Life Before the OperationMy life with this curse is not that different from many other accounts I've read on this forum. Buds started at about 13 years old as small hard nodules under my nipples. Slowly I stopped taking my shirt off in public, stopped participating in certain sports where I might have to take my shirt off, and slowly became more withdrawn. After college, my metabolism slowed and I started gaining some weight, and the jobs I've worked usually involved me sitting at a computer. As time went on, those little buds gradually turned into something resembling a de-boned chicken thigh under my nipples. They attracted more fat and withdrew me even more. I stopped dating, having had pretty good success with women up till then, I tended to sabotage any relationship with women that might lead to stripping down. Before I knew it, I was a never-married 42 year old who spent a lot of time, alone, dreaming about what my life should be.
About a year ago, my older brother confided in me that he had his removed with an operation that, until then, I had never heard of. I then started googling, found this forum, and a few other sources, and started making plans. I found my plastic surgeon as a referral from my Primary doc, who's judgment I completely trust. Once I got the blood tests back, and got the surgical release from my Primary, the date was set.
The OperationThe operation, which included both gland excision and lipo, took place on July 28, 2008. After putting on a gown, hat, and these weird compression stockings on my legs, I was led into the operating theater, laid down, plunged full of needles and, before I could make a wise remark about the anesthetic not working, I was out. Then I was back! Sitting up in the same room where I had changed clothes, with a black compression vest on and two drains coming out of either side of my vest. I did not come out of it very well. I've read stories here about guys that went out to dinner afterwards, or didn't need the pain pills, but that was definitely not my experience. I was hurting.
Post OpI had very little in the way of bandages. There was no bleeding at all from the sutures, and only a little bit from where the drain tubes went in. The drains sucked and stayed in for 7 days, which was good because, if they weren't there, my body would have to shed all that fluid internally, and it would have slowed down recovery. After about 12 days, I had most of the movement back in my arms and I was able try on all the medium t-shirts that I hadn't worn for years. It was a glorious experience. I can wear anything now.
A New HopeIt is a time of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have...umm, wait...wrong epic. So now I'm 5 weeks post op. I am back in the gym ramping up the chest workout, and spending about 8-10 hours a week on a road bike. As long as I can keep the diet in check, by Halloween I should drop the last 15-20lbs. that I need to lose in order to take on the Empire and save the Galaxy! (Damn! There I go again.) I was a competitive cyclist and a pretty good triathlete in college, so working out hard, with massive cardio work is certainly part of my nature, especially now since an optimal physique, that has never been possible in my adult lifetime, is now a realistic goal. I'll have a 6-pack by Christmas.
The numbness is almost gone, and there is still some occasional sharp pain, probably associated with nerve rebuilding. There's also still a hard ridge of swelling under the nipple where the incision was that the doc said should go away with some aggressive massaging. I still wear the vest a few hours a day, and I wear a tight Under Armour Tactical Compression shirt during workouts. Vitamin E on the scars every day. Next time I'm at the mall, I'm going to get one of those Sharper Image type massagers that has a few different speeds which should take care of any scar tissue that might evolve. (I don't think I have any yet.)
For anybody who is considering doing this operation. Do it. This cost me about $5400, and it (will be) worth every penny in the end. Not just for the physical change, but for the mental change. I am reborn and restored.
Mojito
Topic: Mojito's story (Read 2125 times)
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