So its taken me at least a year and a half to get here - and what an overwhelming but positive journey it has been. Im originaly from Perth - WA, and like a lot of my fellow problematic chest brothers who visit these boards - I developed gynecomastia in my early years in puberty. I grew up with constant embarrassment, I would dodge the wind, wear jumpers in summer and layer clothing to reduce the effect of the situation that had developed naturaly. I felt like I was given the raw end of the stick, although over time, I developed techniques to reduce the effect the gyne had on my life. And became to accept it as apart of myself of which I had to deal with over the course of my life.
I cant remember how I originaly found this website, or the information that lead me to finding an answer. But it became an obsession, suddenly there was a cure for my unfortunate condition! Yet surgery, was the last thing I ever wanted to consider. So I had a deep think, some serious soul searching and decided to go for it. I did not have the money but I had developed the courage to do what it took.
I broke the news to my mum, which was the hardest part of this ordeal, she didnt quite understand at the start but opened her heart to my understanding and offered her help. This gave me a lot of confidence and concreted my decision. The tough thing was, I had also decided to travel from my home town Perth, across Australia by car to find new experiences and meet new people. After doing a lot of research on this forum, I decided to book in an appointment with Sue Thistlethwaite in Melbourne while I was travelling through. The first time I saw her, I was nervous, the internal dialogue in my mind kept debating if it was worth the hassle, worth the heartache to go through with it. Although each step I took towards the operation gave me more confidence and understanding that it was the right thing to do.
My experiences with dealing with Sue and her staff are reflective of the other experiences talked about on this forum, everyone I had met was very professional, kind and caring. So after my initial consultation - I went back to sydney to earn the money to pay for the whole thing. 8 months down the track, with a few setbacks and rescheduals, I set the date for my surgery.
the 29th of September was the day, (2 days ago) so Im now posting this 2 days post op. Again, my experience reflects others who went to linley clinic and dealt with the same staff (theres a few posts on this board) but again, I must stress that they where incredibly caring and supportive throughout the day. As far as the operation goes, after the surgery you are put in your room to relax the rest of the day as the anesthetic wears off, while being offered amazingly tasty muffins, lemonade whenever you want etc. Ive had to recover from hangovers which where far worse, and no one offered me a muffin.
I stayed over night (because im an interstate patient - they prefer it), the next day after taking a taxi back to the hostel I was staying at, I still felt alittle sideways and weird from the anaesthetic, but releaved. Today (day 2) I had the bandages removed, and Im pretty amazed at the result, theres still some slight swelling, But im already stoked with the outcome, Sue recieves great reviews for a reason! and I absolutely recommend her!
If theres any details you guys are interested in particular, Ill be happy to answer them, mainly I wanted to reach out to those of you who are still on the "should I do it or not" ledge. I would say, if its bothered you for years, its most likely going to bother you for years to come aswell. So take the reletively small down period for the massive gain. It still hasnt sunk in yet that its done. I think once im past the majority of the healing ill be over the moon for ages to come.
Cheers guys - you helped me out heaps.
Topic: My surgery with Sue Thistlethwaite (Read 4538 times)
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