Gynecomastia Surgery scheduled 7/29 - now with before pics....

[pjc]

Hi all,

This is my first post to the board, but definitely not my first visit.  Now that I am in-between jobs, I decided to take advantage of a free gynecomastia consultation with Dr. Pope in Orlando, last month.  I went for the consult and discovered that I would need the major revision surgery with the two incisions and the free nipple grafting in order for my chest to be completely flat, and for me to be satisfied with the results. Mostly because I am 50, have had a form of this my entire life; so there is drooping, and with my age, my skin is not as elastic.   I was not, and am still not a fan of having my nipples cut out and put back, but I am trying not to focus on that part.

Dr. Pope, his staff and his Surgery Coordinator are phenomenal.  They kept reassuring me that it would be corrected and Lisa assures me that Dr. Pope is a perfectionist and will correct it completely. So after talking it over with my partner, and coming up with a couple of creative ways to finance it, I decided to schedule it.  My surgery is July 29th, and I stay overnight in Dr. Pope’s surgical recovery room. I will have drains.  I will keep everyone posted.  I know some guys that are interested in my progress.  I was originally going to see Dr. Bermant in Virginia, but he retired, so, I was glad to find Dr. Pope, who is right here in Orlando.   Lisa told me he has done thousands of these procedures.  My pre-op is next week. If you want to see some additional before pics that I took let me know.  Also, I will answer any questions as best that I can.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Good luck -- you are in excellent hands with Dr. Pope.

Dr Jacobs

[pjc]

Well its 3 years later, and I would say that it was worth it. I had to have scar revision due to hypertrophic healing of the incision. That is just something you don't know until after one starts to heal.  I have had no experiences before, so I had no idea that I would heal that way. Here is some advice: if you are thinking of doing this surgery, do it now rather than later. A 51 year old man does heal as fast a 30 year old! I have to go for occasional Kenalog injections, if the scars start to raise up and/or get itchy.  That works real well. Use the BioCorneum for about a year afterwards too. If I think of anything else, I will post it later.

[res.Cogitans]

You look great.. Only nipples dont look like before, but they are fine..
I wonder, why it took you so long to do it? did you afraid of surgery? it was for money? or you just didnt mind?

[pjc]

What took me so long was that I wasn't at a point in my life when I had the time and money to do it. Plus I knew about liposuction, but I didn't really know that there was this procedure. Even when I was my thinnest, I always had some fat and glandular tissue that made my chest look droopy. It never seemed to be a serious problem to the point where I felt uncomfortable taking my shirt off until I got into my 50's. Probably because I am a big framed guy and one would expect it.
Yeah, my niipples look different as a I had free nipple graft. I relied on the skill of the Dr. to basically do the procedure. Look it up, or I can tell you but its not for the faint of heart. Basically the Dr. cut out my nipples, placed them aside, repositioned my skin, like a tummy tuck, and put the nipples back on my chest where they would appear in the correct place on my body.  There was a chance they wouldn't "take". They are still numb, and have no sensation whatsoever.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

In extreme cases of gynecomastia, often this method is the only way a surgeon can provide a taut, masculine chest.  Yes, there are things that have to be accepted, but I think this person's post op results are excellent and obviously he is a very happy camper.

Dr Jacobs

[pjc]

Thank you, Dr. Jacobs.  I didn't mean to imply that I wasn't happy with the results. People are amazed, as am I, with the results. One thing I wanted to highlight - I wish I had done it when I was younger and before it got to an extreme case. If you can have a simple case of liposuctions and some glandular removal, then do it. Mine was one of the most extreme circumstances as you can see, and involved major plastic surgery. Also, my doctor's office gave me the names of some patients that were willing to talk to me about it, and when I called one, I became aware of the loss of nipple sensitivity, and it was something I was willing to forgo to have the surgery. Plus some guys get their sensitivity back, either partially or entirely.