Consultation with Karidis today and surgery booked for 4th July!

[g3579]

Hey Era, thanks for the message.  

I did really think hard about whether or not to have the abs and flanks done as I know I wasn't at all huge beforehand.  However, having spent well over £1.5k on a personal trainer last year, combined with a strict 40 day 'detoxify' diet devised by my trainer to help shift the weight and burn the fat, even that did not bring my body fat down to either mine or his expected levels.  I was properly training 2 or 3 times a week with my trainer for 5 months, whilst also going and doing classes like Body Attack and Body Pump on top.  All of that did make me drop from 80kgs to 70kgs and tone up quite a bit (moreso than what I looked like in my 'before' photos in this thread) but I still had this 'layer' of wobbly fat all across my chest and stomach.  It was absolutely infuriating!!  

Also, I remember doing some exercise with my top off on holiday last year and was doing a plank, and to my horror I looked down (ie between my body and the ground) and there was all this loose flab literally just hanging off me, from my chest right down to my stomach.  And this was after I'd been seeing the trainer for ages.  The thing is, I didn't really want to lose any more weight as people had started telling me I was starting to look a bit too thin in the face which is not a good look.  

I am also diabetic and one of the symptoms for men is to have on a disproportionate amount of weight around their middle which is hard to shift.  It also means I can't do certain types of diets to lose weight or body fat as I have to eat specific combos of food at each meal in order to stop my blood sugars going haywire and making me feel crap.  It's quite a science in itself.

So yes, it may look like I have taken the easy way out to the body I want - and maybe I have in some ways - but I know I am going to be much happier and more confident because of it.  I even went back to Dr. Karidis for a 2nd consultation last week, purely about the abs and flanks region, as I wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing for me.

How is your special diet going by the way?  I must say, I do like the sound of eating a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter for a snack... YUM  

[Era]

Ahhh it makes sense now i completely understand. I must admit i would love to have my flanks done they seem really stubborn, im going to diet down until they go lets see how much weight i have to budge. Its going good man i get my only solid meal of the week tomorrow so im going to have some food off the bbq, only meat though no carbs. Also im weighing myself tomorrow morning at the 1 week mark so cant wait to see how much ive lost, my pants feel a lot looser already.

[g3579]

Nice one - looking forward to seeing those results!!  Enjoy the BBQ tomorrow.  I've just had one too, although I can't actually eat that much as the compression vest and waist binder get too tight!!!!

[g3579]

Hi all

Just a quickie and will post pics of my progress tomorrow... am now 9 days post op and I have to say I'm very happy with the results so far. To be honest, I've not really thought much about my chest that much, more so the abs/flanks. They went from looking flat AS, then really swollen and lumpy for a couple of days (panic ensued and worried emails and pics sent to Dr. Karidis' nurse!), then back to flat again. Phew I'd say most bruising has gone, just a bit left on the flanks and chest is very slightly yellow but not that noticeable. Sensation to torso coming back to normal as the days progress. It's weird washing when you can't feel your body properly. Compression vest feeling much looser and far less annoying since about day 6. Can't wait until Thursday when I can go to work wearing just clothes, and normal clothes at that! Not baggy shirts to hide what's underneath

Have started sleeping flatter too, which has meant much better sleep. Had about a week of waking up at 5am every day which got a bit tedious.

Have also had my first alcoholic drink in about 3 weeks which is nice in this weather!

[g3579]

I either jinxed it by talking about it in my previous post, or it's just pure coincidence, but I woke up yesterday and seem to have developed what I presume is scar tissue on the side of the left pec. It's created an unsightly lump and is hard... kind of feels like a rib.

Has anyone else experienced such a big lump of scar tissue? I'm obviously concerned that it's so large I won't be able to massage it away And it feels so hard, like it won't be able to be broken down.

Also, at 11 days post op is it too early to start massaging? I don't want to damage myself.

Any advice much appreciated.

[g3579]

Had a 15 minute chat on the phone with Karolina, one of Dr. Karidis's nurses this afternoon after having emailed her 5 photos of my concerns.. She basically said it's all normal which I know I've read here, and I know I've read in their documentation... but sometimes you just need to hear it from them too.

I guess I'm on the rollercoaster you've all been talking about!!

Tonight's surprise lump of the day is my stomach, above my belly button... all puffy, swollen and generally misshapen.

I think I just need to relax. She said defo don't start massaging yet as the body is still healing underneath.