32 years old, and I’m a week out of my surgery. I’ve been a long-time lurker on this board. It’s been a help to me, and I hope my story can help someone out there who might have questions.
My story:I’ll skip the painful details, since I’m sure most people on this board have similar stories. Let’s just say I noticed my gyne starting at the age of 8. Always having been slightly overweight, I just attributed it to that. But, the 4 times in my life I really slimmed down, I noticed one thing – the man boobs never went away.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve lost a lot of weight and improved my health, and wanted to improve my overall image. I opened up to my girlfriend (at the time) last year about my body image, and asked her what she thought of having the surgery done. She was a little older and had some work done herself, and she thought that it was one of the best things I could do.
Research / Consolations:I scoured the net, came to this board, and checked doctor’s websites. I live in Los Angeles, so I figured they’d be a dime a dozen, but the search was a little tougher than I thought. 1) Finding a doctor who actually specializes in gynecomastia is pretty tough and 2) there are quite a few doctors who come across as shady in my area. It’s unfortunate, but I realized that if you’re going to be a shady doctor, you’d probably want to be in the LA area.
Based on the results I saw, and the fact that he specializes in gynecomastia, I chose
Dr. Cruise in Newport Beach. It was a little bit of a haul from where I lived, but the results were what mattered. I consulted with one other doctor, but I left most confident with
Dr. Cruise. Not only was his bedside manner great, but he really seemed like artist who treated it like a craft.
One other thing about the consulations – I finally came to realize that my gyne was not my fault. The doctors I saw said “that’s not fat” and it wasn’t until then I realized that all of the blame, all of the shame that I had put on myself wasn’t my fault.
After the girlfriend situation didn’t work out (for other reasons) I put off scheduling the surgery for a long time. It wasn’t until I got back into the dating game that I realized my body image was really holding me back, so I took the dive and decided to go for it.
Pre-Surgery:I waited until after the holidays so that I wouldn’t have travel, and I figured it’d help that I could wear layers in the winter-time (even though LA winters have lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s).
The weeks leading up to it, I was a mess. I was having trouble sleeping, I was staying in the office until 9 or 10 so that I’d get all of my work done ahead of time. I stocked my apartment with food I could grab and make easily, I did three weeks worth of laundry. I also quit drinking and smoking two weeks ahead of time which sucked, but I did it.
One other thing I did was buy some cheap (but semi-nice looking) button-down shirts that I could wear around the people I knew. My thoughts behind this were that if people noticed something different about me, it would be my new wardrobe.
Day of surgery:My mom flew out to help me with the surgery (I told her that she owed me, after all, for giving me the genes in the first place). We got to the surgery center, I put my robe on and sat in their wheel-bed contraption (which would become my operation table). The nurse checked my blood pressure and the anesthesiologist came in to go over the procedure with me. He went into detail, but basically told me I’d be getting knocked out and having breathing tube put in as a precaution. I voiced a concern that my chest felt congested, and both the nurse and anesthesiologist checked me on the spot, and said I was good to.
Dr. Cruise came in, drew on my chest where he’s be cutting, and from there it was time to begin. The anesthesiologist dosed me up and I was in la-la land. The last memory I have is being wheeled into the surgery room and saying to the staff “This is it!”
Post Surgery:I woke up in a bed with a strap around my chest and drains hanging out the sides. Basically, the drains consisted tubes coming out of my body just underneath my armpits, and bulbs hanging off that contain blood and other bodily fluids. The drains filled over time and had to be emptied regularly.
I was pretty out of it, but able to get dressed and my mom was able to drive me back to the hotel. I took it easy the rest of the day, stayed on my medicine regime, and made sure not to exert myself too much.
Sleeping was easier than I thought (the meds helped) but I needed to be on a 45 degree angle. I meditate pretty regularly, so sleeping like this may have been easier for me.
First week post-surgery:I was supposed to get my drains out after the first day, but I had a lot of swelling still, so
Dr. Cruise recommended a couple of more days. That would mean having to back to LA and driving back (about an hour each way) by myself, but I was able to do it. The drains did suck, I had to have button-down shirts on that were big enough to cover them up, but I dealt with it.
After getting the drains out, I had a Saturday and Sunday to still recoup. I took it real easy. I walked around a little bit, short distances, and did a little shopping, but sat around for the most part.
It’s been a week. I still have a lot of bruising, but it doesn’t hurt to the touch. Some parts of my chest and one of my nipples is still numb. I’m wearing the strap and… and it sucks. Sleeping it still a little tough. The Dr. said I could sleep how I wanted to, but it’s tough because I’m still a little sore. I did buy one of those 4-foot pillows, initially for propping myself up on my back, but I’ve found that sleeping while hugging it alleviates the soreness.
I went back to work for the first day today. When people asked me where I was, I said, quite truthfully, that my mom was in town. I was still self-conscious walking around the office, not because people would see my chest, but because they’d see the strap. But, I don’t think anyone really noticed. You’d be surprised how much people don’t really focus on you to begin with.
Reflections:It’s only been a week, but I’ve already done a lot of reflecting. Looking down and not seeing the man boobs that have been a part of your whole life is quite a shock, I’m not going to lie. Trust me, its definitely better, but it’s still a shock to see a part of you that’s gone.
But it wasn’t until tonight, I really noticed something. I had a concert shirt of my favorite band that I bought almost 6 years ago, but never wore because it showed my gyne off way too much. So, I took the strap off and put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. I realized that I could actually go wearing this thing. I could walk down the street and no one would stare. I also realized I needed to work on my gut
I’m not fully healed, there’s still a little swelling, but even with the swelling I look 100x better than I used to. I’ll have to wait a little to see what the final results are, but I can already say that my one regret is not doing this earlier.
My current plan keep eating healthy, lose some more weight and start a dedicated exercise regime when I’m able to. I have a new lease on life, and it’s better late than never.
Topic: 1 Week Post Op - Dr. Cruise Newport Beach, CA (Read 3323 times)
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