GK's Surgery/Post-Op Journal

[goldenknight]

Hopefully my experience and what I share here will help those who are contemplating surgery and want to know what the recovery period is like...

Well, I'm going in for surgery to rid myself of Gynecomastia at 7am tomorrow morning! In less then 24 hours I will finally be gyne-free for the first time since pre-puberty. What an awesome feeling, I'm so excited! All day today I've been thinking how  this is my last day with this problem.. "Wow, this is the last time I have to slouch over at the table while eating lunch with friends"..."Wow this is the last time I'll see myself in the mirror with my moobs" lol, and the list of occasions goes on and on..

A little background info first: I'm 19, 5'11 and 170 lbs. I've had gyne since puberty, but remember having lumps from the gland since I was about 9 years old. I have a moderate to severe case, about 75% gland, 25% fat. My PS is Dr.Rothfield in Weston, Fl.

I will post before/after pics once I find a connector for my camera to my lap top (I left mine at school).

I will post once I get home tomorrow (roughly 11 am) and will let you all know how the surgery went. This is only the beginning!
                                GoldenKnight

[manzeer]

Congrats and good luck. You will be psyched.

[goldenknight]

Day 1

Well, surgery was a success!    I'm back home now laying in bed all bundled up and my chest tightly bound. Sorry if there are many grammatical errors in this post, I don't have my contacts in, and I'm unable to put my glasses on since I had Lipo around my neck too,  so my head is wrapped up in an ace bandage as well.

I got to the hospital at 7am, and finally went in for surgery around 9:30. Last thing I remember is the nurse saying "time to go to sleep" and next thing I know I'm laying in bed with the oxygen thingy in my nose in the recovery room  I had a bit of a sore throat from the breathng tube, and  My chest was sore as heck!!!
There is alot of padding, gauze and a big old ace-bandage type wrap around me and everytime I move I feel a burning sensation mostly on my right side. I assume this is because my right side was larger then the left and they removed more fat there. I got a look at myself in the mirror in the hospital bathroom before I was discharged and my chest looks like its compeltely flat under these bandages! Keeping my fingers crosses that it really is, and that the swelling is not that bad. I've taken 2 oxycodones (I think thats what they are called) since I've been home and the pain has subsided a little bit, but it still really burns, and stings like a #@$!#* if I move my arms to much. I had no idea how often we use our pec muscles every day! A simple thing like lifting a cup makes it burn.

Anyways, I was hoping the meds would make me pass out, but I've been wide awake since I returned gome around 12ish. Oh, and I have 2 drainage tubes that come from my chest anf empty into this little rubber ballon thingy. Drainage is very minor, only about a 1/4 a cups worth of blood so far in each ballon. Will try to post more later today, if not I'll defintely update tomorrow after my post-op check up with the Doc. Peace!
         GoldenKnight

[goldenknight]

Day 2

Well I made it through the first night. 
I slept very lightly, and had to get up about every 2-3 hours to urinate. It's kind of hard to pee a little, standing up for a long period of time makes me dizzy.
Woke up with even more of a sore throat then yesterday, don't know what that's about! lol. Had a slight headache as well, took my antibiotic pill and 2 pain meds and all is well. Drainage is still very minor. I guess my body absorbed most of the blood/fat which is why I'm going to the bathroom a lot. My chest is very sore when I touch it, and there's slight yellow/blueish bruising thats now appearing around the bandages and in my arm pit area. Swelling is very minor, no more then yesterday. Even with the swelling I have now my chest is smaller then it was before surgery, which gives me hope that it's really flat.
Have my post-op with my PS in an hour, excited to see my chest when he removes the bandages. Will write how the post-op meeting went as soon as I get back.

[tony_ss]

Congrats Golden knight.. wish you best of luck for your recovery.
i am going for surgery this saturday.. really scared about it.. my doctor told me that he wouldn't put drains in my chest. i am not sure whether I will have swelling, if fluids are not drained.

[goldenknight]

Congrats and Good luck Tony! You won't regret it one bit!

Post- Op with PS- Day 2 still

Well, I just returned from my post-op check up with my PS and I was a little worried. He took of the bandages and my chest looks really great, almost completely flat, a little swelling and hardly any bruising but I noticed one thing....He didn't do an excission at all  . I asked him why since we both agreed that my gyne was mostly glandular pre-op and he said once he got inside my chest during surgery it turned out that the lumps that we thought were gland were mostly hard fatty tissue. Is this possible? 
He said he sat me up after performing the lipo and that my chest was completely flat and excission wasn't necessary.

He told me that he removed a total of a liter of fat from both breasts and that if he compared the amount of fat sucked out of me to the size of implants, that was considered a big size! I was shocked that I had that much fat! Maybe those lumps really were just chunks of hard fat tissue. My Gyne wasn't THAT severe, and those hard lumps could be the reason for the large volume of fat removed if they were melted down and sucked out with the rest of the soft fatty tissue. I'm praying that when the swelling goes down over the next few weeks I don't feel the lumps again.

He then took out the drainage tubes, which reaalllllly hurt  , and then wrapped me in a new ace bandage. I have to go back to him Friday to get the bandages removed again and he will give me the garment I will have to wear for the next few weeks then.

I have to say I was on a high when I left his office. I was really worried about the excission thing but once I saw my chest and heard his explaination, I felt pretty good! Lets hope this good feeling lasts...
                     Goldenknight

[goldenknight]

Day 3

Woke up feeling pretty sore today. I think it was because last night I took off the bandages to take some pics that I will post in a few weeks  and when I put the bandages back on it was a little to snug. I showered for the first time today since pre-op and it felt so good (afterwards)! It was very hard washing my hair and arm pits. My chest is very sore around the nipples and the area near the armpit where he made the lipo incession. There is very little bruising, just a black/blue line under each breast and then some minor yellow bruising on the upper chest. The swelling has pretty much stayed the same since day one. Even with the swelling I'm amazed at the results while standing sideways infront of the mirror. My main concerns now are that the swelling will go down enough to give me a completely flat chest and that the skin will stretch back and move my nipples slightly higher then where they were pre-op.

I've only taken 1 pain med today which is an improvement from the last couple of days where I took 2 about every 6 hours. Just laying around the house waiting for the results! Hope the soreness goes away before my family's big christmas eve party on Sunday...

 GK

[miami305]

Hi just wondering if you have any updates on how the surgery went? I am looking for a PS in that area. Thanks