I had a gynecomastia operation with Dr. Fielding last week. My experience will likely be different than most people because I had liposuction of the abdomen performed in the same operation (all 4 major fat deposits in the typical male abdomen - the 2 flanks, upper stomach and lower stomach areas).
I learned about Dr. Fielding through this discussion board, so I thought the least I could do is describe my experience as thoroughly as possible (this is gonna be long).
RESULT
It's way too early for me to comment much on the result (it's only been a week). But so far, it looks pretty good. My chest looked quite a bit flatter after the foam was removed (it's swelled back up a bit since). I'm pretty happy with my chest so far.
My stomach looks slightly flatter and my flanks look the same as pre-surgery, but these areas are filled with swelling. It's as if all the fat has been replaced with swelling (these areas are numb and a lot harder than before the operation, so I'm assuming its just swelling). I really have no idea what these areas will look like when the swelling subsides.
I'm about 3 lbs lighter than I was on the day of the operation.
I have virtually no pain in my chest, and haven't had much since the operation. I do, however, have quite a bit of pain and discomfort in my abdomen.
It's still too early to comment on scarring, but I don't see anything obviously problematic.
All in all, the result seems satisfactory (and particularly good with respect to the gyne) for this early stage, but, of course, I won't know for sure until at least a few weeks.
INITIAL CONSULTATION
The first available appointment was about two months after I called to book it. It took place at his office at South Kingsway and Bloor. He asked a lot of background questions, looked at my chest and abdomen, and told me that he could help me. He told me to stop taking a bunch of supplements that I got from GNC for at least two weeks prior to the operation (something to do with possible interference with the anesthetic).
I was happy to hear that he could help me. 8 years ago, I saw another plastic surgeon who said my gyne was too small to justify removing, and that removing them would leave dents in my chest. He thought my gyne was about an inch in diameter for each nipple, and that it was within the normal range. He went on about how he had more gyne than I did, and that I shouldn't have the surgery. He was wrong.
Dr. Fielding was of the view that my gyne took up a much bigger area than the previous surgeon thought. He was also of the view that their removal would be feasible.
I wish I saw Dr. Fielding 8 years ago instead of that other surgeon. I guess the moral of the story is to always get a second opinion of something doesn't sound right.
After the appointment, I spoke to his secretary about the Dr.'s availability for surgery. I left the office without booking a surgery date because I had to work it out with my schedule.
About a week later I called the office and booked my surgery date - surgery was about 5 weeks after my initial consultation. The secretary also booked a 2nd consultation 2 weeks prior to the surgery.
2nd CONSULTATION
I went back to the Dr.'s office 2 weeks before the surgery. He gave me a chance to ask all my questions, and he patiently answered them. Then he made me fill out a bunch of forms. His secretary gave me a piece of paper with the address of the hospital where surgery would take place along with some instructions. I paid for the surgery that day by credit card.
PRICE
The grand total was just under $5K. Of this, about $2K was for the gynecomastia, $2K was for the abdominal liposuction, and the remainder was GST and hospital fees. The Dr. told me that I have to pay hospital fees because I was having the abdominal liposuction. I read elsewhere on this board that he has charged as little as $1K for the gyne to students and people in financial need (neither of which applies to me).
DAY BEFORE SURGERY
His secretary told me to call his office a day before the surgery to get my surgery and check in time.
I didn't get much sleep that night
SURGERY DAY
The surgery was done at St. Joseph's Health Centre which is a bit east of the Dr.'s office. I took a cab there (alone).
I arrived at the hospital early in the morning. It was a bit annoying trying to find the exact location within the hospital where I had to check in. It's on floor #2 (which is actually the third floor for some reason). You're probably best off entering through the "Tranquility Entrance" of the hospital.
When I got there, some guy in a tie sitting behind a desk told me to register. He asked me a bunch of questions like address, emergency contact, etc. Then he gave me a piece of paper and a plastic blue card which I took to another desk. At that desk, the staff took the card and paper and gave me a bag with a gown, another gown, and a pair of small, dumb-looking bags.
I was told that I had to take off all my clothes, except my shoes, and wear the hospital gown. The gown only covers the front leaving your butt exposed The 2nd gown gets put over the first gown, but in the opposite direction so as to cover your butt (kind of like in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode where Will went to the hospital). The dumb-looking bags were actually "slippers" that I had to put over my shoes for some reason.
So I changed in the change room and put my clothes in my gym bag (which I brought with me). I then walked out to the change room in my awful hospital attire.
About 45 min later, one of the nurses took my to a nearby room where she took my pulse and blood pressure (this became a recurring theme), asked me a bunch of questions, and gave me a bag to put my gear in (I just put my coat in it since I already had my gym bag). She put labels with my name and other info on the bags. Then I went back to the waiting room, carrying my bags.
About a half hour later, another nurse called me in for surgery. I had to wear a dumb shower cap (which everyone else in the surgery room was also wearing). There I met 3 people who would be "helping" the Dr. with the surgery somehow. I also saw Dr. Fielding himself, who recognized me and introduced me to another Dr. who was the anesthesiologist.
They told me to take off my shoes and sit on the operating bed. I removed the top part of the robes, and Dr. Fielding drew circles with a marker around all the areas that were to be removed. He then took a photograph (which I haven't seen).
Then Dr. Fielding left the room for a while. The anesthesiologist asked me a bunch of questions (allergies, etc.). Then he told me to lie on the bed with my arms spread on these supporting surfaces.
