Hello and some advice please.. (Surgery now done - Dr. Karidis)

[tobeborn]

Hi guys,

Can't thank everyone enough for these forums and all the contributions.

I decided last week that I had to do something about my gyne and came across the forum. It's given me the courage to book consultations and get the surgery done.

I've spent hours reading the stories, the 'worst moment' thread, which has had me in stitches and reminded me of the pain i've been through.

I am 24 year old, 5'7" and about 178 lb (overweight!). My gyne is pretty bad/ severe compared to some on here with puffy nipples and i have had the same 'side effects' as most; missing out on life for years, hoodies in the summer, wearing very select clothes, keeping on suit jacket in summer (i work in office), the taunts and abuse at school, low confidence/ self esteem, depression, suicidal thoughts, missing out on what is/ would have been the love of my life. I also think having gyne has single-handedly turned me from a fairly religious person into an atheist, if there was a god he would not cause this suffering to any person. I know there are worse things, illnesses and pain, death, but gyne is a mental pain that makes you want to change places with those people and on many occasions to just be dead.

...I have previously lost up to 20 lb in weight through diet and exercise over several months, but none of that weight came off my gyne or much from my stomach for that matter and i've put most of it back on. my gyne started with the onset of my weight at about 10/11 years old and i'ts the reason i haven't been able to and had the motivation to keep my weight in control. At least the tummy is a partner for the moobs..

gyne has ruined me up to this point, but no longer. back to the surgery:

I am in the UK and booked 4 consultations last week. All slightly differed about what they would do. it was only later that i worked my way to the UK specific forum and learned of Dr. Karidis, with whom I have a consultation towards the end of the month. my main concern has been being left with excess skin as my gyne is bad.

These were the 4 consultations:

1. Dr Nick Purcival: Said I had about 80% gland and he would do lipo and gland removal but leave skin as it is as i'm quite young it should settle itself. he was quite against any skin excision.

2. Dr Chandrasack: Said he would do above and then skin excision around nipples in donut method.

3. Dr Khan: The patient co-ordinator warned me before seeing him that is he quite abrupt and direct and that's just the way he is, he's excellent, does procedures for celebs etc etc. Well she wasn't wrong about his nature, he was extremely aggressive in his manner, said that I wouldn't get a good result because of my weight and tummy, that I shouldn't do it until I lose some weight.

He said the skin excision (donut method of cutting areola and rejoining it to skin) would be a must because of excess skin. He was noting all the warnings he was giving me, saying he was warning me now that I could have bad scarring, it might not look good etc etc.
At the end of it I actually thought his method was a very clever tactic, he made me feel like he was taking the chance away and almost as though i had to fight him for it and book it with him. (maybe slightly paranoid)

4. Harley Medical Group: Only got to see nurse in this one, she showed me before and after, one case being similar to mine and the results did look very good. But she said they would never remove skin and never have done, it would be wrong and OTT etc and generally not a good idea.

Well, I was hoping to decide on one of the surgeons, but 4 consults have left me more confused. With Dr. Karidis being so well recommended on the UK sub forum I am going to see him and see what he says. I think I'll be chosing him in any case..

But I wanted some feedback from you guys about excess skin, does it look likely i will need excision of skin (pic attached)??

Should I also also lose weight before having the surgery? I should ideally be at around 155-160 lb. I just cant see me shifting that stomach even if i drop weight like before. prob need a abdominoplasty for that!

Thanks for any feedback.

[kingboob]

First of all forget harley medical group - they don't even give consults with a surgeon until the day of the operation - that is no good at all, a nurse is not qualified to say whether  a certain procedure is needed or not.

No offense but you look pretty over weight and your chest is simply in proportion with the rest of your body...... having surgery would help make it smaller but I doubt you would get a completely flat chest without dropping weight as well, and even if you did it might look a bit weird.   You should probably lose some weight before having surgery if you can possibly manage it.

As for the excess skin....... it is really difficult to say what will happen once the tissue & fat is gone, the skin might shrink back or it might not........but if you did have excision of the skin it would leave big scars which you may find just as difficult to deal with as the boobs.

[tobeborn]

Hi

I can certainly drop the weight, ideal would be about 155-160 lb and I've been on a strict diet and exercise since finally deciding to sort this.

Whilst the gyne does look in proportion to my weight, i've been told its around 80% gland, which can easily be felt and no amount of exercise will get rid of that.

The thing i don't completely get is people that say that having the surgery won't look right because of the weight, surely if the gyne can't be changed or be lost with exercise, then whatever result as PS can get, he will get regardless of my overall weight. or am i missing something.

I don't expect a completely flat chest, but don't see how significant weight loss will help the look of the gyne by surgery...?

[thetodd]

Kingboobs right mate, seriously drop some weight before you have the operation get to your ideal bmi even if it takes a year! I know that your losing weight now but dont be tempted to rush into the op theatre

I wouldnt have the opeartion with anyone personally apart from
Paul Levick
Alex Karidis

and maybe in your case youd be better going with levick becaues im guessing your going to need a revision op. Im not sure if you could have 80% gland surley that would mean that you have like a kilo of gland?

