Author Topic: TiredofIt's Diary  (Read 21654 times)

Offline TiredofIt

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My story is here: http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,8034.0.html

My photos are here: http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q124/TiredofIt2007/

I plan on having surgery as soon as possible, and I'll use this diary to talk about my remote consulations, pre-surgery, and post-surgery. If all goes well, I plan on leaving gynecomastia behind, but I will come back at least a few times to post photos and updates. If I have problems, I guess this diary will last longer than I'm hoping.

As I mention in my story, it's pretty much between Dr. Bermant and Dr. "*******" for me. I have spoken with both offices on the phone. On Tuesday (three nights ago), I sent the requested information to Dr. "*******"'s office for a free remote consulation, including the photos posted above. This morning I sent another e-mail to Dr. "*******"'s office asking for confirmation of receipt of my e-mail, but I have not heard back. In the e-mail, I was asked to provide my age, height, weight, and what is bothering me. I guess I'll hear something from them next week. I assume I will be asked for significantly more information in that consulation.

I have spoken with Jane at Dr. Bermant's office a couple of times now. I'm doing a remote consultation with him as well, for a cost of $200. This consulation started with me filling out a three-page medical history form and a one-page breast history form. (It's funny -- I couldn't talk about gyne with my wife for years, and once I finally did, she's helping me fill out forms, reading these boards with me, etc.)  I faxed those forms to their office today, e-mailed the above photos (which were taken at the angles requested on his site), and put the check in the mail. Jane said the remote consulation will be scheduled as soon as Dr. Bermant has a chance to review my photos and forms. She also mentioned that the consulation, done by phone, will last approximately 60 to 90 minutes, which surprised me. I'm very interested to find out what it's going to entail. Because I want to have this surgery as soon as possible due to an early spring beach trip, I'm hoping to do my consulation next week. (Jane is well-documented on this board as being quite nice and helpful, and my experience was no exception. After our initial converation I asked if I could ask her two questions, and she said I could ask her twenty-two questions. I thought that was pretty cool.)

As of now, I'm definitely leaning toward Dr. Bermant. He's a bit closer, and I very much appreciate his participation on this board. One poster mentioned that perhaps his intent is marketing, which may have some degree of truth, and I'm absolutely fine with that. I want a doctor who is going after this type of surgery. Of course I'll wait for the consulations before making my final decision.

I'll post appropriate details after those consultations.

« Last Edit: December 31, 2010, 11:17:03 PM by kiwibird »

Offline TiredofIt

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I should add that I'm 6' and currently 181 lbs. I need to lose five or six pounds, and I should be able to pull that off before surgery.

Offline gabbyhey

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Good luck tiredofit!  We're pulling for ya.

Offline Grandpa Bambu

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  • 31 Year Gynecomastia Victim...
Same here Dude... Good Luck!

GB
Surgery: February 16, 2005. - Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Surgeon: Dr. John Craig Fielding   M.D.   F.R.C.S. (C) (416.766.8890)
Pre-Op/Post-Op Pics

Offline TiredofIt

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I sent e-mails to both Dr. "*******"'s and Dr. Bermant's office this morning asking for updates on my remote consultations.

A couple of hours later I received an e-mail from Dr. "*******"'s office that said he had looked at my photos and I am a good candidate for surgery. I was invited to schedule an appointment and quoted the $6,000 (local) / $6,600 (general) prices that are common knowledge.

I must say I was very surprised that my remote consultation consisted of him looking at a handful of my photos and asking me what is bothering me. I know it's free, and I understand that Dr. "*******" is highly respected in this field, but that's just not really my style. No questions about my medical history? This surgery is a huge deal to me and I'd like to at least talk to the surgeon before deciding to have him physically and emotionally alter me for life. I'd rather pay and do this in a way I'm comfortable with. I'm sure if I were to travel six hours for an in-person consulation it would be more thorough, but at this point Dr. "*******" just doesn't seem right for me.

Jane called me late this afternoon from Dr. Bermant's office, I presume to schedule my consulation, but I was running and missed the call. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll have that officially scheduled.

