Gyne midlife crisis - my diary

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3 more pics added. I've dropped a few pounds already, and I think it shows  . Bruising is dissipating fast. I'm doing gentle but full range stretching - nothing ballistic - to make sure I'm not getting any sticking problems, followed by very light massage, well just rubbing across the surface really. I'm very conscious of not doing anything to interfere with the healing process, but gently stretching and massage can only help get fresh blood into the area and toxins out.

Lumps are there, quite hard ridge each side fore of the incision, probable 3-4 inches. Slightly smaller ridges just around the nipple, at the edges of where the glands were removed.

Left side still a little puffy underneath, and the nip still pointing skyward a little. I suspect there is a little more fat left in this side, but hell, that's not staying there long now anyway!

These are pics of the same person, but I'm starting to doubt it myself now!   ;)

[tonysoprano]

phenomenal results mate. they really tuly are.

Out of all the doctors whose results I have witnessed time and time again on the various members and ex-members of these boards, it is definitely Levick that gets one the flattest. flat as can possibly be i,n most cases.

congrats on these great results mate.

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Thaks Tony! I appreciate the approval of the Family!

I'm pleased with how things are going. Here's a little photo sequence showing pre op and post op days 7,14 and 22.



Bruising is mostly gone, just a dark brown "shadow" left. Swelling goes up and down daily, and there is scar tissue that am massaging - this also seems to come and go a little.

The left side is still puffier than the right, but does also seem to have a hard band of scar tissue underneath which may be pushing things out. I'm still hoping it will all settle down.

Had a couple of moments when I've looked at myself and thought "what have I done, it's back how it was, all this for nothing". This is just my mind playing tricks on me as next time I look there's this flat chest again.

Checkup on Tuesday next with Mr Levick, I'll post progress again after that.

[doddy]

Wow. That's great.

Just so you know, I'm about a month ahead of you, and I'd say that my results have improved by around 15% in the last week or so. I can't wait to see how I'm looking around 4 months.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, it felt great going to college to do my exams last week, wearing shorts and a normal fitting t-shirt without feeling at all self conscious.

On another note, I haven't seen / talked to / been in any contact with Levick at all since he shook my hand and said goodbye with me lying in my bed at the Priory, around 12 weeks ago now..  

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I'm sure he's on your Christmas card list though Doddy, eh?  

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Long overdue update!

A month has passed, and I'm getting on with life. I don't have any pics to update at the moment, but I'll try to get some updated pics up this weekend.

Progress?

LHS is a bit puffy still, with a slightly pointy profile even with the pec flexed. There is still a band of tissue - fat or scar tissue, I can't tell - running from the nipple under my arm. It won't stop me going shirtless, but if someone were posting a pic on gyne.org asking for advice I'd say they had slight gyne. Compared to the severe gyne I had to start I'd say thats a result anyway. I suspect I'm being over critical anyway, but we all would like perfection even if realistically it isn't attainable.

RHS when I flex now my nipple actually wraps under my pec, pointing to the floor!  No doubt about it, a blokes chest!

I'm still wearing my vest at night, but not during the day. I find after a period of not wearing it my chest starts to hurt a little, and it swells. After a nights sleep with the vest on its flat as a pancake again. A sure sign there's still some healing going on.

I'm being hyper-critical here, but ...

I suspect I could have had a little more lipo. The area between the nipples particularly didn't seem to have had anything removed at all.

I'm losing weight generally (but slowly!) so I'll wait to see how that pans out, but its been there so long I suspect it will be very difficult to shift. For that reason I may be going back to ask for a bit more to be taken out. I guess its down to me first to get my bodyfat down. I plan to have a follow-up at the end of the year, so I have a few months to get trim.  I have my part to play just as much as the surgeon!

Niggling doubts aside, I know for sure the op was a success. A couple of weeks ago my little boy came into our bedroom to wake us up. He climbed in, like they do, and started asking why my nipples were so dark (they have gone darker since the op). He then said they're not like mummies, her's go like this ... and he made a boob profile with his hand on top of my chest!

So there you go, my chest is officially not like a womans! Look back to the start of the diary and the reasons for my electing for surgery, then tell me this wasn't the best £4k I've ever spent.  

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Just a quick update post holiday.

Just spent 2 weeks dodging hurricanes in Florida, and I have to say I did not give my chest a second thought at any time. I noticed quite a few bad gyne cases while there though!

Honestly, I did not even think about my chest before pulling off my T shirt at water parks etc. Not once. It just isn't an issue for me any more.

Now my belly is another matter altogether ...  

[keelo]

Great results man. How long did it take for the bruising/swellingg to go away?

Did your nips stay flat and unpuffed?

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Uncanny. I haven't logged on here for a months, and today I come on and someone has posted on my thread!

I'm actually not happy. I have put on a bit of weight since the op admittedly, but my chest is not at all how I'd like it to be now. Left side in particular is poor, lots of fat and possibly scar tissue running from nipple across to underarm. I actually find arm movement impeded by the roll of fat there.

I am largely back where I started 18 months ago. I'm back to having to choose shirts carefully, always adjusting the hang, and being self concious.

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Mmm, that last post was a bit down! An element of truth, sure, but I don't think its as bad as I painted there!

Yes, there is still some unwanted tissue, it's not perfect (I don't flatter myself that it ever will be), but I am pretty happy overall. I'd say 90-95% satisfied, just odd days (like the one above!) where I am not happy with my self image and wish it was better.

I should go back for a checkup with Mr Levick, it's almost two years now. I have out on weight - two stone since the op - and the results would undoubtedly be better had I not. I think it looks slightly worse because the chest goes from little fat where it has been lipo'd to lots where it hasn't. In some ways I wish I had stayed a little overweight for the op, Mr Levick would have had more to go at!

I will steel myself and go back for a chat soon. Honest. 

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Here's a thought. The bits of my chest where I now feel like there is still more fat than I'd like are clearly visible in the pic I posted on June 30 2005:



They're the bits that don't have any bleeding or bruising. Coincidence, or did those area's not actually get much lipo?

[headheldhigh01]

are they still mostly like that now?  what's strange is that the area you would expect the removal to have happened is where the least bruising shows. 

[Miggsy]

Having taken off my bandages last Friday, there's no doubt that the areas with the least bruising/bleeding etc are those that had the best compression for that first week. My bruises and marks coincided completely with where the bandages were and the big pads that Mr Levick puts under the bandages to give compression.

Could it just be that? i.e. where the bandages are and the compression is best, is where there is least bruising - or is it other areas that you are concerned with?

Miggsy

[outertrial]

I think thats prolly the case. I ended up with pronounced bruising on the front of my deltoids and in the centre of my chest, certainly no where I had any work, and there was no tenderness there so I think its where the compression pushes the loose blood to.

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This is weird - 5 years on now, it's like looking at someone else's problem!

I don't give gyne a seconds thought these days. That was another me, way back. I have other issues to deal with now, having been diagnosed with sarcoidosis and diabetes recently. I'm on steroids to control the sarcoidosis, one of the side effects of which is gynecomastia, but so far nothing to worry about after 12 months on prednisolone.

Some of my later posts above suggested I was unhappy with the results. In reality, and with the passage of time, the degree of happiness with the outome has to be measured by how much of my life is dominated by body image issues now - 0%. It's not something that I give a second thought.

No regrets, the surgery was the best thing I have ever done for myself.