Hi everyone,
I've been visiting these forums for about the past four to five months, but this is my first-ever post. This website has been such a massive help to me - without it, I wouldn't be in the position I am today - so I felt at the very least I had a duty to tell my story and hopefully help other people in the same way. Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but when I was thinking about what to do, the more detail I had, the better.....
My story…Up until surgery eight days ago with
Dr. Karidis, I had lived with gynecomastia since my mid-teens. For much of that period, I was a couple of stone overweight, and had always attributed my moobs to that. After becoming so fed up with rock bottom self-esteem, I resolved to get fit and healthy, and over the course of 10 months of healthy eating and going to the gym and hammering the treadmill, I dropped three-and-a-half stone and was a good healthy weight.
Physically I'd never felt better, but mentally it was all a massive anti-climax. The moobs were still there, pretty much unchanged, and if anything they stood out even more now that my stomach was flat and I was more stream-lined. I'm sure the doctors etc would say my efforts were all worthwhile for health reasons, and they're right, but a large part of it also felt pretty pointless. I guess really we all lose weight to look good and improve our self-esteem, and for me that just didn't apply. Still no t-shirts and no nice clothes for me!
I'd heard about gynecomastia in the past but hadn't really looked into it due to the weight issue, but after going on holiday and seeing plenty of bigger guys than me walking around with fairly flat chests, I thought it was time to look into things. And that was when I visited this board for the first time.
I had some savings and had no qualms about spending some of them. I knew it would make a real difference to me in terms of self-esteem, but obviously undergoing surgery is a massive step. Through these boards I realised I wasn't alone, and that there was a solution.
Having trawled through all of the posts on here, the unanimous rave reviews about
Dr. Karidis pointed me in his direction, but first of all I wanted to visit my GP, just to tick a box as much as anything else. I had my suspicions that he would be unresponsive, and that proved to be correct, as I was told there wasn't breast tissue there, it was just fat left over that couldn't be shifted, and he'd never even been asked about it before.
Initial Consultation…A part of me felt relief at that. I had been expecting it and it give me the green light to go and see the expert. Appointment booked, I travelled down to London towards the end of September to see
Dr. Karidis. It felt like an important step, but he immediately put me at ease. To be honest, he reminded me a bit of an airline pilot, his demeanour and approach inspired real confidence and assurance.
The consultation didn't really take too long, but then there wasn't too much to say really. He said there was gland there as well as fat, assured me he could get it flat and explained what it would involve. Overall it probably took about 15 minutes, after which I then spoke to his very friendly staff, who discussed possible dates, fees etc.
I went away to think about it for a couple of days, although I was 99.9% certain of going ahead. In fact, the only doubt was in relation to the anaesthetic. I'd never had a general anaesthetic before and the idea had me pretty freaked out, but after ringing up and talking through my fears with his staff, I went ahead and paid my £1,000 deposit.
Blood test…The next step was to arrange my blood test, and at this point I think I got really lucky, as I didn't have to pay a penny! I just rang up my local GP and explained to the receptionist that I needed blood tests done for private surgery. She booked me a telephone consultation with another GP in the practice, and he was very accommodating, saying he'd mark down what I needed doing and to book in for the blood test. The test results arrived back a couple of days later and I sent them off. One of the levels was borderline high, which concerned me, but
Dr. Karidis' practice nurse Chantelle rang me to reassure me that the surgery could still go ahead.
Two weeks before…With the rest of my fees paid, part to
Dr. Karidis and part to the hospital, I was all set. In the couple of weeks building up to it, the nerves really did start to peak! During that time, I basically tried to be as healthy as possible, eating well but not dieting and going the gym but not over-doing it, on the principle that I wanted to be healthy for the surgery but losing weight probably wasn't wise. I'd recommend going to the gym to relieve the nerves apart from anything else. And of course, you've got to avoid certain vitamins etc for two weeks, as well avoiding alcohol for the final week. The pack you get is very detailed with all of this information.
The day before….The only people that knew about it were my mum and dad, who have been very supportive throughout it all, although neither of them really thought I needed it to be done. They travelled down with me to London on the night before, we stayed in a nearby hotel and I was all ready for the big day, and the last thing I ate was at about 9pm. I also trimmed my chest hair, which has made things a lot easier.
The big day…From the moment I arrived at the hospital to the minute I left, the staff were all absolutely fantastic, I can't speak highly enough of them. Chantelle had called the day before to confirm I was to arrive at 8.30am and was third on the list, so would go down at 10am. I arrived at about 8.20am, and the admissions person came and showed me to my ensuite room, where I completed some paperwork.
One of the nurses then came in, took all of my details and a thorough medical history, which basically correlated with what I'd already told
Dr. Karidis. I was then given my operating gown, a dressing gown, surgical socks to aid blood flow, and surgical slippers. I was able to stay in my own underwear. After getting changed, I was weighed, and had my blood pressure and pulse taken.
The man himself then came in. Again he was really friendly, very positive, cheerful and in control. You basically get the impression that this is the master at work, it may be a big deal to you but to him it's all in a day's work, and that supreme confidence really comes across and relaxes you. He took a couple of photos and then marked my chest up with where he was going to do the work.