The anesthetic seemed to have two steps. First, the anesthesiologist injected me with something that felt cold as it circulated through my blood. All the while, he continued to ask me questions (possibly to make sure I was still conscious). Then he told me he was going to put me to sleep, and he injected me with a second thing. I felt a weird staticy feeling in my head and in a few seconds I was unconscious.
I woke up in a room with a bunch of other patients who were also waking up. One of the nurses called me by name to wake me up and told me that the operation went well.
I felt the way I do on a Monday morning when my alarm clock goes off and I'm about to wack the snooze button. Basically, I just had a vague feeling that time passed, but I didn't remember anything that actually happened during that period.
I looked at my body and saw that it was covered in these sponge patties in the areas that were operated on. I was also wearing a compression garment around my abdomen. The nurses helped secure a compression vest around my chest. I had blankets covering me from the waist down. I was a bit worried about the thickness of all the stuff I had to wear, wondering how I could go back to work with all of it on. But the foam comes off 1 week after the surgery, and you only have to wear the compression garments for the remaining 2 weeks.
Then they took me to my room. The room was for two people, but I was the only one there at the time. They fed me with a Saline solution intravenously. A while later, one of the orderlies brought my gear to my room. I put my underwear and pants on. I basically stayed like that for the next 24 hours.
Every now and again, a nurse would take my blood pressure, pulse, and temperature and check up on my bleeding (there was some bleeding which subsided a few hours after the surgery). They offered me pain killers, but I refused (didn't need 'em).
I wasn't in any pain at this point. Later in the day I started to feel a bit of pain in my abdomen, but it wasn't too severe.
The intravenous solution made me need to urinate every hour and 15 min. The first time I had to piss in a urinal bottle. But after that, they let me use the washroom (which was in the same room). Whenever I needed to use it, I would unplug the intravenous solution apparatus, then walk over to the washroom.
In the evening, they brought in my roommate. He seemed to have a fairly serious health problem (unlike me).
Dinner didn't have any solids. It was broth, two small containers of cranberry juice, a small serving of jello, and a cup of tea with one packet of sugar. But that was ok, since I wasn't hungry.
I rented a TV for about $20. I strongly recommend getting one, because time goes by slow when you’re there. Just ask the nurse for the TV form, fill it in, and the nurse will submit it for you. Around 5 pm, the TV guy came with a small TV supported by some kind of arm which he put beside my bed. I had to pay him right there. Luckily I had cash with me.
The staff was generally quite friendly. They seemed fascinated with the compression vest for some reason. Apparently, it's a fairly new device.
However, it was not a fun night. The whole time, I just wanted to go home, but I had to stay until the morning.
Dr. Fielding came by around 8 am the next morning and woke me up. He asked me how I was doing, wrote me a prescription for pain killers, and set an appointment, at the hospital, for 1 week after the surgery.
I put on my clothes and left right away (I didn't even stay for breakfast, I just wanted to go home).
I called a taxi using one of the hospital taxi phones. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, so I had to call them on my cell phone. I came prepared with the taxi phone number. About 5 min later, the taxi came, and I went home.
POST OPERATION
I had to wear all the original foam patties, blood stains and all, along with the compression garments until my post-operation appointment with Dr. Fielding.
Before I left the hospital, I took of the vest and one of the nurses helped me replace it with a tensor bandage. I soaked the vest in cold water and detergent immediately when I got home and let it hang to dry. Remarkably, the blood came out. When it dried I took off the tensor bandages and put the vest back on.
During the week some of the swelling from my abdomen drained to my crotch
My p*nis and the top of my scrotum became dark red for a while. Most of it has already gone away.
I filled my prescription for pain killers, but didn't use them. The pain wasn't too bad during the first week.
That was a pretty lousy week. The thing around my abdomen started to itch, and it really wasn't fun to wear. It was difficult to walk or do anything. I didn't want to leave my apartment because I smelled gross, and bathing with all the crap on was a chore. I only bathed twice during that period, replacing the vest with a tensor bandage, and wrapping saran wrap and a garbage bag around the parts that shouldn't get wet. Not a great idea, because some water ended up seeping behind the foam. Fortunately, this only happened right before my post operation appointment.
POST OPERATION APPOINTMENT
On the sixth day after my surgery, I went back to the hospital for my appointment. They made me wait in line for about 15 min to register again, then I sat in a crowded waiting room for an hour with a bunch of elderly people until a nurse finally called me in to see the Dr. He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. He ripped off all the foam patties (which hurt) and had a look.
He said that I looked almost as good as one could after such an operation, except that I had a bit of swelling in the chest.
He told me to book an appointment with him at his office before Christmas (which I did).
He told me to cut off the ends of the strings used for the stitches myself after a couple of weeks, and that the stitches that were inside me would just dissolve.
He told me that I needed to wear the compression band around my abdomen and the compression vest for 2 more weeks, and that I couldn't life weights until then. He said I could start running again in 1 week.
I asked him about commercially sold compression garments, and he said not to buy them because they weren't as good as the ones I was provided with.
After the appointment, I started getting more pain in my abdomen. Right now it hurts quite a bit, and in a funny, scratchy, burning kind of way. It's not pleasant. If it persists, I might start to take the pain killers.
I don't feel any pain in my chest though.
CONCLUSION
Still awake? Wow, that was long. Anyway, as far as gynecomastia goes, I think Dr. Fielding is the guy to see.
The only wild card for me is the abdominal liposuction. I really don't know what I'm going to look like when the swelling goes away. But I'm cautiously optimistic.
Topic: My Surgery with Dr. Fielding - a Thorough Review (Read 7310 times)
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