Consultation with Dr. Karidis 01/08/08. Operation 14/08/08

[EricO]

Hi ya

Yea you will need one cheque for the consultation fee £75 (although I actually paid for this in cash)

Then you need Dr. Karidis's fee.

Lastly the blood test - you might not need to pay for this at the time.  I had to pay it there and then because my op was less than 15 days after the consultation.  The hospital has to receive the blood test results 15 days prior to your op so they can give the go-ahead.  Had I had a longer wait, I could have got the tests done by my GP and had the results sent to Dr. Karidis, thus I would not have had to pay the £125.

My appointment was on time and lasted about 30mins but I got the feeling he would have taken as long as I needed, if I had any more questions.

All together I suppose with having to wait a short while for the blood test to be done I was in the hospital for about 1 hour 20mins.

I didn't have an ultrasound, he did quite a bit of prodding and poking around the chest area and was able to determine from that, that I had a mixture of fat and gland.

I felt the whole thing was very professional and slick - highly recommended thus far.

Hope that helps - any further questions please ask.

[EricO]

Well,

The big day is tomorrow.  No pre op nerves just a desire to get it done and get on the road to full recovery.

I had a call today from Dr. Karidis's practice nurse to give me some last minute info and the time of my operation, and to ask if I had any last minute questions.

So, before I go under the knife, I would like to thank the people who take the time to post on this forum as it has really helped me with my decisions.

Cheers all

[hadenuf]

Good luck mate

[Blue2]

Good luck with your op! I am confident that you will get great results, I did!  Still in recovery though so, as someone has already said, don't expect overnight results. I am nearly 5 months post op and despite being very happy so far, I am still not 'finished'. However, I have had two holidays since the op and been shirtless on both occasions. It gives you a great buzz and something that I should have been feeling years ago if only I had the money. 

Anyway, you are in good hands. Keep us posted on your progress.

[EricO]

HI all

Blue2 & hadenuf thanks for the good wishes guys.

Well I'm back home after my overnight stay.  Here is a short account of what happened...

I arrived about an hour before my appointment and was processed through admissions even though I was early.  I was shown to my room and completed some paperwork.

Dr. Karidis's practice nurse came to see me for any last minute questions, then the man himself popped in for a chat, some photos and to mark the affected area.  After answering an additional question I had we were all set to go.

My operation clothes (paper pants, gown, socks etc) were in my room and I changed.  A member of the kitchen staff came and took my order for dinner and breakfast.  A short time later a nurse took me down to the operation area.

I was then prep-ed for surgery had a chat with the anesthesiologist and was put out...

I think I came round an hour or so later in recovery room where I waited for a further 20mins.  I was already in the compression vest, at this point there was no pain at all.  I was then taken up to my room on a trolley.

I was given dinner about half hour later and my blood pressure, temperature and heart rate was taken every couple of hours or so.

I had plenty of attention from the nursing staff who were all excellent and very friendly.

I drifted of to sleep and apart from being woke up to have my pressure taken through the night I had a pretty good sleep considering the compression vest.

I woke at 7am had breakfast, saw Dr. Karidis about 9am.  He said he was happy with how things went, there had been no problems and that he would be sending his practice nurse in to talk about post operative care and that he wanted to see me in about 6 weeks.

I was able to have a shower before I went which was my first opportunity to take off the vest and have a look.

WOW!!!  I cant believe how much better it looks.  I appear to have a very flat chest.  Obviously there is a lot of recovery yet to go - but at this stage it looks good.  There appears to be a bit of a concave dent above my left breast but this was where the compression vest was sitting so is probably down to that.

As far as pain goes... throughout the time at hospital the most pain I had was when they put in the drip needle which was more a scratch than pain.

As today has gone on I have become a bit stiff and lifting my arms above my head is a bit tender but as someone else on this site said - "its like I have just had a good heavy workout on the weights at the gym" so nothing to worry about.

I will try and post some photos when I can so you can see the results.

