Today, June 18, 2012, is the 2-week mark since I had my surgery and I am happy to report that I'm doing fine both physically and emotionally
Here's a rundown of my experiences since that Monday, June 04, 2012:
BACKGROUND INFO 
I had mild/moderate gynecomastia since hitting puberty. Although it wasn't as bad as some, it was pretty obvious that my chest had a more feminine appearance than most guys and my nipples, including the aureola, was bigger than normal. I was self-conscious about it, so like most guys with this condition, I started working out like mad. That helped somewhat, but it was still noticeable. Even at my physical peak with low body fat and well muscled, my nipples still protruded and were pointy.
Even at that stage, which was in my early 20s, I accepted it and moved on. However, I started gaining weight in my mid-30s, and when I quit my nearly 20-year smoking habit, I really packed on some pounds, which went straight to my chest and my stomach.
This was at age 37, I'm 41 now, and during that time in-between, I threw myself into working out doing P90X, which took me awhile to complete, but I was able to shed about 40-pounds and went from waist 38 to 34, which is where I'm at now and at a healthy weight 184lbs at 5' 9" (though I'd like to be down to 175lbs).
Of course, my gynecomastia was really obvious after the weight gain and it didn't go away after I lost the weight. I even tried those creams that are supposed to help you lose/burn fat in targeted areas, and while it did make my chest sweat more during my workouts, it didn't do anything to make them look smaller or less flabby. To make matters worse, I was getting wrinkle lines under my breasts, and when I bent over they looked like a nursing dog's titties. When I would do jumping jacks, I could feel my chest heaving up and down, becoming somewhat painful, and even through all this I kept the hope that they'd go down.
Well, the final straw came when I was doing yoga and it was hot so I took off my shirt (at home) and I was doing upward dog and I caught my reflection in the mirror and my moobs, including the nipples, were akimbo. I kid you not, my chest looked like the eyes of those lizards that can move each eye, independently from one another, 360-degrees around. That's when I knew I needed surgery.
DAY OF SURGERY 
I'll discuss my doctor in another thread, but I'm really glad I chose him. Anyway, on that day, the anesthesiologist comes in and starts an IV into my arm and gives me something that calms me down, though I'm not nervous, and it makes me feel quite lovely, drunk almost. My doctor comes in and marks me up, tells me to flex etc., and then we go to the surgery room. There, they put an oxygen mask on me, and I tell them that it's kind of hard to exhale into the mask, so they give me more oxygen, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in the recovery room -- fully dressed! Time of the actual surgery was about two hours, but I've no recollection.
I'm groggy and I have some recall of the staff coming in and checking on me, and then someone comes in and tells me that they called my ride. I remember turning on my cell phone ringer, and then I must have knocked out again because the next thing I know my ride is there.
Here's a mistake I made: since I was in the recovery room by myself, in a wheelchair (I didn't know I was in a wheelchair
), I got up and went to the door, opened it, and announced that my ride was there, much to the horror of the staff that were like "you're not supposed to be standing up and walking around!" Anyway, I got nauseous after that, which lasted until I got home.
TIP # 1 Don't get up and walk around while still in recovery!
AT HOME AFTER SURGERYAt home, I basically slept on and off all day. I took 2 pain killers about an hour after getting home and continued taking one pill every 4-6 hours on the first two days. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say my pain was at 7. It wasn't really pain, but more of soreness and inflammation. It felt like an itchy heat type of feeling, the kind you get when you leave a massager/vibrator on one spot of you skin too long and all the blood rushes to that site.
I had my compression vest on, which was over two pads that provided further compression over my nipples.
BTW, everything was done through my aureola because I have a tendency to get keloid (raised scars) on my chest, so when my PS saw that I had some old scars, he decided to do as few incisions as possible.
Because of the nausea, I was only able to eat crackers, and drink water and club soda on that first day, and I really didn't have much of an appetite.
The next few days were pretty much the same, though I did move on to soup, salads, and fruit for meals.
WEDNESDAY, DAY 3, SHOWER DAYThis was the first day that I was allowed to shower, and would also be the first day that I would be able to view my new chest. I was excited but also very reserved because I know, going by the experience of many on this website, that 3-days in not a good gauge of where you are at in the grand scheme of surgery and healing.
