Lipo in Jakarta, Indonesia: Two weeks later

[indies]

Two weeks post surgery ...

I had a lipo only procedure for a moderately mild gynecomastia about two weeks ago with Dr. Edwin Djuanda in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is a skin specialist with extensive experience in liposuction, although probably not specifically for treatment of gynecomastia. Still, he was at least aware of the issues involved and sounded convincing. When I asked about the gland/fat issue, he said he wouldn't be able to answer that until he'd done a direct examination. He also said that "it would be more difficult" to remove gland material, but that he could do it using liposuction tools. He used the tumescent lipo procedure, with local anesthetic and as an outpatient procedure. After the procedure, he used a tight bandage, which he said he'd remove after a couple of days. Beforehand, he'd told me that in his opinion, a compression garment wasn't essential, but that some doctors believe in them: if I wanted to wear one, I'd have to buy one online.

I was surprised at how painful the procedure was: tolerable, but certainly a bit more than I'd expected. I was up and about the next day, though, without taking pain killers, just taking it easy. There is still some bruising and what feels like some small, hard lumps on one side. The right hand side looks slightly bigger - and is more bruised - than the left.

When the bandages were removed, I could see that my chest had changed shape - although it still seems a bit larger than I'd have wanted. When I went to see Dr Edwin, his first, unsolicited comment when he saw me was: This will still come down a bit. It may take a month before you see the final shape.

So, reading this forum - which I wish I'd found earlier - that sounds about right, yes? I'm beginning to wonder if I should have sought out a doctor, perhaps in Bangkok, who was more used to doing excision as well. As I said, it's a moderately mild case: I go swimming in a public pool without too much embarrassment, although I find as a matter of course that I drape a towel around my neck to cover my chest. If it comes down a bit, then I may well be satisfied.

Is that really what I can expect?

By the way, the procedure here was about $1500.