1st Visit to GP today

[Woobs]

Well I finally plucked up the courage to go and see my GP today.

I told him the whole story from the start: I was a fat kid and an obese teenager, weighing in a just over 22 stone when I was 19.
I decided to try and turn my life around and loose the weight -it took me 3 years but I did it, I now weigh just under 13 stone which is actually underweight for my height of 6ft 5" and I've kept my weight consistent for the last 5 years.

My man boobs have been with me since I was 10 years old - I never remember feeling normal and refuse to look at myself in a mirror. I've only really had 1 relationship which was doomed to failure from the start. How can you expect someone to love you when you hate yourself?

Although I've lost the weight I can't honestly say that I feel any happier, In my eyes I'm still far from normal - normal guys don't have breasts and a sagging stomach do they?

So anyway, I explained all this to my GP. He explained that the NHS almost never do this kind of surgery but their are exceptions...and my case might just be one...

I've posted a pic below. Please let me know what you think.



... and thanks for being here guys...without reading some of the stuff on here I'd never have had the balls to do anything about it. Rick.

[kingboob]

Number 1:  I strongly dislike you for making me feel REALLY guilty about weighing almost 7st more than you do at the same height...........  I love to think I can get away with a few extra lbs because of my height.... lol


Number 2:  I also lost a lot of weight... 17/18st

Like you I had a lot of loose skin and gynecomastia,   You might be able to get the NHS to do it, persistence / patience is going to be the key really, something I am really short on myself, which is why I ended up going private.

sigh, I feel depressed now, maybe I should go lose another 4 stone or so....... eek

[Woobs]

Hehehe sorry didn't mean to make you feel guilty.

Congratulations on loosing the weight...hard work isn't it!?


Did you have an abdominoplasty as well as a gynecomastia op?

What were your results like? Nobody seems to be able to tell me what to expect...

[WXYZ]

You may get an offer of surgery on the NHS, but it will also depend if you are happy the the surgeon and his expereince (or lack of). I was offerered surgery on the NHS and for this reason said No.

[kingboob]

Hehehe sorry didn't mean to make you feel guilty.

Congratulations on loosing the weight...hard work isn't it!?


Did you have an abdominoplasty as well as a gynecomastia op?

What were your results like? Nobody seems to be able to tell me what to expect...

You may get an offer of surgery on the NHS, but it will also depend if you are happy the the surgeon and his expereince (or lack of). I was offerered surgery on the NHS and for this reason said No.

Yeah, like you it too me a few years to lose the weight, unfortunately I have re-gained about 2st in the last 10 months about 1.5st before my surgery (panic eating?) and bout 6lbs since my operation this year... but obviously I'm still doing pretty well......, I find exercise is the key, what worked for you?  One thing I find is not being able to exercise after surgery is a real pain and gets you down a bit.

Yeah I had an tummy tuck..... well my surgeon calls it a belt-lipectomy which is a lower-body lift..... basically it is a tummy tuck that goes all the way around (like a belt), and lifts your ar*e as well as your tummy excess skin...... only I did get enough off the back area so I'm gonna ask him to take a bit more off.


Then I had gynecomastia correction, and I had like the excess skin on my arms removed as well 'bat wings' or 'bingo wings' is what most people call them.....

My results?  Well I am happy enough, there is room for improvement and I will want more done, but you much less loose skin than I did and you have less fat as well, so you are starting from a better base.

You might be able to get the NHS to some of it if you push, to be honest I was messed about by the NHS for a year, and by the time I did find an NHS consultant I was desperate to get it all done ASAP and went private instead....

As for what to expect? well I don't know, depends on what you have done and how they do it I suppose, I mean my chest / breasts were huuuuge, so I have a long scar running right across the top of the chest where he lifted upwards the whole area, getting the nipples to the correct height (instead of around the belly button area),  for me this was the best option.   The tummy tuck scar is just above the pubic line / area and is virtually invisible. 

Recovery is reasonably fast IMO.... a couple of weeks to be back doing normal stuff again, you can expect some pain and some swelling.  You will look a lot better IN clothes and gradually your confidence will return when you are not wearing a shirt as well; I'm not quite there yet but again, my case was much more severe than yours.

All I can really say is GO FOR IT....... you wont regret it, especially if you can get it on the NHS!


To the other poster RE: NHS surgeons...

I find it amusing that people think NHS surgeons are no good or whatever, because I used to have that belief as well...... but you gotta realise nearly all of those 'expert' private surgeons used to work in the NHS at some point.............   take the BMI hospital I went to privately, two of the surgeons (that I know of) who work at the hospital are also active NHS surgeons for the Birmingham area, so really what is the difference? 
If you have the patience to wait and can get it for free on the NHS I would go ahead.

Sure a private surgeon probably has more experience of doing tummy tucks or face lifts than a NHS one..... because the NHS guy is probably spending time doing more 'important' work, reconstruction, burns victims?? etc....  but ultimately they don't become consultant surgeons over night, they generally know that they are doing!

Plus remember you have the right to ask for a second opinion if you don't like what the first NHS guy has to say....  I believe you can still ask to be referred to a different area as well? 

[WXYZ]

It's not that I think NHS surgeons are no good, but the particular NHS surgeon I saw was not very experienced in gyne (he does less than 5 a year). According to my GP this is all the NHS can offer, when it comes to gyne you take whoever is assigned to you.  According to both him and the surgeon you can't go to another area to have it done.

[kingboob]

It's not that I think NHS surgeons are no good, but the particular NHS surgeon I saw was not very experienced in gyne (he does less than 5 a year). According to my GP this is all the NHS can offer, when it comes to gyne you take whoever is assigned to you.  According to both him and the surgeon you can't go to another area to have it done.

