Surgery in two weeks

[twill1989]

Hey everyone,

I've had gyne since puberty, and I'm now 21. It's always bothered me and made me very self-conscious, especially coupled with the fact that I'm gay. My case is pretty severe. I've been to a few doctors and it's mainly actual glandular tissue plus fatty tissue on the sides. I'm overweight by about 20-30 pounds, so it's not like I'm obese so my condition is pretty noticeable. My mother recognized the problem also but she could not afford the surgery and never actually talked to me about it anyways. It was one of those things everyone knew but didn't discuss.

Anyway, I'm a senior in college now starting my last semester so I took out a student loan to help with the costs of the surgery, which is about $3500. The date is set for February 2. For the longest time I've wanted this surgery most so than anything else. Now that it's only about two weeks away, I'm starting to get nervous.

Did anyone else feel like that right before surgery? I have a couple of concerns which keep bothering me. Primarily, I'm concerned with work and school. How soon were you able to return to work? I've taken three days off for after the surgery for recovery. Is that enough? How bad is the pain afterwards? How restricted is your movement, especially with wearing the compression vest?

Also, the doctor is planning on using drains, much to my dismay I might add. This part is probably the most troublesome for me to accept. For those of you who had drains, what was your experience like? How long were the drains in? Did they hurt coming out?

Any advice/information yall can provide would be appreciated

[theFlash]

Hi Twill,

Congrats on your decision to go through with it! my situation is/was very similar to yours so I will try to answer your questions. I had surgery on the 7th of this month, so exactly one week ago I had the procedure done.

I was nervous as well, but most of the time I was so busy I didnt have a chance to think about it really. The night before I was freaking out a bit. I can honestly tell you though, it is not a big deal at all. They knock you out and you wake up in what feels like 5 minutes with the procedure done with.

I took Friday (the day of the surgery), Sat, Sun, and Monday off from work/school. Tuesday I drove myself to the doc's office to have my drains removed. The pain was the worst the 2nd day of recovery, afterwards it was/is almost non existent. Keep in mind though that even during the "worst" of it, Tylenol extra strength was enough to get me by, so it was never really that bad.

My work involves heavy use of my hands, although not really any heavy lifting or such. I returned on the 4th day and was able to do my job okay. My movement is somewhat restricted in that I'm not able to apply too much force to anything (dont wanna over exert myself) and I try not to move my arms away from my sides too much.

I had drains. Did not really think they were a big deal at all. I didnt shower or remove my dressing before the drains were taken out so I never even saw them. I have heard on here the removal of drains burns for a few mins afterwards, but I did not feel anything when they were being removed.

Hope this helps! = ) keep us posted, and good luck.

[twill1989]

Hey thanks for the advice and information Flash. I'm hoping my case will be like yours and I wont have to see the drains at all.

I went today to sign all my paperwork and pick up my prescriptions for after the surgery. I noticed one thing that kind of has me concerned now. The doctor wasn't in today so I wasn't able to ask him. The doc has the procedure listed as a mastopexy (breast lift) with smart lipo. I've done some research and it seems this might be appropriate because the nipples are below the traditional location on the pec muscle due to the gyne. Has anyone's else surgery been listed as such? I attached a few photos so yall can see as well.




Thanks!