My surgery experience

[lastwave]

Hi guys

I'm 40.  Had gyne ever since I hit puberty, and finally decided (and could afford) to do something about it last year.  This was partly for me, but especially for my kids, so I could go swimming with them.

I had a consultation last November and was booked in for surgery last Tuesday, 9/1.  The consultant confirmed that I had breast tissue and would undertake some aggressive lipo to improve my contour.  He stressed he would not be able to give me a perfect chest, but I assured him that something approaching normal was all I really wanted.

So, last week I checked in and was seen by the surgeon (took photos, drew contours) and the anaesthetist.  At 1030 I went to surgery, the last thing I remember was the anaesthetist saying "this will make you drowsy" and then I am lying in recovery talking to a nurse about DVD recorders (yes, your mind rambles!!!!!)

Anyway, back to the room to sleep off the general (which was a light one, so I had no feeling of sickness at all) and I have to be honest and say I was felling really very good.  Pain was minimal (the local to my chest wouldn't wear off for 24 hours), very little swelling, and I was able to eat a decent lunch at 1pm.  No drains in my chest, just a large dressing to cover the breast area.  Received paracetamol every four hours and antibiotics and anti-inflammatories every eight hours (and continued to do so for a week).  The surgeon came to see me about 5pm and said he'd removed 1 litre in total (is that a lot?) and was pleased with how everything went.   Interestingly, he told me not to bother with a compression vest at all, which I had assumed would be a given, but should simply wear tight fitting t shirts for a few weeks.

After a good sleep I went home the next morning.  Still felt pretty good.  Then the local wore off in my chest and the feeling was weird.  My chest felt tingly, electric, sticky.  Very weird, but certainly not that painful.

Dressing came off during the afternoon on the following day (48 hours after surgery).  I was stunned at what was looking back at me.  Two very small incisions on each breast (one high, one low) and hardly any bruising at all (compared to what I expected).  But above all, a fairly flat, well contoured male chest!  My wife just said one word - wow!

So, a week later and what's changed?  Well, the bruising has deepend and is pretty severe, especially under my arms and around the lower incisions (where most of the removal was done I guess).  There is also some deep swelling now, but even so my profile is still great.  Every day I feel better and better.  I wouldn't want to take a hard blow to the affected areas as that would hurt like crazy I suspect, but just taking it easy all is well.

I hope to post some before and after pictures soon, but I for one have had a very positive experience and I am so glad I went ahead with the surgery.  I can't wait for the summer holidays now!

Best wishes

Gareth



   

[Grandpa Bambu]

Gareth...

Congrats dude!

Welcome to the 'Other Side'... 

GB

[lastwave]

Stitches out today after 10 days.  They were getting very itchy and I'm glad they're gone.  The nurse was very impressed and said they will be invisible.

As to the chest, still some light bruising and my chest area now feels quite hard.  My wife says the chest looks bigger, which I assume is swelling?  Seeing the surgeon next week (op + 14 days) and hopefully he'll confirm that it is swelling and will calm down later on.

Still, looking great in shirts!

[lastwave]

Saw the surgeon today for my op + 2 weeks consultation.  He was delighted with the left side of my chest but concerned at the amount of swelling to the right.  He strapped me up there and then with a 6" gauze bandage and told me to buy another sports compression vest one size smaller than the one I am wearing at the moment.  Not overly concerned as he said the larger swelling will just take longer to subside, but hopefully two weks of extra tight compression will deal with it.

Booked in for another check in two weeks time.

Take care all.

[lastwave]

Saw the surgeon today for my op + 4 weeks consultation.  Left side looking perfect, and he was pleased with how the right side had calmed down following two weeks of compression but still felt he'd "missed the boat" in preventing swelling.  Advised I wear compression for another two weeks.  Will now see him in eight weeks time.

Can also resume exercise now, which is great news as cricket nets start this Sunday!

[lastwave]

What is a boy to do?  Had my three month check and told the PS that I could feel hard lumps in both sides.  He checked it out and said he felt it was glandular tissue both sides, RH side much worse of the two though, and at the moment I am aysmetrical.

Advised that he would waive his fee as previously promised for revisionary surgery (his thinking had been that just lipo was a better way to go first off, as that may have given me a shape I was happy with; we could always excise later if it was necessary), but - and this is a kicker - the hospital would charge £1500 to cover theatre time.

