Anyone who is contemplating gynecomastia surgery or any cosmetic surgery for that matter should look no further than Dr. Vishal Kapoor (
www.dr.kapoormd.com) in Beverly Hills, CA. I am 38 years old and I have been suffering from this condition since I was 12 and I finally got the courage up to have corrective surgery. I researched many plastic surgeons in the Los Angeles area and had phone conversations and face to face consultations with a few until luckily and most gratefully I met with Dr. Kapoor. The moment I walked into the office for my first consultation I was greeted with a warm smile from the friendly office manager, Stephanie, who offered me water, magazines and made sure I was comfortable while I waited to meet Dr. Kapoor face to face. She definitely set the tone to what ultimately would become the best decision I ever made. Bravo Stephanie! I was next introduced to Kati, the Patient Coordinator, who also made sure I was most comfortable and she always had my best interest at heart. Kati’s professionalism was only superseded by her fun and charismatic personality and I honestly felt as if I was talking to one of my best friends. I never felt awkward or embarrassed discussing my condition with Kati and this is something I absolutely did not talk about my entire life. Kati’s knowledge of both the procedure and post op healing process was beyond anything I had expected and she was able to answer many of the questions and concerns I initially had. Please let me remind you that this was my first consultation and I hadn’t even met with Dr. Kapoor yet. Finally I was led to a patient care room where I was at last introduced to one of the warmest and friendliest gentleman I have ever met, Dr. Vishal Kapoor. After examining me, he took his time answering all of my questions and concerns. He explained to me that this condition is more common than people think and it is not even as taboo of a subject as it was even 5 years ago. This made me feel even more comfortable and he really seemed to be on top of the latest surgical advances with this procedure. Any doubts I had about the surgery were out the door after my conversation with Dr. Kapoor and the surgery (excision and lipo) was booked a month later.
One week prior to the surgery date, I returned for my pre-op visit and was explained everything in detail. They even gave me a pre and post operative healing booklet with all instructions written out for me. Another thing I appreciated was the fact that it was explained in tremendous detail yet written in lay man’s terms which made everything so simple. Again, I went home feeling confident that I had made the right decision about Dr. Kapoor. The week leading up to my surgery went by fast. I kept busy and tried not to think about the surgery too much and before I knew it the day arrived!
I was a bit anxious on the morning of the surgery so Dr. Kapoor gave me a Valium to calm my nerves which really helped. My pre and post op nurse, Marella, was so gentle and calming as she prepped me for surgery and inserted an IV into my arm. Dr. Kapoor met with me one last time to go over everything and to make his markings in and around the surgical area. He answered any last minute questions and I was led into the operating room. That’s another great thing about Dr. Kapoor’s office is that everything takes place in the same location. I was introduced to the anesthesiologist as I laid down on the operating table. A mask was placed over my nose and mouth and I took a couple deep breathes and woke up in the recovery room. Yes, that is how fast it went by!
When I awoke, the nurse, Marella was by side and stayed with me until I was ready to go home. She brought me some saltines and water in case I had any nausea. I did not. The pain was minimal and nothing of what I expected. I compared it to having a very hard chest workout the night before. My chest was wrapped in a tight compression garment and I had a drain in each side underneath the armpit area. For the first two days, I laid in bed and caught up on all my pre-recorded reality trash TV. I did get up to walk around a bit about five times each day to get the blood circulating. Again, the pain was very minimal and I took Vicodin during those first couple of days. Three days after my surgery I was able to take the garment vest off to shower. This would also be the first glance I would have of my new chest and I was amazed at how good it looked. I was flat for the first time in my life. It was a pretty emotional moment and I gave myself time to process it all as I stood in front of the mirror. I was extremely pleased with the contour of my chest and there was only minor swelling. I thought to myself, “Wait this can’t be. I’m only three days post op and I have minimal bruising and swelling”. I also stopped taking Vicodin and switched to Extra Strength Tylenol. I thought there had to be some sort of catch and it probably would get a lot worse before it got better but I was wrong. Everyday things just seemed to get better and better.
On the fourth day after my surgery, I drove myself to Dr. Kapoor’s office to have my drains removed. Taking the drains out was quick and painless and I was surprised to find out that the incisions close themselves up like earring holes. Once the drains were out I could gage how small those scars would be. They would not be noticeable at all! I was much more comfortable once the drains were out as they were scratching up my sides a bit. This was treated simply with Neosporin. Dr. Kapoor said I could wear a tight fitting T-shirt underneath the compression garment to make things more comfortable and he even said I could move on to what is called on here a “Stage 2 Compression Garment” at the 2 week mark. Stage 2 Garments are simply tight fitting spandex fitted T-Shirts or Sleeveless T-Shirts similar to those that professional cyclists wear. The brand name is Under Armour and Kati pointed out a website to me that sells them for almost 70% off the retail value (
www.workingperson.com). I was scheduled for another post op visit two weeks later which is when the stitches and small pieces of tape covering them will be taken off the incisions at the very bottom of the areolas.
Over the next week the bruising and swelling subsided more and more each day. Wearing the T-shirt underneath the compression vest made everything much more comfortable especially at night. I have not had any problems performing every normal household duty and I am under the radar with everyone who I come in contact with. No one has suspected the slightest that I have had this procedure done. For all of those concerned about being able to see the compression vest underneath your clothes, forget about it! I wear a tight fitting T shirt underneath the garment and only have a T-shirt on over it and no one can tell otherwise. Today I am 10 days post op and feeling great! I attribute my quick healing to the expertise of Dr. Kapoor and his staff as well as having a positive attitude. I am thrilled that I chose to have this surgery with Dr. Kapoor and I would highly recommend him to everyone. My only regret is that I did not do it years ago.
I have documented my entire process through photographs and will be posting the links up soon. I also agreed to have my operation videotaped to help educate others and bring more awareness to this condition. A scaled down version of that video will be completed once I have my 4 week post op visit and I will be posting a link to that too. In the meantime I am here to answer any and all of your questions and concerns. Thanks for reading!