Excision bilateral gynecomastia surgery w/Dr Fielding on January 18th.

[shaknbake]

I know how hard it is to post those dreaded "before" pics!  After spending so much effort and time trying to conceal them, you feel really weird about just puttin' them babies on display for all to see LOL!  Nice thing is, you can crop the pic so no one sees your face at least.  That way you are anonymous.  I put up my before pics under the Canada section.  Look for the thread "My experience so far with Dr. Lista".  I'm healing quite nicely right now, and will likely put up more after pics as I progress.  But the difference even now from ALL of the pics I posted is remarkable.  Go for it man, it's part of the healing process!   

[Azure]

Ok, if it's just for you Shaknbake, then I'll do some cropping. lol I had the missus take some shots from the front and two sides, with hands held aloft and also down by my side. I'll use Adobe Fireworks to anonymonize my pics and then post 'em here. lol

I overdid it today, trying to help my son sort out our gas fireplace, unscrewing some bolts from the front. I felt a sharp pain in my right chest, so I stopped. Got told off by my lad and the missus in unison for being so stupid. Sheesh, all I was doing was trying to help like! Ha ha! Anyhow, had to take some pain meds as I'd obviously overdid it. 

I can't believe how itchy the nipple area on both sides are. It's driving me crazy but I can't take off the glued-on pads that are firmly stuck down. Can't wait until Tuesday when I can shower and pry those babies off. lol

Then I can really examine just how much difference removing the glands has been - as I'm sure it has. The chest area is still swollen with the fluid Dr Fielding injected and it still feels like I've taken 150 body shots from Iron Mike. But I feel I'm doing well; just have to remind myself not to overdo things and let the family take on the brunt of the grunt work. lol

[shaknbake]

Ya, my wife won't let me do anything either!  It took some convincing earlier today just to help her make the bed!  Guess we'd better take it easy or else....   I have yet to feel much itching so far (knock on wood).  I don't have an incision under the areola, so that could be why (just the 2 small ones on the sides of the chest).  But, after 10 days, I have quite a bit of scar tissue forming under the skin.  I began massaging a couple of days ago.  The doc said that will help break down any lumps that form.  Time for patience, cause it's gonna be a good few months before any of that goes away I'm sure.  Oh well.  It was expected!  I'm looking forward to summer though   

[dussaghun]

Hey Guys,

Just remember it is very early post-op for all of you guys and you still need to take it easy and follow doctor's orders.  And, it will be at least 6 months until you get a final result.  I too have not posted before and after pictures of my son.  He has said he doesn't care and if it will help just one person then go for it!  I know no-one will know who he is but his case was very severe and I do not want anyone making a negative comment about his before and him reading it.  Even if it is now corrected.  Just a Momma bear watching out for her cub! LOL!  I may get courage to do it.  I too would like to help anyone who is suffering with Gynecomastia. 

Glad you guys are doing Good!  My son has done so well, I forgot all the fear I had and am thankful everyday we went ahead and had the surgery.

[Azure]

The difficulty I have is that my wife is disabled and I'm her care giver, so it's really very hard for me to stay away from any grunt work. Hopefully, my son will help when called upon. I consider mine a severe case too, so I know where you're coming from, dussaghun. I think you're right to make that call.

I have four holes and it's the ones under the pads that are giving me grief, especially the right one. That would I guess make me a right breast. Ha ha! Sorry, I'll grab my coat.

You have to laugh or you'd go mad. lol

[dussaghun]

That is hard when you are the care giver.  I do not know how old your son is but I bet he will surprise you on how much he will help!  Just ask him.  My daughter who is 23 really stepped up and helped so much.  My son's surgery was  December 15 and we had to travel very far from our home.  We could not return until the day before Christmas because Dr. wanted to make sure all was good before we returned.  My daughter decorated everything, cleaned, wrapped all presents and had everything ready to go for our Christmas meal.  They will surprise you when push comes to shove.   

You are still very very early on healing.  You are still gonna have some pain around the wounds.  Try your best to take it easy.  If possible take a walk and get some fresh air.  My husband and I were walking around our hotel with our son everyday.  Take it slow but do something to build your strength everyday.  Also, eat well so your body has proper nutrition to heal.  My husband and I knew our son was gonna be fine when in recovery he asked us if he could have pizza for dinner.  Hahaha!  We made him have a chicken sandwich and the next day we gave him pizza!   