I felt flattened.  Said I wouldn't pay any extra, and that I was done with the whole thing.  He said he'd refer me to NHS surgeons who would do the excision for free, if they agreed to do it (the areas is tender, so he though this would mean they woudn't classify it as an aesthetic issue and increase the likelihood of surgery), but I just feel a bit let down by the whole thing.

Don't get me wrong, I still look much better in clothes than I ever have, but I would still think twice about strutting my stuff at the pool with 100% confidence.

So, there you go, if you go for lipo-only make sure you know EXACTLY what the costs are from all concerned if you need revision.

G

[Time_to_fix_it]

Hi Lastwave,

Sorry to hear you have learnt 2 difficult lessons the hard way.

Time after time I read posts on here from people who say that liposuction alone hasn’t worked for them.

I also think it is scandalous that you have to pay for hospital fees for revision surgery when you took the advice of your surgeon in accepting only liposuction.  Did he warn you that if you had excision later there would be further costs I wonder?

It’s always easy to be wise after the event, but we really do have to do our homework before we have surgery.  We have to be very careful who we choose for a surgeon and one of the vital questions HAS to be .. If I need a revision are there any further costs?  The surgeons experience is very important, as are the costs of the surgery, but bearing in mind we are talking human bodies (and therefore frailties) here so nothing is guaranteed to work first (or sometimes even second) time.  We really do have to think a little pessimistically sometimes and plan for the worst.

Ok .. end of rant.

I do wonder if the hard lumps you feel might be scar tissue which might be flattened and softened with massage.  Did your surgeon explore that possibility?

Another thought I had was at 3 months it is still early days for you.  I was told to wait at least 6 months and more likely 12 months to see the final result.

Keep us posted?

[lastwave]

Did he warn you that if you had excision later there would be further costs I wonder?

Well he did say he wouldn't charge for revision, which to be fair he is sticking to, but I suppose I was naive to assume that the hospital and anaesthetist wouldn't charge as well.

I do wonder if the hard lumps you feel might be scar tissue which might be flattened and softened with massage.  Did your surgeon explore that possibility?  Another thought I had was at 3 months it is still early days for you.  I was told to wait at least 6 months and more likely 12 months to see the final result.

I don't see much change in my profile between now and immediately after surgery, and I'd be surprised if there was much more change in the future; my profile has remained pretty constant since surgery.  Of course I'd be delighted if it did turn out that the RH side is still swollen as the PS originally thought, and that it does settle down some more, but I don't think it'll happen.

Also, I don't think it's scar tissue, and neither does the surgeon.  Following the lipo it is much easier to feel the lumps behind each nipple (much worse on one side than the other, the side which the PS originally thought had post-op swelling) and I guess their positioning and shape made him decided they are glandular.

So, not sure what to do.  I've been back to the PS and the hospital and they have simply reiterated their previous position.  I think I may just give it a year and see how I feel then.  As I said above, it's only really a beach/pool issue now, and to be honest I am so much better than I was pre-op I think I can live with it.  In  the scheme of things £1500 isn't a great deal of money and I can afford it, but it just leaves a bitter taste...

[lastwave]

Quick update:

Saw the NHS surgeon - he's happy to do the excision and aim for greater symmetry if the Primary Trust agree to it.  Given that it is "low priority" he wasn't optimistic, but we shall see.

Ultrasound: confirmed that glands were still in place on both sides.  Doctor said I had "classic gynecomastia"!

Blood test: all fine apart from a low LH (Luteinizing Hormone) reading, which was still there when the test was repeated.  Thoughts?

Am thinking the £1500 for excision and more lipo to reduce the asymmetry may just be money well spent now...  To be honest I felt a bit of a fraud using up NHS time on this...

Cheers all

[r1]

Am thinking the £1500 for excision and more lipo to reduce the asymmetry may just be money well spent now...  To be honest I felt a bit of a fraud using up NHS time on this...

Dont worry about that, the only problem with the NHS is that the waiting lists to even see the plastic surgeon are massive let alone, have the surgery. For me it was a problem getting the NHS to do it, just the wait, so if your in a hurry pay the money if not, use the NHS and dont feel "like a fraud".

Who was the surgeon and how much did it originally cost??

[Chodel]

don't feel like a fraud Gareth, this is important to you both physically and mentally!!  Sorry to hear you are not happy with the results, but I hope you resolve the matter one way or another.

keep us posted on your progress.