Well unless the rules have changed recently they are lying.......

I was referred to selly oak (birmingham) at my request...... and I live in Coventry....... which is a different PCT area I believe

[Woobs]

Thanks King - that's awesome and exactly what I was after. Just out of interest - how much did all of that cost?

I lost the weight purely through a complete change in eating...I've only recently discovered exercise so am trying to get rid of the last bit of excess body fat and replace it with muscle...am doing the gym 5 nights a week at the moment...only wish I didn't have to get showered and changed at home afterwards instead of in the open changing room.

I'm suffering from depression as a result of how I look at the moment so my GP seems to think that I may be in with a chance. He's sending me to see a psychiatrist to strengthen my case too... Apparently before he can refer me he has to ask the Primary Care Trust for permission so fingers crossed that they deem it to be necessary.

If I was offered treatment on the NHS I'd almost certainly take it, I think that I need around £11,000 of work doing (if I were to go private) and there's just no way I could afford that kind of money. Many of my mates are doctors in the NHS and you're right...all private surgeons in this country have to work in the NHS before they can focus completely on private work but I can see what WXYZ is saying...the surgeons who do these ops day in day out will naturally have better results - they'll have seen everything.

I can't imagine what it would be like to go out without a shirt on...I'm 26 years old and haven't really done that since I was a child...
 

[Hope]

Congratz on the weight loss and having the guts to go and see your GP!!! Hopefully all goes well and keep us updated.

I have my GP appointment next week...

[kingboob]

Thanks King - that's awesome and exactly what I was after. Just out of interest - how much did all of that cost?

I lost the weight purely through a complete change in eating...I've only recently discovered exercise so am trying to get rid of the last bit of excess body fat and replace it with muscle...am doing the gym 5 nights a week at the moment...only wish I didn't have to get showered and changed at home afterwards instead of in the open changing room.

I'm suffering from depression as a result of how I look at the moment so my GP seems to think that I may be in with a chance. He's sending me to see a psychiatrist to strengthen my case too... Apparently before he can refer me he has to ask the Primary Care Trust for permission so fingers crossed that they deem it to be necessary.

If I was offered treatment on the NHS I'd almost certainly take it, I think that I need around £11,000 of work doing (if I were to go private) and there's just no way I could afford that kind of money. Many of my mates are doctors in the NHS and you're right...all private surgeons in this country have to work in the NHS before they can focus completely on private work but I can see what WXYZ is saying...the surgeons who do these ops day in day out will naturally have better results - they'll have seen everything.

I can't imagine what it would be like to go out without a shirt on...I'm 26 years old and haven't really done that since I was a child...
 

Ok, well first off  had to have the psychiatrist report for the exact same reasons too.  They are generally really nice, and really sensitive people, they will ask loads of questions and basically try to assess what is wrong and how you can best be helped etc. -   They aren't there to judge and although I obviously told mine about the excess skin and breasts after weight loss she didn't even ask to look at the problem - so I avoided that embarrassment too.          - What I am trying to say is don't worry about that.

After that they wrote a letter to my GP saying the depression was based on my appearance etc, and how it would benefit me to get it done on the NHS - and she also stated I was in a sound state to actually cope with the stress of surgery.

I don't know about applying to the PCT for funding or what not, but if you do have to do that make sure you get your GP to stress just how BAD your case is, get the psychiatrist's report and even send photos if you have to, not nice but really do you care if they offer to stump up?

I  had boobs basically all my life, I was a skinny (underweightt even) kid till about 6 years old, then for some reason I became podgy and it all went on in the boob area.... so like you I'm 22 years old and I have never been on a beach or whatever topless..... let alone had a girlfriend... but now I have had the surgery I am getting there.

Again like you I couldn't afford to go private, I went for a private consult out of desperation, just to get an idea of what COULD be done....... then I got lucky and came into a bit of money and got a loan for some of it.   

The surgery (body lift / boob correction) cost me like £9084, I had both done at the same time because A) it was cheaper and B) I couldn't live with myself anymore and I wanted it all cut off, I didn't want to wait months between operations lol.

I'm having a thigh lift / tuck (dunno the proper name for  it), which my mother has emotionally blackmailed my step-dad into 'lending' me the money for..... another £3800 basically, but you probably wont need that since you weren't as fat to start off with so you probably don't have the loose skin as bad??

All I can really say is stay positive and keep pushing to get it done - This isn't vanity when the problem is that major.   People like us work hard to lose the weight (we don't even have a gastric band or anything), and then when the weight is gone it is so depressing that in some respects you can look worse than ever before.   

Getting the surgery done is starting to transform my life (IE: confidence to be going back to college this year after failing at school), and I am sure it would do the same for you as well, if you have a good GP backing you up (mine was useless) then you have a great chance.



What part of the country are you from anyway?

[Woobs]

I'm from Leeds - how about you?

The GP seems great so far - though I have only been to see him once, I'm due for another appointment next week so he can tell me what the plan of action will be.

I'd be more than happy to send a photo to them - I mean if I can put one up on here, what's the difference...anyone with eyes can see that I'm completely deformed and a total freak. From the photos that i've seen on here my boobs are definitely at the large end of the scale, and to be honest my life has be ruined so far by the way I look...all I want is to be like everyone else!

I reckon my thighs aren't too bad, though I'm trying to loose some of the fat in them. I do have bingo wings but I don't know whether getting massive triceps will give skin something to adhere to...I'm trying damn hard to see whether this will work.

Do you have any before and after shots -the ones that I've been shown aren't really relevant to me!

Cheers King. You've been brilliant with this advice