surgery with levick

[bigmoobs]

Hi everyone
Ive been lurking on this site for the past 6months just reading through the uk forums & listening to peoples experiences.
Anyway my story: Ive been weight training/bodybuilding for 14yrs im 31 now. if any of you visit the gym on a regular basis like i did you will more than likely come into contact with ppl who use anabolic steroids. Anyway to cut a long story short, after training for about 10yrs never touching any steroids & seeing ppl new to the gym come in taking them & 3months down the line a body to die for i thought ' F*ck this ive been training my arse off for 10yrs, they do 3months & abit of gear n they look better than me.
So I started taking steroids, ignorant to the bad side effects eg. the dreaded gyno. I was only interested in what they where good at, that was making me strong & look good.
Started taking them in 2008, 12 week course. Strength went through the roof, looked really lean & was more than happy. Well stopped taking them & 6months down the line started with depression ( another side effect of steroids) this lasted 18months & was hell, due my hormones being allover the place i was like a woman on a period. The worst 18months of my life. During this time i started with the gyno in my left pec, started off small & just grew & grew. Went to doctor jan 2009, got referred to breast unit in my town. Never told them id been on steroids or i wouldnt of got through the door. Anyway to my surprise they agreed to operate & in may 2009 i had gyno surgery on my left pec, by this time i had a slight lump under my right side but the nhs said it wasnt big enough & they would only do the left & if the right got bigger to go back & they'd take it from there. Anyway it grew & grew & this was about 14 months after taking steroids. Went back beginning of 2011, new goverment, cutting costs, its not life threatning blah blah, basically they wernt interested so that was that.
So started looking at other options, privately went to quite a few consultations with the companies like transform, mya, mybreast, hmg. then came across this site, looked at the poland option but didnt feel right. the price did but the travelling & the unknown country didnt seem right. Got talking to a guy on here, i hope he doesnt mind me saying 'dapuffynipps' he was a great help. Id seen this surgeons name Paul Levick loads of times on ere so thought id go see him. Went to the priory in birmingham, im in manchester but was willing to travell for a good result. Got there & after id spoken to him i knew he was the one to do my op. Very easy to talk to & knows what he's talking about. He examined me & said that the nhs had left quite alot in my left pec & the right one was now double the size. It was huge. Anyway, i got a loan & paid the mr levicks fee £3855. Seems alot but the others i went to wanted £2800 upto £3300 so why not pay the extra & go with the doctor who does these on a daily basis. So thats what i did. I went down & stayed in hotel 22nd nov & had my op yesterday 23rd, stayed overnight at the priory. treated like a king, well recommended, nice food, excellent staff. Mr levick came to see me after the op with the photos, showed me what he'd taken out - drum roll.....60grams in the right side & about 25-30 in the left. Now its too early for any photos but as soon as i take the dressings off etc i'l get them up on here & let you all have a look. What else can i say after this lonnnnnnnnnnng story except 'DONT DO STEROIDS' & if you need a surgoen MR LEVICKS the man.

[bigmoobs]

Hello again
Im just going to be resting for the next week so thought i'd keep updates of how im going. To be honest im not in much pain & only taking painkillers about once a day. Also taking arnica 200c 3 times a day & vitamin c once a day. Keeping my protein high as i know from experience its needed for repairing muscles & heard its needed more after surgery.
drinking atleast 3 litres of water a day also along with lowfat healthy diet.
Bandages & elastotape are getting on my nerves cant wait to get my vest on instead, about 3 more days & i can take these off.
Im nervous about whats underneath but i know its a long road to the end result im keeping an open mind as im going to be swollen, bruised & loose skin that needs to tighten up etc.. I think Mr Levicks going to post the pictures out to me so cant wait to have another look at them, i was shocked at how much gland he removed (cant believe the nhs left that much behind in my left pec).
Cant wait to hit the gym again but im not rushing anything after paying all that money so going to have a good xmas & new year then slowly get back to training after new year.
I'll keep my post updated as much as possible, this site helped me get intouch with a good surgeon & with people who could answer any questions i had so, im here for anyone with any questions & if i can answer them i will.
bye for now ppl
 

[chopper]

Nice story and good luck with the healing, its a long bumpy road, just hang in there and try and remain positive even when you start to have second thoughts about how well it's gone, because it will right itself in the end (or should do ) lol

Get some pics up when you get a chance

[bigmoobs]

Thanks chopper
I took bandages off lastnight i couldnt stand another night wearing them. Results are impressive to say the least. I had unilateral gyno where one pec was ALOT BIGGER than the other & sagging because of the weight but im impressed with how my skin has shrunk back already. The side that was bigger is actually smaller now & flatter than the other side & my nipple was lower than the other pre op but its looks nearly level now but for 6days post op im feeling very positive about the results. I'll get pics up tonight if I can find out how to do it. Im not good with computers but I'll get it sorted hopefully.

