I'm Running Out of Options

[ætherio]

As the title says, I'm running out of options. Literally. I have had gynecomastia for 6 years now and counting. It's not too visually noticeable compared to some people's, but I don't care about that as much as the constant pain it gives me. I have be diagnosed by numerous doctors of various specialties that I do indeed have it. I have also taken a lab test for my hormones and they came out as fine. I was prescribed Tramadol for the pain which only halfway worked, but now that doctor, my PCP, switched fields and I have been and will continue to be doctorless until this April. Now I just use acetaminophen for the pain, which is mediocre at best.

With two different insurance companies, I have tried to get covered a least a little bit through a plastic surgeon with no avail. The surgery is $5,000 and as a broke college student with bills and debt, there's no way I can afford it even with a [mostly] full-time job. I cannot get a loan due to my short span of credit history, even if it has been all consistently paid on time. I have tried to have a family member cosign a medical loan for me through CareCredit and now they're just ignoring me despite them agreeing to sign it. I'm thinking about getting a deferred federal student loan on top of my grant and scholarship just to see if I can use the money for the surgery, but apparently even then the college splits the money and I wouldn't be able to use the money all at once thus not be able to afford the surgery.

The only options I have left are trying to see if insurance would cover it through a general surgeon, who openly said if he did it craters may result, or to just go to the ER, which even then I doubt they'd care about it. I literally don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired of this physical and mental pain.

I'm not asking for a pity party—I'm asking for help. Any ideas, suggestions, or advice would be highly appreciated. Anything.

[TigerPaws]

ætherio,

Many of us in this forum have lived with Gynecomastia for years and some for decades. Some (like myself) have very well developed breasts (I am now a 38D on a 5'8" 165 lb frame), others are larger, much larger.

Yet life goes on we learn to accept who and what we are, to develop a sense of self worth and to ignore those who's minds are too small to understand and accept us as we are. I am considerably older than you and as I have said much more developed. I still have pain and itching which is a sure sign of additional growth. Learning to cope and to understand is part of life. Everyone handles pain and discomfort differently, personally I have been shot, stabbed and hit by both mortar and IED fragments requiring multiple surgeries and considerable recovery time.

Pain in one form or another is a daily occurrence which many like myself simply learn to deal with.

Why you are developing breasts could be simple genetics as you have (mostly) ruled out a hormone imbalance the reasons for your breast development may never be fully understood. Medicine is not an exact science, there is as much art in it as their is science (contrary to popular belief and the propaganda from me medical community).