[tobeborn]

Hi everyone

had the surgery today with Dr. Karidis.

thought it was my duty to write about my experience as this forum has motivated me to do something about this condition

between the consultation with Dr. Karidis and having the op today, i have lost 18lb. i have a way to go yet, especially to get weight off the stomach, but i'm getting there

i had the surgery at around 9.40, staff were excellent, very friendly, very kind. saw Dr. Karidis at about 8am just after arriving, he made some markings and said you wll be flat as a pancake soon  .

he was right    . in respect of the surgery itself i woke up feeling groggy about an hour or so after the anesthetic. surprisingly i didn't feel too thirsty as i had done when needing surgery on nose (septoplasty) last year. I was able to walk around with little discomfort and they were looking to see i could move about, pass urine and eat before deciding i could leave. i ate (nice menu) at about 1pm and felt good enough to go home just before 4.

chantelle (Dr. Karidis's nurse) came in at about 1.30 and to best of my memory said they took out 300mls fat and 15 or 18 grams of gland, and i think she said each side!! she gave me a lot of the advice i've read on here, arnica, pineapple, massage etc.

this evening i opened the clips off top half of the vest they fitted, just to see more clearly and it is very flat. and my case was pretty severe as i mentioned in earlier posts. other dr's said i would have to have a skin excision but it really does not seem it was necessary.

there is some swelling, particularly above and around the areola area, which is itself flatter than above, but stickies and bandgages yet to come off. It is a little sore and i've taken some ibuprofen and paracetamol for that.

but i am very happy, Dr. Karidis is the only one i would have recomended to others and that was at the point of the consultations. since havng the op i will say anyone in the uk who can, should come and see him before anybody else.

i accept that my chest will change over weeks and months, it will take time to get the 'perfect' shape etc and i have at least another stone or so to lose in weight. but life with the moobs is over and it will be like a re-birth when i can wear t-shirts freely for the first time in maybe 14 or so years.

some may have seen the pre-op pictures i posted a while back, they weren't very clear though. once i have all the strappings off tomorrow i will try and post some post-op pics. only thing i havn't kept is pre-op pics as i just didn't want the reminder. i might have to ask Dr. Karidis for one of them so i can really show how good his work is.

[tobeborn]

Ok an update

removed bandages and dressings earlier to take a shower.

chest is very flat, probably more so than i expected.

there's very little creasing and no inverted nipples or the like. but when sitting or leaning both 'breast' areas have some creasing.

it's only one day gone so would guess it will take time for things to settle. but the overall look is very good, other than the bruising and some swelling and I am wearing a nice new t-shirt on top of vest. feels amazing!

[tobeborn]

further update with a few pics just taken, 10 days post op

healing up well, skin been quite yellow looking last few days but scars healing up and brusing and swelling going down

been takin arnica, gently applied a little arnica cream in the last couple days, eating very healthy and lots of pineapple.

my chest seems to change every day, skin seems tighter just about each day. you can see the dark lines under where my "breats" used to be and that might be an indication of how bad my case was, up there with some of the worst cases on here and at least an 8/10.

like i said before i was shocked at how flat it was post op and i'm surprised everytime i take off the vest to shower in the morning how much tighter the skin gets. you can imagine with a bad case there's a lot of skin and in my case a big concern was lots of loose skin and needing to have a skin excision, which Dr. Karidis said he wouldn't want to do.

my right side, which was slightly smaller than left pre surgery seems to have slightly more taken out, with there being a very slight dip from the top of the chest to where the nipple starts, there's certainly more swelling on that side and more pain still so i'm waiting to see what happens there. shape of the nipples seem to change about daily as well, but it's all getting more natural or at least as natural as it can be for a bad case sufferer

all in all i'm very happy thus far and loving the freedom with clothes.


* pics too big to attach, anyone suggest best place to upload them?

[creative]

flickr/imageshack/imagevenue take a pick! Plenty about

[tobeborn]

thanks

a few taken today posted here:


hope you guys can see them. you won't know the difference though til you see the (deleted) pre op ones!

didn't want reminders but i'll be asking Dr. Karidis for them in a few weeks time to show the difference. only thing i can say is i had a bad case!!

btw lost 20 lbs since my first consultations! prob can lose another 10/15 lbs and i'll be happy but need to start building some pec muscles..

[creative]

Hi dude,

I'd be very interested to see your pre-op ones as your case might be quite similar to mine! I'm finding it hard to find pics of pre-op and post-op of people with severe gyne. Thanks

[tobeborn]

another update

now just over 3 weeks post-op.

everything healed up well, no bruising or external scars visible at all. all purple bruising/ swelling and then yellowness is gone.

skin has tightened up very well, considering how much there was. there can be slight creases when bending forward but you do have to look for them.

there is a small issue with my left side, which is very slightly smaller/ flatter than right side and the nipple (rather than areola) sits slightly more in on the left side. it's not something that concerns me much, but something i will ask karidis about when i see him in a couple of weeks time.

there is also a little area of harder tissue above my left side, which i think is scar tissue. i have been massaging for a few days with arnica cream and it seems to have helped with this.

finally, the cuts below the areola's, whilst healed, are ever so slightly recessed. it's something i notice looking down at the chest, but seems not to be visible looking in the mirror!

i'll speak to karidis about the 3 things above but on the whole I am extremely happy with how my chest is. i feel normal, and that's what i hoped i would achieve. if anything i am more concious of being so flat these days, and of my belly, still have a few pounds to lose!

will return to exercise this week, and post some further pics in a few days. will post pre op pics after seeing karidis as i'll be asking for his ones.

[tobeborn]

an update on my case

saw Dr. Karidis today for the post op appointment. he was happy with the progress. i told him that i had some hard skin/ tissue on the left side, which had significantly reduced in recent days, but that i thought it was scar tissue and he confirmed this.

he said it both sides had some swelling under the nipple/ areola, which will reduce in time. he advised to continue to massage both sides in the areas of swelling and where the areola cut was made on the left side, to rid the slight indenting here.

he asked me to contact him in the new year, to see how everything is and when he would take some post op/ final photos.

finally, i asked him to email me my pre op photos - this is the first time ive seen them or had any reminder since the surgery. im posting those up with some recent post op ones. beware, you can see how bad my case was for yourselves, and bad does not cover it...


pre op



recent post op



edit: looking back at the pics, it's a miracle that he got me so flat