[improving]

This healing process business.

It's a roller coaster, I get it.

But when you guys are getting lumps and bumps post op, is it still much improved over pre op? Or do you feel a similar way to pre op but you're just waiting for it to improve?

I'm just trying to prepare myself. Getting it done and looking exactly the same as pre op for 12 months would just be annoying.

[bigmoobs]

improving
I'll try & get my pre & post op pics on asap but in my case there is a massive improvement in only 6days post op.
I cant say its going to stay this way because i dont know the healing process but from what people on this forum say things get better as time goes on & im ALOT happier now than i was pre-op & im still swollen & bruised.
I think everybody is different at healing but i gave myself the best chance.
I took arnica 1week pre-op
Avoided garlic, asprin, alcohol, vit E etc..
I dont smoke
Plenty of water
POST OP (all the above)plus
Lots of rest
24/7 compression
No heavy lifting
You get my point anyway, just do as your surgeon says & you'll get the best results possible & heal quicker than someone who doesnt follow there surgeons advice (& im sure some dont).
Who doing your op?
Good luck.

[improving]

Thanks dude.

Well i've had a consultation with Levick, and i'm having a consultation with Karidis in January. Then i'll make my mind up.

[bigmoobs]

Alright ppl
Just tried uploading my pre-op pics & it says (file too big).
Any ideas if i can get round this or not?
Not too clever with technology so if there is a way pls explain it as if you were telling a 5 yr old if you get my point ha!

[improving]

If the files are too big you may have to edit them, even in paint you can resize them to make them a big smaller, and save them as .jpg.

Alternatively, you could host them on a free picture hosting website like photobucket.com

then paste the links that have IMG tags on them.

[bigmoobs]

PRE-OP PIC
As you can tell my pecs look like they belong on two different bodies haha! Talk about unsymmetrical

[bigmoobs]

POST OP PIC
This is 6 days post op.
Id just removed the bandages after 6 days so abit squashed in places but a big difference i think. Things can only get better now, cant wait to get back dieting & shredd my chest up for summer. Let myself go the past 6months but going to hit the gym hard after new year &  get my abs back showing (plenty of cardio & boring food  . I'l post some pics up after about 6 months & show you where training 5 times a week & a clean diet has got me.

[dapuffnipz]

Massive difference there fella. I'm impressed with how good your chest looks this early post-op, especially after having a large amount removed.

Good luck with the recovery process.

[bigmoobs]

Cheers dapuffnipps, to be honest i expected the saggy right pec to be sagging even more because of the huge gland that levick took out but it seems to be lifting quite well. Left side is swollen up coz he would of taken gland & old scar tissue from nhs f*ck-up.
Pre-op i wasnt getting any results in the gym no matter how lean i got my pecs looked worse so just stopped trainin as much & started eating sh1t but post op i know i can get my chest looking like it did 4 years ago.
U have been a big help 2 me m8 n thats what ppl need on these forums so thanks again for everything.
Im ready for the bumpy recovery process but i know the end result will be worth it.

[bigmoobs]

Just a quick update
day 10 post op
areolas on both pecs are both staying small hopefully for good. Bit of swelling on left side but right side not too bad at all.
Dont feel sore at all anymore & bruising is going down nicely.
Still wearing the vest 24/7, its annoying but its gotta be done though & only 2 wks left then just night times. I'll wear my nike compression during the day then.
I'l put some more photos up at 4weeks post op, upto now i am very pleased with results & will keep posted on progress & recovery
Bye for now

[bigmoobs]

Some more pre & post op pics
The post op are 18days, I am now just over 3wks post op.
Feeling positive, still a long way to go. Just started back at the gym doing light cardio cycling, uphill walking etc.. no upperbody training at all im not doing anything that involves my upperbody.
I'll keep updating when i get time, mainly for all the ppl going for or thinking about going for ops, was it worth it & the expense? YEHHHH its changed my life, no more covering myself up in the gym, kind of takes away the whole point of training if your going to cover yourself up doesnt it.
PRE OP PIC NEXT PAGE