Surgery date 2 weeks today - NHS and female surgeon!

[newmanby30]

Hi all,

So here I am, "newmanby30", now 30 years and 7 months old - and still out of proportion!

But not for much longer. I am booked in with the NHS in Manchester for 22nd April. And starting to get the jitters!

I guess it's only natural. But I can't help but feel concerned about the fact that I have opted for the NHS route. My GP and family assure me that it's the best option, so at this stage, I think I'm going to shut my eyes tight and go for it.

Its tricky though, when you think specialist surgeons perform the op a few times a day, whereas the NHS (well, my particular hospital) perform just 25 a year.

I also wondered whether anyone had undergone surgery from a female? I'm not sexist!! I just don't think I've encountered any female surgeons on these forums before.

My gyno is probably not as severe as most, but it still leaves me with all the same insecurities - taking my shirt off in public, having sex with the lights off, not wearing T shirts or slim fitting clothes etc etc.... but on the basis I don't imagine my operation will be very drastic - I feel like NHS can do the job.... can I get some reassurance?!!

I also have some guilt as telling work I need a "minor op" misleads them a bit - I worry that if they knew it was cosmetic (despite the huge impact it has upon my life), bosses would feel differently. So I haven't told anyone what it's for.

2 weeks is going to fly by - I have no idea what to expect.

I think I just need a few more words of wisdom!

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Newman

[PaulSW]

I'm rooting for you mate this is the first time i've heard of a female sugeon on these boards but there are many female surgeons so I suppose it was going to happen.

All the best

[newmanby30]

Cheers for the tactful note bkkross.....!

 

[barclay]

I had mine done recently on the nhs too

http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=13228.0

very very pleased with the results, my chest is nicely proportioned now, i have no fear of walking around with my top off.

If you read the boards you will probably find that there are people who are unhappy with private care as well as nhs.  As for it being a female surgeon, she wouldnt be where she was now if she wasnt very good, and to be fair, i have more faith in some of the female doctors ive met than some of the men.

as for nhs care, i couldnt have asked for better in my hospital. (plus you just saved yourself 5 grand )

I also had a bit of a problem with work, didnt know what to tell them. I just settled on telling them i had some fatty lumps to remove from my chest which shouldnt be there, it wasnt a lie and he could read into it what he wanted. i never got into more detail than that. If a company doctor had wanted to see me, i would tell him, but all my boss needed to know (in my opinion) was that i needed to go for an operation, it was of a personal nature and that i wouldnt be fit for full work duties for up to 5 weeks.

[newmanby30]

Amazing - thank you Barclay.... will take a look at the pics when my colleagues aren't standing over my shoulder!!

Yeah, you're right - my concerns are normal but irrational... need to stay grounded and think positively!

Did they provide you with the compression garments or did you buy your own? Apparently my stitches will be absorbed into the body! My vest has velcro on and is easy to put on apparently - I'm worried it won't be tight enough....

eeeek, so much to consider

 

[barclay]

edited my post after you replied btw.

as for compression garments, no they didnt supply them. i already had some nike compression vests (for hiding the gyne) and the doctor said they were perfectly suitable for the task. Ive been wearing them since leaving hospital and ive had no problems. I was constantly worried it wasnt giving me enough compression, pulling at it, trying to make it tighter, but after a week or so, as the swelling started to subside a little i realised my pulling at my vest wouldnt make any difference at all, it was just me worrying.
Im now 5 weeks post op, all i need to do now is lose a couple of more pounds and tone up

I also had my fears, especially after reading some peoples opinions about the nhs, but afterwards i realised i was just being silly, A lot of private surgeons work for the nhs anyway.

[Jim1985]

I went to the NHS a few years ago, but they said I was too young to get it done and would have to wait a while. I have heard good things about the NHS though, my cousin said that with anything to do with health care in general it doesn't matter who pays (you or the State), it all comes down the the actual surgeon doing yours. I'm sure you'll be grand, mate.

[kingboob]

So, uhm, I suppose it is a bit early for an update, but your surgery was planned for yesterday?   Did it go ahead, how did it go?

please keep everyone updated! 

[WXYZ]

My GP has sent me for a consultation with an NHS surgeon. Does this mean I have to go with that particular surgeon on the NHS or do I have a choice of surgeons and hospitals? It seems most NHS experiences have been bad, with a few having positive results. The thing is with the NHS most of the docs have alot more experience doing female breast surgery rather than male, so I think they use male patients to "train on". I'm actually thinking of going private, it'll just take a few months to save up, but I really want a surgeon who has alot of experience with gyne and it seems most of them are private.
But why don't we build up a database on who are the good surgeons on the NHS, I'm sure it will help others out. We already have good info in the private surgeons with the same names that keep cropping up.

[kingboob]

My GP has sent me for a consultation with an NHS surgeon. Does this mean I have to go with that particular surgeon on the NHS or do I have a choice of surgeons and hospitals? It seems most NHS experiences have been bad, with a few having positive results. The thing is with the NHS most of the docs have alot more experience doing female breast surgery rather than male, so I think they use male patients to "train on". I'm actually thinking of going private, it'll just take a few months to save up, but I really want a surgeon who has alot of experience with gyne and it seems most of them are private.
But why don't we build up a database on who are the good surgeons on the NHS, I'm sure it will help others out. We already have good info in the private surgeons with the same names that keep cropping up.

My experience was my GP referred me to 3 NHS surgeons, all at the same hospital, all of which refused to see me as ''this is not a plastic surgery issue'' (fk knows how they could tell without seeing me?),  however when I first went to see   a private surgeon, he said it should be done on the NHS and gave me a different name & hospital to get my GP to send me to, which my GP did do..... although for various reasons I still went private in the end.

So, what I am trying to say is: IF you can find the name/hospital of a good NHS surgeon, your GP should still be able to send you to them for treatment.....  or at least that was my experience.

How you go about finding out who is 'good' and who in the NHS has experience of doing male boob jobs I don't know?

Main thing with the NHS route is you have to be pretty tough mentally and committed to fight to get what you need..... then you have to be ready for lots of messing around and frustration as the 'system' gets in the way.... the actual doctors/nurses are really nice in my experience.

[WXYZ]

kingboob, I can understand why you went private in the end. With the NHS you really don't know how good/bad the surgeon is and because they seem to have less experience with gyne you may end up being used as a 'practice patient' as well as putting up with all the hastles the NHS is known for. Plus with private they literally see and operate on gyne all the time and you can choose who and where.
I may go private but am not happy with paying 4K, especially since the gyne only affects one side, (the other is completely gyne-free). Would they give me a lower fee since it's only one side? Any recommendations for more affordable private surgeons? Based in London and looking to spend up to 3K.

And where is newman?