Old habits are hard to break...

[Mr_Nip]

I went to the pool yesterday with the family.  Lots of people there.  We had a great time and I was mostly able to forget about my chest and play in the sun/pool without self-consciousness.... Then.... I got up and was starting to get in the pool and (my radar is still on hyper alert when I'm shirtless) noticed in my peripheral vision a couple of teen girls and a guy pointing my direction and snickering.  The old feelings rushed in and I started to panic, but then realized I had the surgery and thought maybe my chest wasn't perfect... maybe when I moved my nipples looked funny... maybe there's something they see in my surgery results that I'm not aware of...   Anyway, common sense kicked in and I thought they couldn't possibly be laughing at me so I looked around and about that time one of their friends threw a soaking wet towel on the back of some girl they knew who was lying in the sun.  That's what they were laughing at.  I was invisible to them.  I guess that over thirty years experience of panic at the pool is a hard habit to break.

[Grandpa Bambu]

Thanks for sharing dude...

Yeah for sure, it's the psychological scars that are most difficult to heal...

GB

[ScotlandGuy]

I'm hoping that kind of feeling will disappear for me once I get the surgery but yeah I imagine sometimes you'll forget and still feel like people are looking at you...to be honest I think that about 90% of the time when you think someone is laughing at you they aren't anyway, even with Gyne, everyone else is too busy worrying about others laughing at them too!

[flex1appeal]

You are far more ahead of me bro as I had my 1st surgery 1 year ago and my 2nd last november and still have not been able to go to a pool shirtless. I just feel my chest is not perfect yet and I know it never will be. I'll always think it has problems now for some reason. My girlfriend thinks I look great and can't understand what I am talking about. I've been pounding myself at the gym for the past 3 months trying to get my chest in the best shape cause I am off to Miami beginning of july and that is my deadline to break the mold and force myself out of this shell. Tickets are bought and hotel is booked so it's a done deal. I have no choice and am anxiously waiting to see how I do. The mental block must go!!!!

[Mr_Nip]

...to be honest I think that about 90% of the time when you think someone is laughing at you they aren't anyway, even with Gyne, everyone else is too busy worrying about others laughing at them too!

Go search my before picture and you'll probably agree that they were most definitely laughing at me.  I could have made a great circus side show.   

[Mr_Nip]

...I'll always think it has problems now for some reason. My girlfriend thinks I look great and can't understand what I am talking about....

Sounds like you need to listen to your girlfriend, flex.  Step out of the cage - the door's open now.   

[Time_to_fix_it]

We are often our own worse critic even after we have had surgery.  We (hopefully) learn not to expect perfection from the surgery but secretly wish for it.

I had a 7 month post op check up recently and raised a couple of issues I was still unhappy about, but when the surgeon showed me my pre op pics I just knew I was being stupid.  I am about 85% healed and frankly I look 1000 times better than I did before surgery.  I really have nothing to complain about, however as has been mentioned above you can’t quite forget how you used to feel and are still conscious of how you may look to others.  Hopefully such thoughts will recede over time but it shows that it isn’t just the body that needs to heal, it’s the mind too.

[flex1appeal]

.....  it shows that it isn’t just the body that needs to heal, it’s the mind too.

Ain't that the truth

[headheldhigh01]

good story.