Cheers all 

[hadenuf]

I am glad it all went ok. Good luck with recovery. I have about 7 weeks to wait for mine so looking forward to seing your results mate.

[EricO]

Hi Guys

Well took some photos this morning just after my shower...

Thought I might do a before and after type thing...

[EricO]

Second set of photos

[EricO]

And the last set...

As you can see there is a massive difference.  I am really happy at this stage with the results.  I can't stop looking at myself especially from a side profile.

In the last year or so I have shed over three stone and need to take off another 7-10 pounds to be at my ideal weight.  I am so glad that all my weight loss wont be hampered by the fact I still had large moobs.

This was one of the best decisions I ever made and money well spent.

I realise that I have a long way to go as far as recovery is concerned - but by next summer I will be looking good and will be able to take my shirt off for the first time since I was pre puberty.

[Grandpa Bambu]

Awesome results dude....

Congrats on surgery and your weight loss!  Thanks for sharing...

What's the tat of? Don't be shy... let us see....

Cool avatar my man... is that 'Harvey'?

GB

[WXYZ]

Wow! What I great job he did.   I've googled Alex Karidis and found that he's quite famous and is "plastic surgeon to the celebs". Apparently he did some work on Jodie Marsh and Rebecca Loos. So imagine he's the same guy who'll get rid of our man-boobs. Karidis it is then, for me. The results you got justify the money spent.

You're so lucky to get a quick slot. It seems most others have to wait at least two months. By the way how was the operation room, I suppose it was quite nice looking since it's a private hospital and about how many staff were in there for your op? I noticed on TV shows showing operations, that you have the main staff of around 6 or so for private ops, but for NHS it looks like there's alot more staff maybe up to 15, some look like there doing nothing but observing. I guess they could be medical students in training.

What exactly are the paper pants for? I would guess modesty, but is there any other reason? When you woke up in recovery did you still have them on or found out that had been removed? . I don't think NHS surgeons give patients paper pants, you have to be naked, seems that this is an option for private only. Also why were you given a pair of socks?

Also, how did you sleep last night? Did you sleep in your bed, on a chair, on your back or your side? Did you have any trouble sleeping?
How much time are you gonna take off before going back to work? Some say a week, but I remember one guy says 3 days is enough.

[EricO]

Hi ya mate

The results you got justify the money spent.

Yea I think so

By the way how was the operation room,

I don't really know as I was in the pre-op prep room when I was put out so didn't actually see the operation room

What exactly are the paper pants for? I would guess modesty

Yea I think nothing more than modesty - and yea they were still on when I came round.

Also why were you given a pair of socks?

They help with DVT or circulation I think, my wife had an operation recently and had to wear them as well, I think they are standard practice now.

how did you sleep last night? Did you sleep in your bed, on a chair, on your back or your side? Did you have any trouble sleeping?

Yea fine really.  I slept in bed on my back.  I was advised that as long as my head is above my heart then it is fine.  I arranged 3 pillows in a way that raised mt head and shoulders up at about a thirty degree angle.

How much time are you gonna take off before going back to work?

I have arranged to take a week of but even at this stage I can see how people could go back to say an office type job in a couple of days.  If you did anything physical like a bricklayer I reckon you would need at least a week off.

Hope that helps any further questions please feel free to ask.

[EricO]

Awesome results dude....

Congrats on surgery and your weight loss!  Thanks for sharing...

What's the tat of? Don't be shy... let us see....

Cool avatar my man... is that 'Harvey'?

GB

Hi Grandpa Bambu, thanks for the kind words.  The tat is nothing special but is identifying  hence the smudge out.  The avatar I just got from one of those free sites.  I quite like it - I think it is kinda funny

[Grandpa Bambu]

The avatar I just got from one of those free sites.  I quite like it - I think it is kinda funny

It looks like Harvey Dent's fire burnt face in 'The Dark Knight'....

GB

[EricO]

It looks like Harvey Dent's fire burnt face in 'The Dark Knight'....

A-ha I see what you mean - I thought it was like "The Governator" in T2