I really didn't know what to expect, but I guess I was bracing myself for the worst.
Anyway, I removed my compression vest and then slowly removed the two pads that were covering much of my chest (those would be replaced by two new ones). I was very surprised to see that there was only a minimal amount of blood in the pads, along with some gauze, considering how some guys have reported a lot of drainage.
My second surprise was that my chest was totally flat. I really couldn't believe it, and it was very strange to look in the mirror and see this chest that looked like a teenaged boy's chest. When I looked down, I was also shocked that I didn't see the twin peaks staring back at me.
The right side, under my armpit was extremely bruised purple and red, while the left had very little except a big bruise near my shoulder. My nipples had tape under them, and the aureola was flat, but the nipples still protrude, which is fine by me (but I think it's because the tape is underneath them) and the left nipple is really bruised, while the right is almost normal color.
I threw my compression vest in the wash and when I put it in the dryer, I took my shower, being very careful not to disturb the incision site. It wasn't too bad, but I was instructed not to make big movements with my arms or raise them high above my head for the first few days, so I was taking extra care in the shower.
After that, I put the clean pads back on, and put my compression vest on, which I think might have shrank a little in the dryer.
THURSDAY 1ST POST OP VISITToday I went in for my post-op visit and was able to drive myself to the office. Everything looks good, still bruised and a little swollen, but I'm off the pain pills just taking Extra Strength Tylenol. My PS is happy with the way it looks and in healing, so I'm scheduled for my second post-op in 3 weeks, June 28.
I'm still sore, but it's more like that itchy pain I was talking about. I have to wear the pads underneath the compression vest for one more week. The straps are itching my shoulders so I put some cornstarch baby powder under them and that helps relieve that.
Of course, this is the day my uncle gets an appendicitis and has to go to the emergency room for surgery, he was supposed to be my caregiver, so I have to go to the emergency room. He has surgery, which was quicker than mine, but the hospital wants to keep him for two days for observation because he's old and overweight. So, I have to go to the hospital on Friday and then pick him up on Saturday and all the physical activity has my chest really itching, so I start icing it, which really helps.
FIRST WEEKEND AT HOMEIt's pretty much the same. After bringing my uncle home, I basically stay in bed, icing my chest, taking my antibiotics etc. Sunday, my friend comes over to take me to dinner. I stay home from work on Monday and stay in bed. The extra rest really helps me feel much better and the swelling and bruising is really subsiding fast.
FIRST WEEKSwelling is really going away and that "swooshing" sound that I felt (heard?) in my chest is gone, as well as the bruising under my arms. The tape is still under my nipples, but I'm listening to my PS who says just leave it there until it falls off.
As far as sensation on or around the nipples, I have some sensation but it's still sort of numb but that's to be expected.
Pain has gone down considerably, and I only feel soreness around my pecs when I press down, so I've started massaging the area.
I also bought another compression vest to wear, while the first one is drying, because I don't want to throw it in the dryer again.
I'm also back at work, but I have a desk job so there isn't any physical stress involved in it.
SECOND WEEKENDEven though I can move around more now and not get too much inflammation in my chest, I'm basically staying in bed and resting, whenever I can. Icing and massaging, and taking it easy as much as possible. Looks wise, my chest looks great, but again there's still a lot of healing and other changes going on internally, and it maybe premature to say definitively that this is will be my end result, so I'm not clapping my hands just yet.
I can't wait until I get the OK to start working out again. In the meantime, I'm trying to eat healthy and using this calorie counter app on my iPhone to track my caloric intake, since the only exercise I'm getting right now is walking the dog.
I do feel a little soreness across the pecs when I raise my arms above my head and reach for something, but that's about it.
Every now and then I do get some slight pain, not sharp, that goes across my nipple/chest area, but nothing too bad, and its instantaneous, coming and going very quickly.
Also, I'm still wearing my compression vest 24-7.
I hope everyone else is having a good recovery as well.
So that's been it, guys. I'll update again when I reach another milestone or if anything dramatic happens.
Topic: 2-Weeks Today, Mon 06-18-12 And UPDATES (Read 6821 times)
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