After that, it was a short wait before it was time to go down. After all of the nerves and the build-up, I was quite calm really. The nurse came in to take me down to theatre. You walk to a separate lift for theatre only, you get out (it's quite cold down there!) and then you're taken to the anaesthetists' room. As I said before, the idea of the anaesthetic was one of my major concerns, but again there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The anaesthetist's assistant came out, put the pads on to measure my heart and blood pressure, and made some other preparations. Heated warmers were put on my legs to aid circulation. The anaesthetist then came in and I asked a couple of questions and he reassured me, talking me through the entire thing.
After one initial injection, he then gave me the anaesthetic, saying I'd feel sleepy. Within five seconds of lying there, I felt a slight tingling sensation in my temples and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.
I wouldn't say it felt immediate, but it felt like I'd literally been asleep for a couple of minutes. A nurse was saying my name, checking I was ok and comfortable, I looked down to my left and saw I was wearing the black compression vest and knew it was over!
After being kept in recovery for a bit, with my blood pressure being constantly monitored, I was then wheeled up to my room and moved across onto my bed, being propped up. To be honest, coming around from the anaesthetic was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I felt a little tired, but that was literally it, apart from a very dry throat.
I must have been in theatre about 30-45 minutes, because at this point it was just after 11am. It was then time to lie back and relax, watch tv and enjoy some lunch. I basically drank water like a fish to help quench my thirst, but there was no pain at all (literally 0 on a scale of 0-10). The vest was a little uncomfortable, but that was about it.
My blood pressure was monitored constantly throughout the next four hours. Chantelle came in at about 2pm to go through things with me and hand over my other vest. She said
Dr. Karidis was very happy with how it had gone and thought I'd get an excellent result, he took out 600ml of fat and 9g of gland from each side.
The nurse then came in with my medication - two more antibiotics, anti-inflammatories for the next three days and painkillers should I need them, as well as medication to relieve constipation, which is a known side-effect of all the meds! She also gave me plenty of dressings, plasters etc.
At 3pm it was time to go. You're not in pain but you do move really slowly and you definitely need someone with you. You just need to move around really carefully. Anyway it was back to the hotel, watching a bit of telly and getting some rest. Lying upright wasn't as bad as I expected it to be (you just need to have your head higher than your heart apparently, so it's not like sitting bolt upright), and I did get some sleep. There was absolutely no discharge either, the incisions are absolutely tiny and fade very quickly.
Post-op… The following morning it was time to get the train home. The pain was still absolutely minimal. I'd taken a couple of painkillers more as a security to help me sleep than anything else, and the train journey home was absolutely fine. I even took a call from Chantelle to check how I was doing.
Into the evening then and it was time to take the vest off for the first time. My first reaction was wow! I was just so happy with the results, even at that stage. It was just so flat. One problem was that I suffered orthostatic hypotension in a big way, which you did get warned about! Basically the first and second time you take the vest off, you can get very light-headed and dizzy, and it took me a good 20 minutes of lying and sitting down to get back to normal.
After a very gentle shower, I changed the plasters and the vest went back on. It's only at this point that you truly realise how tight it is! Over the next few days it definitely gets easier. Never did I feel any pain, the main hindrance is lack of movement, you've got to take things easy and not stretch, but you do recover quickly.
I got a nice surprise on the Sunday evening when Karidis himself called to check how I was getting on. I thought calling at 8.30pm on a Sunday night was a nice touch, shows he really cares about his patients.
The main issues I've had have been the plasters - the under-arm plasters are a pain, and my skin hasn't reacted too well to them, a couple of places where they were stuck down are very itchy, and for the first couple of days I felt very bloated and it took 3-4 days for my digestive system to get back to normal.
In general, though, things have been a lot more comfortable than I expected. The vest is a pain, but you do get used to it. I've been taking arnica and eating plenty of pineapple, and eight days on I've got I'd say 90% of the movement in my arms back and am feeling perfectly normal. I even went back to work with no problems on day six.
As you can see from the pics, there is a tiny bit of swelling. The bruising was quite bad, but is fading quickly. I know there is a long way to go before the end results, but even if I had no change from today, it would be worth every penny. I tried on a fairly tight t-shirt yesterday and that confirmed it for me!
Given my lack of activity, I've put a little bit of weight on and obviously Christmas is on the horizon, but once we get to New Year I can't wait to get back to the gym and get fit again. Just feeling normal is a massive Christmas present!
In general then, I really can't speak highly enough of everyone, from the man himself who is quite simply the master of his craft, to the nurses who were attentive and absolutely wonderful. If you're reading this and wondering whether to take the plunge, I have two words - DO IT! I was in your position a couple of months ago, had plenty of misgivings and fears, but went for it and have absolutely no regrets. You only live once, and if you're going to get something like this done, you should go to the best.
Now though, I'm just looking forward to the coming weeks and months, getting the vest off and going through the recovery. I owe this board a lot, and I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions, it makes a real difference to not only posters but also countless others who may never post.
I know this post has been extremely long and waffly, but I make no apologies for that. I think when you're in this position you want as much information and reassurance as possible, so hopefully I've done a little to help!
Topic: Fantastic Karidis! My story - 8 days post-op inc photos (Read 7960 times)
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