have been a member on this site, and to have read so many others experiences with this surgery, because it really puts your mind at ease on what to expect over the next couple of months.)  I was told that lumps of scar tissue are beginning to form at this stage, and massaging will need to be done to help break down the tissue.  With that, she pushed her fingers (HARD!!!) into the sides of my chest, then around the nipple area in circular massaging motions....HOOOLY MONKEY!!!   I've been very cautious NOT to touch too much, and wash very gently with a soapy clothe, but apparently that's all wrong.  I have to wash my incision area like I'm trying to scrub the wound away completely LOL!  She said when it comes to washing the incision and massaging the area, if it doesn't hurt, you're not doing it hard enough.  Sweet Lord have mercy.  For those of you who have not yet been through this, imagine the worst bruise you've ever had.  Now start pushing your fingers deep and hard all up in there.  Yaaa.  The good news is, she said it will hurt less over time.  Well that IS good news, cause I can't imagine it hurting any more LOL!  Anyways, I'm a big baby.  I'll get over it!  I was told to massage 3 times a day, for 5 minutes.  She did stress that I should set a timer for the 5 minute count, because it will seem like an eternity while I'm doing this, and I can't cheat (or shouldn't, I haven't quite decided yet).  I also need to buy some Arnica gel from the drug store.  I am to use this each time I massage, working the gel into the area.  I picked up a sheet of Mepiform from the clinic as well.  Diane instructed me to cut off small portions (enough to cover the incision area) and stick them on.  Each piece will last for about 7 days, and I'll need to repeat this each time for anywhere from 6 months to a year.  These silicone "stickers" will help in scar reduction to it makes the incisions much less noticeable.  Now, I have to wait on this step for a bit because I have some scabbing around the area that she noticed while taking out the stitches.  Didn't feel a thing during stitch removal by the way.  I'm completely numb everywhere the liposuction was done.  Anyhow, that comes back to the scrubbing comment.  I have to scrub the incision area like I'm trying to peel skin.  This will help prevent scab formation, which will in turn reduce scarring.  Good thing to know!  More scab = more scar.  Got it! 
Once Diane was done with me, she went to find Dr. Lista for a quick look.  He popped in all smiles, which was very nice.  He asked how I was feeling, and if there were any issues or questions that I had so far at this point.  I've got a pretty good grasp on what to expect, so I had no questions.  We joked around a bit, and He and Diane both assured me several times that if I ever have any questions at all, the phone lines are always open, and to call anytime.  I'm extremely happy with my results thus far, and gave Dr. Lista a well deserved, heart felt thank you and hand shake.  He has truly changed my life, and I am grateful for his help and expertise.
So, my next appointment is on Valentine's Day!  Not sure how my wife will feel about that yet (I haven't told her.... )  I'll post some more pics in the next couple of days.  I'd like to post the progress each week so you can see how things are coming along.  Cheers everyone!

[shaknbake]

Just a quick update on the healing progression everyone.  I'm now a little over 2 weeks post op.  Feels longer than that for some reason, anyone else ever feel that way after surgery?  I've been massaging now for over a week, and it's been no picnic I can assure everyone LOL!  It's gotten better than before, not quite as sore.  My bruising has all but disappeared, so now when I look at my chest, it doesn't look so much now that I got hit by a car!  The scar tissue has continued to grow as expected.  I can now feel some forming on the front of my chest a little bit as well as the sides where it all began.  It's not too bad though, so fingers crossed it doesn't go out of control.  I continue to wear the compression vest 24-7 as instructed, and only take it off to wash and massage.  I finished the Arnica tablets as well, so that's one less thing I need to take which I'm happy about.  The Arnica gel is still under use though as I massage.  Once this tube is done (now on my 2nd tube) that will be it.  I'm not going to continue using it.  I started to use the Mepiform silicone sheeting last week as well.  It comes in a large rectangular sheet which must be cut into pieces as needed to fit over the surgical incision.  They stick on pretty good too!  I noticed the first night or two after using it that the incision site would ooze a clear yellow fluid.  I noticed it bled through my compression vest twice, but seems to have stopped now.  Hopefully in the next couple of months, the incision marks will be hardly noticeable.  One thing I have begun to notice over the last couple of days is that my chest has begun to get a slight soreness in the deeper tissue above the nipples and to the inner chest.  I'm not sure if this is just the natural healing?  But I seem compelled to massage my chest every 10 minutes or so to relieve the sensation.  It's not painful, just an odd feeling.  I'll update more with some pics soon!

[hammer]

I hope that the day will come soon that you can beat your chest like Tarzan and this will be a thing of the past! So keep up the good work my friend, but what ever you do don't forget about us. LOL

[shaknbake]

Now how could I ever forget about a bunch of great guys who've helped me so much Hammer?  . No way!  I'll be here doing my part for a long, long time.

[Azure]

Thanks for the link, S'n'B and absolutely outstanding results, fella!

I suspect what I'll need to do is copy what you've done by asking Admin to move my post/thread over to this section where it probably more relevantly resides. Hmmm, what do you reckon?

I know seeing your photos will prove the catalyst to fire a rocket up my backside to post at least my after pics, showing my chesticle-less chest! Ha ha!

Anyhow, now that I know where you've been hanging out with lots of updates I'll be sure to read your complete thread to get a better idea of where you were at and just how amazing the results have been for you.

Anyhow, great job!

[shaknbake]

Thank you!  I took some more pics last night while I had my vest off for a washing.  I'll try to post them later today if I can get the time.  Things have changed quite a bit since the last pics were taken, it's amazing!

[shaknbake]

Hi guys.  As promised, I have my 3 week post op pics here for you to see.  As you can tell, I have quite a bit of swelling on the sides of the chest from the under arm mostly, but extending to the lower chest as well.  I think it's a HUGE improvement over my initial pics though don't you think?  The scar tissue seems to be the culprit for the swollen appearance on my sides.  It's quite a large mass on either side, but most noticeable on the left.  The incision site on my left side popped open last week, and I can't use the silicone sheets on it yet until it has properly healed, with no more scab.  Not sure why it opened...My only guess is that the scar tissue and swelling created enough tension on the skin that the newly healed wound couldn't take it anymore.  It was sore, and I couldn't tell why.  The swelling prevented me from being able to see the opened wound since the incision is right below it.  I tried to get a good look in the mirror, but it's tough when you can't exactly get a good close look yourself!  Anyways, it's all good.  A little anti biotic ointment, and a bandage does the trick!  I've still got a small amount of bruising on the front of each side around the nipple area.  It's been the same for almost a week now, and hasn't seemed to lessen at all.  I'm wondering if I may have gotten a little bit of pigment discolouration from the liposuction.  I guess that can happen?  We'll see, it's too early to say for sure, could very well still be bruising. 

I can't wait till summer!!

[hammer]

It is looking flat to me! I guess that was the look you were going for! LOL. Keep up the good post surgery care.

[shaknbake]

Thanks Hammer!  That was indeed the look I was after LOL!  I'm a happy ray of sunshine right now with my results.  3 weeks to go, and I can ditch the vest too  .

[HellandBack]

congrats bro  still having any pain or mild discomfort?

[shaknbake]

The only real discomfort I ever feel is when I massage, or when I drive down a particularly rough road  .  The jiggling doesn't feel too great, but it isn't that bad.  I've been able to roll over on my stomach and side now for about a week, so that in itself is a major step forward LOL!