It's a miracle

[Calg-puffed]

By the grace of God, I'm having my surgery on March 7th.  An opening came up, and even the lady at the front desk said she has no clue how I got this spot.  I'm so excited.  I met with the nurse today and she gave me a printout on instructions to follow, which can me found here: http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,8764.0.html

A lot of important information is in there that I found hasn't been covered anywhere else here or even by other surgeons, such as
 - No salty food 3 days before and 2 days after surgery, for reasons of reduced swelling
 - Wear compression vest for 12 full weeks, day and night except when showering
 - No vitamins, herbs whatsoever and no protein drinks 2 weeks prior to surgery.  They increase clotting time and may lead to more bleeding and swelling (esp the protein)
 - No smoking for 4 WEEKS prior to and 4 WEEKS following surgery, including no use of the patch, nicotine gums, or anything else that contains nicotine (decreases circulation and may lead to permanent scarring)
 - Do not get over eager in trying to regain mobility in the arms.  If a certain movement causes even minimal discomfort, avoid doing it at all costs.  Any movement that moves the skin around on the chest wall will interrupt the healing process and could cause permanent detachment of the skin from the chest wall (why some people see the sagging effect after).

Hope this helps.

[MRD]

Congratulations. Who will be your PS? Price?

12 full weeks of vest wearing huh? Thats odd, Dr. Fielding told me you only have to wear the vest for 3 weeks.

[Calg-puffed]

Dr. Perron, it's local anaesthetic, $2600 includes all fees (excision plus some lipo).  Yeah they say 12 weeks, but they only expect most people to wear it for 8 weeks.  Apparently any less than this will just cause the swelling to come back in the chest and could affect the final result.  That is just their experience.

[igotgyne]

Where in Canada are you? (province)

[Calg-puffed]

Alberta.

[Shattered_Nyte]

So how did the Surgery go? How are you feeling?Who was your Surgeon? Tell us all about it.

[Calg-puffed]

Hey guys, it was pretty routine.  I got there at 10:30, waited in a waiting room 'til 11:30.  Given a percocet and an ativan.  Waited 'til about 12:30 for those to kick in then went into the surgical suite.  They put me under local anaesthetic, and started cuttin away.  Removed two glands about the size of if you touch your thumb to your index finger on the same hand.  Wasn't particularly happy that he didn't want to do lipo, so I'm going to get a revision.  I'll post pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

Cheers!

[Calg-puffed]

Well some of the swelling has subsided... it does look pretty good.  No more puffy nips which is great.  The rest I can work on i.e. building muscle, losing fat.  In the past when I've lost fat I've noticed my chest has decreased in size, so I don't think it'll be much of a problem.  The doctor said that in 6 months time if a revision is needed he can always do one.

[guistar]

They gave you sedatives before the surgery?  Is this common?   The only thing that scares me about the surgery is that I have panic attacks whenever I do anything big like this.  I had a panic attack just from the consultation.  They're full blown "Tony Soprano" attacks in some cases were I hit the floor like a sack of bricks.  I figured I might be ok because they usually happen after the stressfull situation is over but in this case I'll have to sit there and wait half the day and then spend 1-2 hours in surgery so I might be cutting it a bit close.