Liposuction Only -- 1 Month Post Surgery *PICS INCLUDED*

[Raboze]

Well here I am, 1 month and 2 days after my lipo-only surgery with Dr. Arie Benchetrit in Montreal.
To be brutally honest, I am probably in more depression than before -- liposuction alone did a terrible job.

Quick summary:

I went for a consultation with Dr. Arie Benchetrit and everything seemed fine with him. He was very patient, professional and understood what I felt. He also  told me that he did about 700 cases of gynecomastia -- the most experienced surgeon I found in Montreal. He convinced me that according to my case, liposuction alone would be enough and that I would be very pleased with the results (he also told me lipo would be enough based on his experience and the results other "happy customers" got). It was clear that I had a gland on each breast, but he told me they were little pieces of glands () and they could go away with the "criss-cross" liposuction technic. He reassured me and I agreed to his pricing and his early surgery date (consultation was July 10th, the surgery was booked for July 28th).

Being a student, it was very hard for me to pull out 4500$ but I got approved for a small loan from the bank and all the savings I did in my life were just about enough to get the surgery.


Here are the pictures of 1 month post-operation:









Before pictures and 4 days post-op picture can be found here as well:
https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=23822.msg157877#msg157877


I just don't know what to do at this point. I am planning to lose a bit of weight (about 15 pounds overweight) and see how it turns out to be.
It's just way too frustrating to have spent that much money and not get at least decent results. I don't blame anyone else but myself for not having done my research before.
I am for sure considering a revision surgery, hopefully it'll be free with Dr. Benchetrit or I'll have to save up again and go with another surgeon.

Any comments/questions are welcome!
Thanks for stopping by.

[joltera]

hey dude, sorry to read about your disappointment.

While I would say that your chest is improved from its original state, I would not say that you have achieved satisfactory results. I'm now about 7 weeks post op and I still feel like I am still in deeply in recovery as far as tissue evolution is concerned. It's a long recovery, but to me your chest still has that "feminine" appearance opposed to not necessarily entirely flat, but having more "masculine" contour. It's weird, initially I was a little unhappy with my results, but as someone told me on here, you're super used to how your body looks, so any slight changes are super noticeable at first, but as time go on, I begin to not really see it, and my body looks better and better. the good thing is you don't have the scar around the nipple, so when you do get revision to have the gland removed, it will be like the first time and it wont be worse, opposed to having two excision surgeries. One of the biggest points I noticed being made on this site is regardless of what the doctor says, lipo only will not remove the gland...

good luck

[prabil]

I agree with above post. There is a significant improvement.  I think also that you have lived with gyno for so long and are so sick of it, you just want a normal chest.  I feel the same way. I too had lipo only. I will try to post pictures soon.  I have noticed an improvement but it is not great. I am three weeks out and hoping for some more improvement. You also will have improvement over the next couple of weeks/months.  I am going to lose weight about 30 pounds and become healthy then re-evaluate around Christmas time.  Just an FYI, you have probably seen many doctors websites, but the site from Dr. Cruise in California has a great section on gyno with animated video etc...I actually want my surgeon to look at the sight, so he doesn't recommend lipo only to new cases. Good luck. Keep posting, As I will too.  You do look much better. I know what your going through.

[Raboze]

hey dude, sorry to read about your disappointment.

While I would say that your chest is improved from its original state, I would not say that you have achieved satisfactory results. I'm now about 7 weeks post op and I still feel like I am still in deeply in recovery as far as tissue evolution is concerned. It's a long recovery, but to me your chest still has that "feminine" appearance opposed to not necessarily entirely flat, but having more "masculine" contour. It's weird, initially I was a little unhappy with my results, but as someone told me on here, you're super used to how your body looks, so any slight changes are super noticeable at first, but as time go on, I begin to not really see it, and my body looks better and better. the good thing is you don't have the scar around the nipple, so when you do get revision to have the gland removed, it will be like the first time and it wont be worse, opposed to having two excision surgeries. One of the biggest points I noticed being made on this site is regardless of what the doctor says, lipo only will not remove the gland...

good luck

Thanks! I guess it's a good thing that I won't have to deal with 2 excisions just like you said.. It's just a matter of time now to see if improvements will be seen or not.

I agree with above post. There is a significant improvement.  I think also that you have lived with gyno for so long and are so sick of it, you just want a normal chest.  I feel the same way. I too had lipo only. I will try to post pictures soon.  I have noticed an improvement but it is not great. I am three weeks out and hoping for some more improvement. You also will have improvement over the next couple of weeks/months.  I am going to lose weight about 30 pounds and become healthy then re-evaluate around Christmas time.  Just an FYI, you have probably seen many doctors websites, but the site from Dr. Cruise in California has a great section on gyno with animated video etc...I actually want my surgeon to look at the sight, so he doesn't recommend lipo only to new cases. Good luck. Keep posting, As I will too.  You do look much better. I know what your going through.

Let me know when you post your pics! I am very curious to see how your surgery turned out.

[Raboze]

I would also like to add that today, 1 month and 3 days after surgery, I am taking off the compression vest for good.
Would that be safe after this period of time?

[George Pope, M.D.]