By the way, thanks for the support, guys.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2010, 11:15:43 PM by kiwibird »

Offline gabbyhey

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I understand your worries about him not seeming to focused on your gynecomastia.  I kinda had the same thing with my doctor.  The consultation took only about 20 minutes (in person).  I left there thinking to myself, "There has got to be something he forgot to do?  This is way too easy."  For my surgeon it was like it was just another day at the office and that kind of bothered me at first.  Then I realized, hey... it is just another day at the office for him.  He does this stuff all the time.  And that was a paid consultation.  I'm not saying that you are wrong for feeling uncomfortable.  I'm just saying that sometimes we forget that even though this is one of the biggest decisions of our lives up to this point, for the doctor we are just another patient.  I don't mean that the doctors don't care, I'm just saying that naturally we are going to be more worked up about it than they are.  By the way, I'm verry happy with the results from my doctor.  Just food for thought, tiredofit.

Offline TiredofIt

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Thanks, gabbyhey.

It's not really that he didn't seem focused on my gynecomastia. A consultation of this kind is a two-way street. He needs to determine if he's willing to work on me, and I need to determine if I want him working on me. So far, I have nothing other than what I've read and seen on this board to determine if he's the right guy, and that's not enough for me, personally. At least you had a consulation, albeit short. I personally don't consider this a consultation.


Offline TiredofIt

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Wow, I just got a call from Jane at Dr. Bermant's office. Didn't expect one at 8:30 PM. I'm glad she called -- my phone consultation is tomorrow at Noon EST. She said I should set aside about an hour. We'll be discussing my medical history, breast history, and photos.

I'm really looking forward to this. If all goes well and I feel ready to go, tomorrow I should have a surgery date. Nice!

Offline gabbyhey

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Hey, good to hear that you've found a place that can answer your questions better and make you feel better.  Hope you get a surgery date figured out tomorrow.

Offline TiredofIt

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My consulation with Dr. Bermant went well today. We talked for about 50 minutes. Much of it was familiar from his website. As I expected, I appear to be a good candidate for surgery, and I made my appointment for Feb. 3. This is the best doctor for me.

I'll go in on Friday, Feb. 2, for a proper evaluation. That will take at least a couple of hours. Assuming nothing unexpected happens -- for example a cold or even an infected hang-nail or something -- the surgery will take place as scheduled. If I have a cold or some other illness as the date approaches, I'll have to call and reschedule. Dr. Bermant won't operate if he thinks I'm at risk of infection.

The next morning I'll be at his office at 7:15, ready to go. My wife will be with me. The anesthesia and sedation should pretty much have me out of it, and even if I'm not a hundred percent asleep, I should feel no pain, hear nothing, and will probably forget the experience after I "come to" anyway. This type of anesthesia is less risky than general anesthesia, so that's another plus.

After surgery, I'll be able to leave as soon as I'm lucid. We'll stay in Richmond for two nights, and I have one more appointment on Monday. If all is well, I'll be ready to come home. Seven to ten days later, I'll have an appointment to remove the dressings.

I'm excited that I was able to get such an early date. If anything of consequence happens between now and then, I'll post. Otherwise I'll pick this diary back up as my surgery date approaches.

Offline TiredofIt

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My surgery is in one week, assuming I don't get a cold or something. Some interesting things about the last few weeks:

While I've dealt with gynecomastia for over 20 years, it really started to bug me worse in the past couple of years. Once I finally started to do web research about it, and I realized that there's actually something I can do to make it go away (or at least not be as bad), I got to where I thought about it way more. I spent time on this board every night, I talked about it with my wife very regularly, etc. It really consumed my thoughts. I simply had to make a plan to get rid of it, or at least try.

I did my research and found the right surgeon for me and scheduled my date, and since then, I've felt very different. I know the date is coming and I'm finally doing something about it, and I just haven't been thinking about my gynecomastia all that much. I've only checked these boards a few times over the last couple of weeks. I guess I'd just say that I'm very calm about the whole thing, like when you've done all of the necessary studying for a test, and now you just have to wait until class starts.

Then today I cleaned out my closet and realized just how much I hope I can get rid of ALL of those XL T-shirts. I tried on some of the L Ts I have and imagined myself without gynecomastia.  I felt a surge of confidence at the idea of being able to completely change my wardrobe. And I realized how quickly seven days can pass. I'm almost there.

I'm starting to get excited again.

Offline gabbyhey

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Hey, your almost there!  I remember right before my surgery I went through all of my clothes and found the ones that I didn't like to wear and pulled them out of the boxes.  Now I look pretty good in all of them.  I'd say great but, I've got 20 lbs to lose.. haha.  Good luck at let us know how it goes right after the surgery.

