My diary. 8 months post op. Surgery with Karidis.

[irish lad]

looks really good... that nike vest is a good idea il be investing in one of those! karidis looks like he done a real good job did you have to get stiches or drains??

[Blue2]

Irish Lad - No stitches or drains with Karidis! The incisions are so small that they are not required. Any excess fluid drains out of the incision site if necessary but as you can see from my first post op pics, I had very little fluid loss, and what I did have was immediately after the op. I have changed the dressings once or twice since the op purely because they got wet whilst showering, and there were no signs of any further oozing on the old dressings. Again, as mentioned before, the incisions are so small it is very difficult to actually see them at all and the amount of bruising to date is minimal. Hope this helps.

[irish lad]

cheers  helps a lot as i still didnt decide wheter to go with benito or karidis..i just dont fancy drains or stiches!lol

[Blue2]

What sort of price has Benito quoted? I think he is slightly cheaper then Karidis, but I just fancied the idea of having a UK based surgeon, plus I liked the technique used by Karidis i.e. no stitches or drains.

[irish lad]

iv my consultation 25th of april with dr benito so iv been told the cost will be no more than 2700 english pounds for the whole procedure including being collected from airport etc.. my consultation with karidis is the 9th of may iv noticed he is a bit on the pricey side but if i feel comfterable with him il go ahead..how long did you have to wait for a surgery date after the consultation because i really want to get mine asap and did he give you a price the day of consultation?

[Blue2]

I was lucky and managed to get a cancellation slot the following week after my consultation. I had been told prior to this that the waiting time would be approx. 6-8 weeks after the consultation. It's always worth asking about cancellations and it paid off for me. I would recommend that you stay away from alcohol, smoking (if you smoke!) and asprin for at least 2 weeks before your consultation, just in case you do manage to get a cancellation slot. Fortunately I was in a possition to go ahead straight away and so went for it!

Benito does sound cheaper and so it's entirely up to you. Loads of people have had excellent results using him and it was just a personal choice for me to go with Karidis.

[TommyA]

Thanks for the reply about time off work

[irish lad]

yes good idea i dont drink much anyway but i will be alert just incase of a cancelation..il be starting a diary trackin my progress starting after my consultation same as you pictures and all be sure to have a look.. thanks for the help much appriciated..

[Blue2]

No problem. Good luck with your surgery, whoever you decide to go with!

[Blue2]

iv my consultation 25th of april with dr benito so iv been told the cost will be no more than 2700 english pounds for the whole procedure including being collected from airport etc.. my consultation with karidis is the 9th of may iv noticed he is a bit on the pricey side but if i feel comfterable with him il go ahead..how long did you have to wait for a surgery date after the consultation because i really want to get mine asap and did he give you a price the day of consultation?

Forgot to mention, you will get a price on the day of the consulataion. I suspect that by looking at your pics, you should expect to be paying the same as me which was £4100 total. Is suppose that if you went with Benito, you would probably save around £1000 by the time you get your flights etc. Is Benito charging you for the consultation? If not then you will also save a further £75.00 which Karidis charges for this service.

[Blue2]

Just a quick update. I am feeling pretty good today and my sleep is becoming more comfortable now. I actually woke up lying on my front yesterday! I was a bit sore once I got up but this soon subsided. Most of the bruising has now gone and the weird tingling, numb feeling in my chest has all but dissapeared. The nips are still a bit sore to touch but generally the chest area is much less tender and I have not actually took any pain killers today as I have not felt the need for them. So all in all things seem to be going ok. The only thing I have noticed is that the nips have become slightly puffy and lumpy but I was told that this would happen and not to worry about it. I think some people start to panic and think that the gyne has come back but as already explained to me, this will not happen and the swelling will subside in time. I can see that this is going to a be a bit of a roller coaster but I am setting my sights long term as suggested to me by Karidis and will focus on 3 months post op as a good indication of my final results.

Additionally, after loosing a few more lb's over the last week (now down to 13st 10 lb's! from 15st 3 lb's!!)I feel that I may be putting a few back on again and would really like to start back at the gym doing some stationary bike work. After speaking to Dr. Karidis about this he said he has no problem with me starting training again as long as I feel up to it, and so I have decided to pay a visit to the gym tonight just to do a half hour session on the bike. Weights may come next week but the important thing for me is to keep the weight off!

[irish lad]

the consultation is free with benito.. yes i was charged 75pound by karidis but it states its for a good cause a charity of his choice which i actually dont mind at all theirs plenty of people worse of than us with or had gyno people! but if i was him id take a porportion of the actual price of the whole op because he is very expensive.. also glad to hear your well on the road to recovery! cheers

[Blue2]

The £75 is donated to the hospital that he uses for his surgery (St John & Elizabeth) which is fair enough. Either way, £75 or not, I was happy with my experience and results to date. 

[Blue2]

I am 11 days post op today and at the moment I feel great. Nearly all of the bruising and swelling has gone and to cap it off I am now down to 13 st 7 lb's which means I have lost 24 lb's since the turn of the year!! 

I have also noticed that my nips are starting to get a more natural look to them and are slowly but surely shrinking and tightening up. I can feel some hard and flat scar tissue forming around my chest area but this seems to come and go with each passing day and certainly nothing to worry about. My wounds are healing nicely and if you look at my pics below, you will see a close up of one of my nips which shows the incision site. Pretty neat I think after just 11 days?

I have full mobility in my arms and sleeping is much more comfortable now. I am going to stop wearing the compression garment during the daytime as of today, and just wear it in the evenings and at night for a further week. I would say 90% of the swelling has gone but can still feel a very small amount under the nips, which of course is where all the cutting went on!! The chest area in general has got all the feeling back in it now and other than the actual nips themselves, pretty much all of the tenderness has gone. No more need for pain killers which is good.

I have also been back to the gym for the last 3 days but restricted myself just to stationary bike work. I will continue to do this for another week and then hope to start back on some light weights a week on Monday which will effectively be 20 days post op.

I am really pleased with the progress so far and just hope things will just get better and better!! 

[Blue2]

I will be 2 weeks post op tomorrow and things are starting to change a bit. My nips are slightly more tender today and I can feel scar tissue building up underneath the skin surrounding the nipples. I have small folds in both nipples today which seem to come and go and I can only put this down to swelling. I have decided to keep the compression garment on for most of the day, despite saying that I would only be wearing it during the night from no onwards, because I do feel that it is helping to keep the swelling down. I was told by Karidis that this kind of thing does go on post op and is all part of the healing process and so nothing to be alarmed about. However it is a bit downheartening after experiencing such good progress in the first week or so. Anyway, I am not pushing the panic button yet as generally I think I am still doing pretty well. I ate like a pig at the weekend so will have to do a few extra sessions on the stationary bike this week just to catch up again!