What if your son had it?

[Blitz]

Bored at work so I'm going to ask another question:

Lets say you had a 15 year old who had a mild case of gyne.  He comes to you one day and says he has boobs.  You take him to a doctor and the doctor says his gyne has a good chance of dissolving and his breast should be back to normal in 3 to 4 years.  Now the price of surgery has gone up to lets say $6000 US and money is tight with you.  Do you wait it out and hope that the gyne disappears and save the money or do you take out a loan or get a second credit card (assuming you don't have the money saved) and get him the surgery?  

[gynomakesmesad]

Wait till hes 17, maybe 18. After all 60% of people get gyne at some point in their lives (mostly puberty). Only in selected cases does it become residual.

[Grandpa Bambu]

If my hypothetical 15 year old son had Gyne and it bothered him and he wanted surgery.....  I'd probably take out a loan and have the Gyne removed. IMO, the teen years are the most difficult when you have Gyne.

John out....

[usernameX]

If my hypothetical 15 year old son had Gyne and it bothered him and he wanted surgery.....  I'd probably take out a loan and have the Gyne removed. IMO, the teen years are the most difficult when you have Gyne.

John out....

Agreed!

[Blitz]

I'd pay for it.  We all know what a burden it is.

[serg]

Yup, I agree. I'd pay for his surgery in a heart beat.

My parents and older brother paid for mine. Least I could for my (hypothetical) son.

[Blarneystoner]

If my hypothetical 15 year old son had Gyne and it bothered him and he wanted surgery.....  I'd probably take out a loan and have the Gyne removed. IMO, the teen years are the most difficult when you have Gyne.

John out....

100% agree with that.

[asdf]

Depends.  If he has only had it for a year then I would definitely wait it out until he was 17.  If he got it early and it had been 3 years already, then by all means I would get the surgery for him.  Even though I know it is hard for a teen with gyne (I am one) theres no reason to get surgery that young if there is still a good chance of it going away on its own.
Me on the other hand, I've had mine for almost 5 years, and they're coming off this summer.

[tammyvivi]

I agree with asdf!  But, I would also consult with an endocrinologist to make sure there is no underlying cause for his case as well as consult with a couple of other Dr.'s at least.  Out of 4 Dr.'s consulted one plastic surgeon suggested my son's case was "not too bad" and lipo would be his first line of treatment.  All the other Docs said my son's case was extreme enough to require the full mastectomy type of surgery.  If my son's case was not extreme and had not begun developing almost 7 years ago he wouldn not be going through with potentially life threatening surgery.  But he is and I feel like with the help of this forum we have done our research and consulted with enough Doc's to feel comfortable with this surgery even though my son is 14 years old.

Patience is a vertue and is a valuble learning experience for most people.

[Blarneystoner]

Surgery isn't THAT dangerous!

[jc71]

I don't know if I buy the stats of that high of a percentage going away.

I think a better indication of the likelihood of it going away is if other male family members gyne went away.

Mine never went away.  My dad had it and his never went away. I think if my kid developed it too, it wouldn't go away.  

Now if you're the only one in your family with it? Hum, I don't know.

[tammyvivi]

There is always a risk when you have surgery.  Some risks are higher than others and your general health and health care can eliminate or increase your risks.  

As a parent I am responsible for the health of my child as well as the trust my children put in me to do the right thing for them. I will never put them at risk without carefully reasearching and measuring the odds for their safety.

As an adult we can choose to take risks for ourselves but we should not take risks with our children.

[Gine2D]

My oldest son has it.  He is going through life as if it was normal.  I have it & so does his grandad.

The youngets son has just started puberty & has puffies.

First you should find the reason for the gyne.  If it is not corrected it will probably come back & need another $7000.00 operation.

[Paa_Paw]

All 4 of my sons and all of my grandsons over the age of 12 have it,  and the girls of the family have very large breasts.  This has never been an issue because we have shared the information freely among ourselves.

My brothers and myself all experienced emotional problems.  There was no open discussion and each of us thought we were the only ones that had it.  The simple but gradual realization that it was not only common but a family trait ended my emotional stress.

Knowlege truly is power.

If, in spite of the open discussion, one of the grandsons experienced stress due to his gynecomastia;  I'm sure we could find the money somewhere.  So far, that has not been an issue.

[Rdrons]

Yea, I am 13 and I am going through it, I haven't told my parents about it yet but I hope too soon, it has been very difficult for me I keep checking everyday if it has gone down at all. I am hoping it will begone in a year or two. I try to keep a healthy diet and do alot of pushups and situps.