I instruct my patients to wear their vests for 2 weeks; you're probably OK taking it off now.
I think you've gotten some good advice from several posts here. Since revision surgery is usually not performed until around 6 months postop, you should consider spending the next 5 months getting in shape. As you lose body weight, you'll lose some weight in your chest. Start socking away whatever money you can for revision surgery over the next 5 months, in case u go to someone other than your original surgeon. Consider seeing someone who sees a lot of revision cases from elsewhere. Dr. Jacobs is in NYC- not too far from u in Canada.
I know you're disappointed, but go ahead and take control of the situation- make this a project for yourself. A year from now when this is all over and you look great, you'll be happy.
Hope this helps.

Dr. Pope, MD

[Raboze]

[quote author=Dr. Pope link=topic=23982.msg158839#msg158839 date=1314546373]
I instruct my patients to wear their vests for 2 weeks; you're probably OK taking it off now.
I think you've gotten some good advice from several posts here. Since revision surgery is usually not performed until around 6 months postop, you should consider spending the next 5 months getting in shape. As you lose body weight, you'll lose some weight in your chest. Start socking away whatever money you can for revision surgery over the next 5 months, in case u go to someone other than your original surgeon. Consider seeing someone who sees a lot of revision cases from elsewhere. Dr. Jacobs is in NYC- not too far from u in Canada.
I know you're disappointed, but go ahead and take control of the situation- make this a project for yourself. A year from now when this is all over and you look great, you'll be happy.
Hope this helps.

Dr. Pope, MD
[/quote]

Thanks!
I think Dr. Jacobs will be the man for this if I ever decide to go under revision surgery. I hope it won't cost me too much 

[Raboze]

1 week later, still no satisfaction!
I have a question -- is there a law that obligates a surgeon to re-operate a patient if needed for a certain period of time? (I'm talking free of costs of course)

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

From my calculations, you had your surgery in late July.  That means you are about 6 weeks post op.  You are still in the major time frame for swelling and healing.  Be patient and allow everything to settle down -- there is still time for possible improvement.

If you do seek revision in the future, it should ideally not be done within six months of your initial surgery.

is there a law that obligates a surgeon to re-operate a patient if needed for a certain period of time?

As for a law -- there is no such thing.  Most surgeons are proud of their work and stand by it.  My best recommendation is to be patient but return to your surgeon to discuss the matter and question him about his own revision policy.

Dr Jacobs

[Raboze]

Revision or not, I don't plan to do it with my surgeon anyways. I won't be able to trust him again after recommending me lipo-only --- that's just a way for him  to make quick money and I hate people like that.

Dr. Jacobs, is there any way according to the pictures you see that you give me an estimated revision surgery price?
I just want to know around what to expect..

Thanks!

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Again, it is much too early in the healing phase to draw any conclusions.  Your best bet would be to return to your surgeon, who is obviously familiar with exactly what was done during your operation.  If, several months from now, you look similar to your photos, then you should discuss a possible revision with him.  As previously stated, most surgeons will stand by their work.  And while I cannot speak for your surgeon, if it were me (or probably any of my colleagues), I would not charge for a revision.  There might be some fees for anesthesia and OR, but no surgeon's fee.  This would certainly be less expensive than starting with another surgeon from scratch -- me or anyone else.

Dr Jacobs

[Raider Fan]

Rather than revision surgery, I think he owes you some money back, as he did not do the job you hired him to do.  I know doctors are supposed to be immune to such things, but I've never understood why.  If I was a doctor that didn't even come close to doing what I said I would do, I would NEVER dream of taking someone's money and basically telling them too bad.  I'd refund their money and I would understand that they wouldn't want anymore surgery from me.  Any doctor should be able to understand someone's reluctance to give them another chance when they already exhibited incompetence the first time around.  And to me, that's exactly what this was.....incompetence.  You knew immediately after the surgery it didn't look right, and you even had some professionals agree.  

He likely does the "lipo only" procedure most of the time, and in all probability, you're not the only unhappy customer.

If he doesn't make it right, I believe I would look into filing a complaint against him with the medical Board.  I would also consult an attorney.  If you don't, he's just going to go on doing the same thing to others. 

[canadianmoobs123]

I apologize for being rude, but you were very ignorant. You should've reconsisdered liposuction only. If you can feel the hard gland, liposuction won't help, and their are many examples on this site. You've gotta look out for surgeons like this, they just want your money. And your surgeon should be doing a 2nd surgery, he blatentley lied to you. He didn't fix the condition.

[Raboze]

I apologize for being rude, but you were very ignorant. You should've reconsisdered liposuction only. If you can feel the hard gland, liposuction won't help, and their are many examples on this site. You've gotta look out for surgeons like this, they just want your money. And your surgeon should be doing a 2nd surgery, he blatentley lied to you. He didn't fix the condition.

I wasn't that ignorant about it. During my first consultation, all he talked about was how liposuction only was the solution to my case and that the lipo technic he uses would help to get rid of the gland (or a big part of it at least). He convinced me that with his experience and from what he saw from cases similar to mine, lipo only would be the best solution for me.

I guess I really have no other choice other than waiting the full 6 months.
There is no way I will return for a revision with him, I'll see if I can pull off any partial refund that will help towards a revision with someone else.

[Raboze]

Just thought of bumping this up to give some updates to whoever's interested.. Still no results and I'm sure the swelling is gone now after being almost 12 weeks post-op. I'm completely depressed and now I need to save up more money for a possible revision..