Hang in there!,,  it gets better every day.

[Azure]

That is hard when you are the care giver.  I do not know how old your son is but I bet he will surprise you on how much he will help!  Just ask him.  My daughter who is 23 really stepped up and helped so much.  My son's surgery was  December 15 and we had to travel very far from our home.  We could not return until the day before Christmas because Dr. wanted to make sure all was good before we returned.  My daughter decorated everything, cleaned, wrapped all presents and had everything ready to go for our Christmas meal.  They will surprise you when push comes to shove.

You're so right there! Mrs Azure's Mum fell gravely ill in November which meant we had to fly back to the UK. Very sadly, she passed away. We were in England for an extended stay before Christmas and because of probate and other stuff that needed to be sorted out, was kept very busy and so we had no chance whatsoever to think about Christmas.

Despite the difficulties we had, our attention did turn to this important Holiday time and so imagine our surprise when we returned to Canada on December 22nd to find a beautifully decorated and lit Christmas tree inside and out and a home ready for us with a fridge full of Christmas fayre, all made possible by our wonderful Son and his delightful Girlfriend!

While sad times, we were able to rejoice in the knowledge that the solid foundations for a fine upstanding man were made possible by the part his brilliant Nan (Grandma) played in his upbringing. We are truly thankful for that and the gift she left us all will be with us forever.

Anyhow, I am waffling. Back to my manly chest. Tomorrow is d-day for having a full shower/bath. I have opted for a bath as I can lay there, soaking the severely stuck-down pads and slowly but surely pry them off (probably need a crowbar - lol) to reveal my new manly chest! Gosh am I looking forward to that I can tell you!

[dussaghun]

Enjoy!   Keep us posted on results!

[shaknbake]

Sorry to hear of your wife's mother's passing.  That's a tough blow at any time, especially Christmas.  But, back to your manly chest (LOL!)  Sounds like you have your work cut out for you removing those pads!  I've spoken with a few other people who had Dr. Fielding perform the surgery, and they all had trouble removing those babies.  They seem to be stuck on with some kind of superglue!  Hopefully the soaking will help.  I just read another fellows post who recently removed his pads, and you can still see quite a bit of material still stuck to his chest that wouldn't come off.  I wonder why Dr. Fielding uses those?....Oh well, they must serve a purpose.  Good luck, looking forward to hearing about the results!

[Azure]

Ha ha! You're spot on there S'n'b! Bleedin' things are stuck on with superglue! lol Anyhow, rather than ruin my soak, I made a conscious (as opposed to unconscious when it wouldn't have hurt a bit) decision to rid myself of those dastardly pads last night. I know I was about 12 hours early but in the great scheme of things, I don't think it matters. Anyhow, Mrs Azure watched intently as I got down to bearing my new chest for her. She was of course drooling and so I told her to behave herself. lol

Millimeter by millimeter, I peeled those little puppies off one hair at a time. I was determined to keep my hairy chest as intact as I could, so I went slower than Dr Fielding's suggested, "Count 1-2-3-4 in seconds as you take each one off." At the time I thought. "That makes sense. Thanks Doc!". Anyhow, glad I did it my way. Reminds of a song, that. lol

After 15 minutes I finally managed to take the last pad off. The hair tugging and pulling thing seemed like torture, so my mind was elsewhere when Mrs Azure exclaimed, "Wow, they look great!" After the pain subsided (I'm not kidding - it hurt) lol I was able to regain my composure and looked down to see a sight that I have been wanting to see for the longest of years. It was quite emotional and exciting as I took in my brand new, nearly flat chest and shied away from Mrs Azure's alluring stares. lol

"Enough of that", I said. "There's more at stake than you ogling at your new man!" Went to the bathroom to take a closer look in the mirror and that further backed up my excitement and relief. I had visions of pulling the pads off to reveal - NO NIPPLES! Ha ha! That was clearly a very silly thought but it had crossed my mind for a brief while.

I need not have worried though and although there's still a long way to go, with plenty of bruising evident along with excess fluid etc to show that I am only at the start of my recovery, overall I am absolutely ecstatic with my results!