Offline TiredofIt

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Yep, almost there. My wife and I are in a hotel close to Dr. Bermant's office now. Tomorrow I go in for my official consultation and, assuming there are no problems, I'll fill out paperwork, we'll do photos, I'll get marked up, etc. Tomorrow morning will be my last shower for a few days! Thirty-six hours from now I guess I'll be post-op. Wow.

Offline TiredofIt

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My appointment today went well. We got to Dr. Bermant's office a few minutes early and I barely had my coat off before I was called in to meet Jane. She's really great, just like many people have said. I weighed in at 175 pounds, so I was able to drop all of the weight I wanted to lose in the last few weeks. This didn't surprise me because I lose weight really easily if I just eliminate garbage from my diet. I filled out some paperwork and was given some info sheets to read to prep me on what to expect tomorrow. She also gave me a hospital "shirt" to wear, and when she left I took my shirts off (of course I had on two T-shirts) and put the gown on, which opens in the front.

Dr. Bermant came in shortly and the real consultation was under way. He's very deliberate and professional. He used a variety of instruments to take measurements of my chest. After this consultation, I had a better understanding of the makeup of my gynecomastia than I've ever had. I could really feel where the problem was and compare that to my actual muscle structure and the proper male contour that exists under the gland and fat. My left side is bigger than my right, and he explained that I can expect there to be a difference post-surgery as well. Hey, I'm not looking for perfection here. I understand the reality of this.

Fortunately there were no surprises after this consultation, so surgery for tomorrow morning is on as scheduled.

After the consult, I went across the hall to another office to finalize some paper work and get my blood pressure taken. I assume it was fine because he didn't say anything about it -- I was reading paperwork and forgot to ask. I've never had a problem with blood pressure, and didn't expect any problems today.

Next I went into the "camera" room to be fitted for my compression garments. I had already paid for the stage-one garment, which has button hooks up the front and velcro on the shoulders, but I tried on the stage-two garment first ($99 more), which is more like a very tight T-shirt made out of a lycra-type material. First Jane asked me what size dress shirt I usually wear, and of course I was like, "Uh, XL, of course. But not for long." She suggested I start with a M, and she was right, it fit perfectly. Snug, just like it's supposed to be. It was cool to look in the mirror with this on, because it definitely creates a masculine contour and gave me an idea of what I might be looking like in a T-shirt tomorrow. Pretty exciting stuff. Next I tried on the stage-one vest, and to my surprise I need a size S. I won't be able to wear tight T-shirts with this, but supposedly normal-fitting T-shirts completely hide the garment. I did notice that it makes a bit of noise as I shift about -- the velcro kind of moving around I guess -- but Jane said that will stop soon after I wear my garment a few times and wear it in.

Once I was fitted, Dr. Bermant began the process of taking photos. He takes a lot of photos, but again he's very deliberate and it goes quickly. I stood in front of a blue screen, which you'll see in the background of the photos on his website.

Next, in the same room, he began mapping out my gynecomastia with a magic marker. I had seen photos of this before and wondered how the process worked, so I'll explain it here. First he had me flex my chest muscles, and this gave him an outline of pec muscles. He followed around the perimeter of them and made dots with his marker until he made it all the way around each muscle and established the problem areas, then he connected the dots and created the outside circle. Next, he firmly felt around the glandular/fat mass behind my nipples and did the same thing, finding the perimeter and making dots until he was all the way around, then connecting the dots. I can't shower before the surgery, of course, because these circles are his "map" during surgery. He might explain this process differently, but this is my perception of how it happened.

Next, it was back to the camera to take photos of me with my maps. This didn't take as long, since he only had to take front and oblique views.

That was pretty much it. I was informed that my surgery has been bumped from 7 am tomorrow to 8:15 am, which I think is a better time anyway. The whole appointment took about 90 minutes. I didn't have to wait for anything. We got started as soon as I got there, and I went from step to step almost immediately. No wait time at all.

So now I'm 13 hours from the start of my surgery. I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight tonight, so I think I'm going to enjoy a soda and snack as my wife and I order up a movie on the hotel TV. (I'm at the Hilton Garden Suites in Colonial Heights, by the way, which is nice because it's surrounded by plenty of things to do. We're about 20 minutes from Dr. Bermant's office.) I feel very calm but also excited to go through this. Not long from now, I should be on the "other side." I'll be sure to post at my next opportunity.

Offline headheldhigh01

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this is a good diary, thanks for posting it and glad for you for getting it fixed. 
* a man is more than a body will ever tell
* if it screws up your life the same, is there really any such thing as "mild" gyne?


 

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