Surgery with Mr Levick 22/4/2015

[mr_m101]

Hi all,

Rather than hijack jb89's thread, I thought I'd start my own. I know you've read it all before, but I'm bored

I had my surgery today (22/4/15) with Mr Levick. I arrived at the hospital just after 10am and was shown to my room. The porter gave me a quick tour of the controls for the bed and TV, then it was a non-stop parade of nurses to fill in forms, weigh me, take my height and measure my ankles for the compression socks. I was given some sterilising swabs to rub all over my chest before changing into the gown, sexy paper pants and surgical socks. The socks were a bit of a struggle to get on!

Mr Levick came in to see me at around 12pm and was his usual cheery self. He told me that there were 3 of us in today. I know jb89 was just after me, but I don't know if the 3rd guy is a fellow forum member. Hopefully it went well if you are

I walked down to the anaesthetist room soon after, where I posed for some final page 3 style shots and got marked up before laying down.

The anaesthetist came in just after with a nurse. He was a friendly German guy named Stefan. They put the cannula into the back of my left hand and asked me what my favourite beer was. I then felt a slight chill in my arm as the anaesthetic went in and he told me he was pouring a pint of my favourite ale into my arm. They both continued to talk to me about the booze kicking in and before I knew it, I was awake in the recovery room! It was very surreal. I went in at around 12:30pm and was wide awake by 2:30pm.

Whilst in the recovery room, the nurse asked if I had any pain. My chest had a mild burning sensation. It wasn't really painful, but it was strange. They put some sort of liquid painkiller in my mouth and a drink and it soon went away. Thankfully I didn't have a sore throat like some people seem to experience.

I was wide awake, so I was moved back to my room shortly after taking the painkiller. Once back in the room, I was hooked up to he cooling machine and settled down to watch an afternoon of snooker with a pot of tea

My biggest concern was not being able to pee after the GA as I really didn't fancy a catheter! No problems though, the pots of tea sorted that out. I was hooked up to the cooling machine, so rather than unplug it all to go to the bathroom, I was given a bed pan.

At about 4pm I asked for my lunch. I hadn't eaten since 6pm the previous day, so was starving. You've never seen an egg salad sandwich disappear so quickly!

Mr Levick came in to see me shortly after and told me it was a great success. He said he got 204 grams of gland out of me! Neither him or I thought it would be that high and I can't wait to see my "burger shots" tomorrow morning.

I had dinner at about 6pm. I didn't think that I'd be that hungry since I'd not long had lunch, but I ate the lot! Smoked haddock fish cake for starter, chicken breast, spinnach and mashed potato for main and some vanilla ice cream for pudding.

Went to the toilet again, but this time I got disconnected from the cooling machine to use the proper bathroom. I took the opportunity to get out of the sexy paper pants, put some shorts on and set my laptop up. I also had a little peek under the binder and I'm really happy with what I can see so far. I keep giggling to myself and wondering why I didn't do this sooner.

The only slight discomfort I'm having is under my right arm pit. I'm pretty sure it's just the binder rubbing or the tape on the dressing pulling on hair. Nothing worth complaining about though.

That's pretty much where I am now. I've stocked my laptop with films, so I'll probably be watching them after the football

I'll get some photos up once I'm home and have my burger shot.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone on this forum. I would have never gone through with it if it wasn't for your shared experiences and advice. Now for the recovery rollercoaster!

[lc98]

Good write up mate. I'd write about my experience too, but I'd just be reiterating. Everything seems to be going smoothly at this point  Can't wait for the burger shots tomorrow either. You know, I just went to the bathoom for the first time and caught a glance of myself in the mirror - I consider myself to be relatively slim anyway but I looked like I'd lost a couple stone  But then again..

I'm going to try trick myself into sleeping now - I really don't feel all the tired, despite having not slept for a good 20 hours!

Have a smooth recovery anyway.

[mr_m101]

Cheers mate. I went to sleep at about midnight. I slept quite well considering the cooling machine noise. How about you?

Had breakfast at around 8:30am and Mr Levick came in to see me shortly after. He took the binder off briefly to tighten it and I loved what I saw! As flat and normal as I'd hoped. I got to see the burger shots and it was so much more than I was expecting. More like t-bone steaks than burgers!

The nurse came in at about 10:00am to remove the cannula. I got her to change the dressing under my right arm as the tape pulling was becoming at bit irritating. I got washed and dressed before the final nurse came in to give me my bag of drugs and discharge forms. Got a taxi to the train station and now I'm at home.

I just want the next week to fly by now so that I can get this binder off! It's not really irritating me yet, but it's making bending a bit awkward. I'm not as slim as most on here (getting there), so my love handles are acting as a decent support to keep it up! They're next to go hopefully, but with graft rather than surgery

[mr_m101]

I forgot to attach the burger shot. Apologies for the rubbish camera phone scanner quality and forum photo size restriction.

