Sorry about the long wait on the reply, I've been out of it the past few days.
Anyways, I had the surgery on Tuesday. The treatment I got at the Rockyview day surgery unit was great, the nurses treated me like I was the only one there and there was always someone checking up on me to see if I needed anything or if they could make me more comfortable. Dr. Haugrud has a great rep with the nurses and everyone seems to love him. Instead of a orderly carting me around, Dr. Haugrud came and got me and pushed me part of the way, while he answered any last questions, and seemed to be trying to get me as relaxed as possible (the Nurses told me Dr. Haugrud is the only surgeon you will ever come across who carts his patients around like this). The surgery itself was just over a hour, the hardest part being for me waking up as I was having breathing problems and I threw up a bit. When I was ready to go home, they gave me a bunch of percocets and a prescription for t3s. Also I was orignially supposed to have drains put in after surgery on tues and taken out on Thurs, but for some reason at the hospital, after a final pre-exam, Dr. Haugrud determined it would be better to leave them in until Monday (tomm) to get them removed.
With the drains put in, it is almost impossible to take care of yourself, and for me at least, I needed constant care from my Mom the first few days. Percocets every 4 hours type deal. The pain isnt too bad, just the occasional shooting pain that went away after a few days. Showering is a bitch with drains in, but you get used to it ( I put a plastic outdoor type chair in the shower stall to make life easier).
For the first few days I was wrapped up and couldnt see anything, but when the wrap came off, despite the swelling,brusiing etc, my chest clearly had the normal look people like us have only dreamed about. I am overall really happy, it looks like all the gland was taken out and some fat must have been taken out as I have defintion and shape that I never had before in my chest. The only concern I have now is I have slightly indented nipples and some loose skin, but that is supposed to tighten up and go away in the next few months (given the size of the glands I had and how much they stretched the skin this was expected. I will get a better view once the drains come out tommorow and will update on here. The pain hasnt been too bad at all, with the worst part being having to lie on my back in bed watching daytime tv for almost a week with drains taped to my sides.
I think I got most of it, if there is any more questions I would be more than glad to answer them. The hardest part now for me will be waiting 6 months before taking my shirt off in the sun as to prevent darkening the scars.