Started massaging them today and I was glad to wash my grubby compression vest, to have a good wash and smell human again. I think Mrs Azure was glad of that too. lol

After hearing about the other fella who still has bits of that pad left on his chest, I do feel for him. That glue is special, man! Ha ha!

[Azure]

Following up on my previous post, I just wanted to personally thank the both of you for your care and compassion, for your excellent advice and support and for your friendship for the very short time that I have been a member of this excellent website.

The internet can be a faceless beast at times but sometimes the anonymity makes it far easier for folks like us to share our thoughts about a pretty embarrassing condition. It's a tough thing for men generally to admit to anything that might be perceived as a weakness, not least something as embarrassing as Gynecomastia. And so to be able to share and to help others to discuss a taboo subject like this is pretty much a priceless thing.

I have a giving character so I'll be sure to hang around and try to help others that are thinking of taking the same path.

[shaknbake]

Oh the memories....I remember the first time I took off my vest in front of my wife.  She too immediately turned into a hormone filled teenager and wanted to jump me.  Luckily, I had a large stick handy and was able to knock some sense back into her.  My new manly chest is a site to behold!  Bahahahaha!!    Love your sense of humour about all this, it makes for an entertaining read  .  Those pads sound like a little bit of hell, glad you were able to man up and peel them off so quickly LOL.  Sorry , I've got a bit of sick humour in me as well.  Hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves right?  Your welcome for the advice here by the way.  I've been fortunate to receive a lot of useful advice myself from many people here, and its made this whole experience much easier to handle.  We're here for ya buddy!!

[Azure]

A sense of humour, no matter how warped is a good thing.

The pads from hell just about sums things up pretty well. Ha ha!

That said, I wouldn't want folks to be scared off from getting the surgery with Dr Fielding. If truth be told, the pads work extremely well and come off relatively easy. If they perform an effective job that removes the need for tubes etc, I'm all for it.

On closer examination of my body where Dr Fielding used the liposuction instrument, it looks like he used three entry points on my right and two on the left in order to get all the excess fat out. Was wondering if anyone else had these additional puncture wounds (which are healing up quite nicely!)?

[dussaghun]

I am glad you are happy with your results!  It will get better  every day .  The pads sound like they were painful.  At least they are off now!  My son didn't have the stuck on pads but he did have the drains and the removal of them was the worst for him!  I too am so thankful for this site.  I read every story, article, post, picture on here as I was doing my research.  Because of this site, the people who post and the doctor's information,  my husband and I were able to make the best choices for our son.  If  his story or I should say our story because it was and is a family affair, can help one person,  we will be happy.

Again,  congrats and keep us posted!   You too shaknbake !!!!

[Azure]

Thanks, Dussaghun!

I have a very hard lump just to the left of my left nipple; this area has also swollen up so much that my compression vest cannot contain the additional bulging skin so I've switched up to one of my own full compression vests that is providing additional compression.

Although very painful, I am massaging the lump as well as both sides of the chest generally. I believe this to be coagulated blood and with massaging, I am hoping to break it down with concerted, consistent effort over the coming weeks.

I think I'll discard using the hospital-issue vest altogether as it's clearly not doing as comprehensive a job as my own. Plus it feels more comfortable and doesn't ride up at the bottom (it is a chest-only vest) whereas my own vest is just that; a vest that tucks into my trousers and without the velcro, doesn't have bulges at the joins.

My left nipple and chest was different before surgery and so it is proving to be different post-operatively. It was larger, so there is additional excess skin and it doesn't sit well on my chest. It certainly looks a lot different to my right nipple which looks very natural and aside from the swelling, I think it will look great when the healing period is over.

The left side however will be problematic and I think I may need some skin excised by Dr Fielding to help contour the chest to match the right side. I knew this was going to be an issue, so it's nothing I didn't expect and have talked about fully with Dr Fielding.

That said, it's still very early so it may improve but I am realistic and so at some point, probably in about a year's time I will probably have another consult with him to see what can be achieved by way of further refinements.

I will be seeing him in May anyhow and so we may be able to make an informed decision about which way to go then. Finger's crossed though for a more positive outcome, given more time.