[lc98]

I kept waking up every now and then a bit confused by the noises, but managed to get a couple hours in around 2 a.m. I've seen my chest quite a few times now because my binder was getting loose a lot; and I had a sneak peak myself - must say, I'm so happy. It's nuts how much different your chest looks afterwards! I've just got home now. tightened the binder again and relaxing for the rest of the day. I feel like I want to be extra clean with my diet now  I definitely think it will be a motivating factor to get into the best shape I can! Mr. Levick did say you were just down the hall - I would have come and said hello but I'm sure you probably wanted your privacy. Just out of curiosity, were you asked to be in a video? I was asked but then they had to pick someone else because I have a tatoo on my chest. Any brusing or swelling? My armpits are starting to feel a little bit sore, and the top of my chest looks a bit swollen. My lower chest looked amazing though

Anyway, keep in touch mate. It'll be good to see how we both improve over the next couple weeks. Worst part for me now is no showering for a week

[mr_m101]

Yeah we should have met up. I was going to ask after the surgery, but didn't want to disconnect from the cooling machine. I was in room 7, just next to where they measure your height against the wall.

Nope, I didn't get asked to be in a video. I would have said no though. I've avoided telling anyone at all so far, so the last thing I need is to see myself turn up on a TV show for the world to see!

Still don't have any bruising or swelling. My armpits are hurting a bit, but nothing too bad. I might take the dressings off tomorrow.

I'm dreading not showering. It's only been a day and I feel like I need one already! I've stocked up on baby wipes instead.

[BossManG]

Hahaha imagine if it was a music video..
Yes the first time you have a shower after the 7 days is soo amazing

[lc98]

A music video haha.. First thing that popped into my head was Embarrassing Bodies or something I wasn't too keen on the idea; not the kind of fame I'd want   he did say it was for a conference though - he's retiring so he wants to document his technique before he finishes up. I honestly don't know why other surgeons haven't adopted it yet. I'm gonna leave everything alone now for a week - my upper chest feels a bit warm and swolen, with a slight redness. I think the binder is pushing any fluid that's in there to the top of the binder, which only serves to further aggrivate the armpits.. This is definitely going to be the shit part now; waiting for mobility to come back and to get this bloody binder off. I've got face wipes and I plan on being a hermit for the week so no one has to deal with me when I start to smell   He said to keep the water lukewarm when I do shower though, apparently a couple patients of his have caused hematomas by having it too hot.

[wbay21]

Yeah we should have met up. I was going to ask after the surgery, but didn't want to disconnect from the cooling machine. I was in room 7, just next to where they measure your height against the wall.

Nope, I didn't get asked to be in a video. I would have said no though. I've avoided telling anyone at all so far, so the last thing I need is to see myself turn up on a TV show for the world to see!

Still don't have any bruising or swelling. My armpits are hurting a bit, but nothing too bad. I might take the dressings off tomorrow.

I'm dreading not showering. It's only been a day and I feel like I need one already! I've stocked up on baby wipes instead.

Hope it's going well.

[textilemerchant]

Good to hear both are going well, not sure I like the sound of the threatened catheter though ! :O.

[mr_m101]

Good to hear both are going well, not sure I like the sound of the threatened catheter though ! :O.

It was never actually mentioned, I've just read about it as a GA side effect. Every new nurse asks if you've "passed water" yet, so I knew what they were thinking Just keep hydrated and you'll be fine.

[mr_m101]

3 days in and still feel great. Swelling has started to appear on top of the binder as expected. I had a bit of a weird "fizzing" sensation near my left nipple last night. I imagine that was the fluid starting to build up. The binder feels very snug today without me tightening it, so something must be filling it from the inside.

I've taken the arm pit dressings off and the only bruising so far is around that area.

The worst part for me is sleeping on my back. My lower back really ached at about 5am this morning. I had to get up and walk around for a bit before going to back to sleep for a few more hours.

[lc98]

Glad your recovery is going well mate I've had some strange feelings going on with my nipples too. I'm not sure whether or not it's the binder or, like you said, fluid filling the area. It's so damn boring sitting in, waiting for things to heal

[mr_m101]

Cheers mate. Yeah, I'm really bored now too. I've been getting my money's worth from Netflix at least!

[mr_m101]

Day 4 - The bruising and swelling is really coming out on top of the binder now, but it's still not painful (I've attached a pic). I took a short walk to the shops earlier to restock. It was good to get outside for the first time since I got back home. Putting a pillow under my knees made sleeping on my back a bit easier last night. Not much else to report