My journey to surgery – Vancouver guy goes to Toronto (Thanks Dr. Fielding!)

[shaker]

dude the results are great, u went for dr fielding i with dr lista (well the guy does lots of operations and yaa he does not talk much about the operation, i had post follow up with the nurse only) . r u still in Toronto or flew back ? I am staying here till mid april to be on safe side, massaging is awful tried today but could not lol.. will try again tomorrow have you started massaging yet ?

Wondering if dr fielding made incision under the nipple or just one incision on the sides ?

[waves]

dude the results are great, u went for dr fielding i with dr lista (well the guy does lots of operations and yaa he does not talk much about the operation, i had post follow up with the nurse only) . r u still in Toronto or flew back ? I am staying here till mid april to be on safe side, massaging is awful tried today but could not lol.. will try again tomorrow have you started massaging yet ?

Wondering if dr fielding made incision under the nipple or just one incision on the sides ?

Thanks Shaker!  And congrats on your surgery!  I was only in Toronto for about 5 days post surgery and if I could have, would have stayed longer.  I loved it there and stayed right downtown.  So much to do and see!

Fielding does both, in the side and then a cut through the nipple.  I knew about Lista's method that doesn't require the nipple incision, but didn't look into it much to see how it actually worked.  Do you think it worked for you?

Fielding said when he went through the sides with me he got out a fair amount of fat/tissue, but it wasn't until he went through the nipple, cut out the gland and some fat "nodules" that the fat/tissue really started to flow.  So it probably wasn't an option for me to just do sides only.  Lista's method is different though (different technique or instruments I think) so perhaps if I had gone with him I wouldn't have needed the nipple incision?  Not sure.

Also not sure why but Fielding didn't want me to massage right away.  I called him at 4 weeks post op (last week) and told him about these funny lumps I have and he then suggested I start massaging.  Every surgeon is different and some say not to massage for 3 or 4 weeks and others say to massage right away.  Probably depends on the case and the things you're seeing.  Did Lista say to massage right away?  If so, then I'd follow his advice.  Oh, and Fielding said for me to only massage 5 minutes max each side.  It doesn't hurt too much now but is still a little painful.  I've tried to jog a little (like a block or so) and that still hurts.  Going to try a little run today wearing my stage 2 compression vest and see how that goes.  Want to start losing weight and pumping weights to improve how everything looks!

I'll have to post some pics but for now I'd say I'm about 95% happy with the results.  Left side is larger (but getting smaller) than the right but it's barely noticable.  My wife can't tell but I can so probably I'm over analyzing.  haha.

Great to be on the other side though eh?!

[shaker]

The only reason i went with dr lista is cause of the reason he does not make the cut under the nipple it scares the hell out of me for some reason.. will see if going the non-cut route had its benefits.

Just wonder how did u manage to fly back and carry all the lugage around i thought dr's say not to lift anything heavy till like 6 weeks have passed.

I got like 2 bags each like 20 kg's or so hence taking it easy and staying with my dad here and using up all my work vacation time saved over the last 3 years  , next will have another 4 weeks of holidays and maybe than i can hit some real location and a beach to enjoy the money spent on the surgery, i cannot wait for summer to come !!!  I hate it always before lets hope this will change my perspective !

[waves]

Wheels!  Luggage with wheels.  I only had one suitcase and rolled it all the way to the airport.  Handed it over at checkin and wife did the rest when I landed.

[shaker]

Wheels!  Luggage with wheels.  I only had one suitcase and rolled it all the way to the airport.  Handed it over at checkin and wife did the rest when I landed.

aah lucky u no one for me going to be there to pickup my luggage for me so would have to do it all on my own o probably a month from now it will be all better, i am just stressing over the results that's all right now i am not seeing a flat shape when in sitting position is that normal or do i elasticity problem.. o daily i shower daily i take pictures lol ..

[waves]

7 WEEKS POST OP - UPDATE


Progress after 7 weeks:

Pain - slight pain when trying to sleep on stomach although very minor.  Feels like it is coming from below my nipples where there are a couple small residual lumps.
Lumps - I complained for some time about lumps extending in either direction from both nipples.  They are now gone.  Massaging seems to have resolved the issue.
Scar tissue - Across both nipple incisions is lumpy semi-soft scar tissue that gets massaged nightly for 5 minutes.  Little progress at the beginning (started massaging at 4 weeks), however, feels like they are getting smaller.  Some lumpiness on side near left underarm, but also seems to be improving.
Swelling - the left side has always looked bigger than the right, however, massaging seems to have brought down the left somewhat.  Note this is backwards compared to pre-op condition where the right side was bigger than the left.
Nipples - The scar tissue makes them look funny and I think once it is resolved they'll look better
Issues - 1) Left side still a little bigger than right, but improving.  2) Scar tissue under nipples, but improving.  3) Indentation line under right nipple (slight).  4) Nipples and skin have not retracted a lot yet.


Healing Progress (Prediction) - For items 1 and 2 I think these will resolve with time.  I think Item 3 is the same, but if it doesn't, working out with weights should resolve if I really need to achieve 100%.  Item 4 - hard to say.  I'm older than most surgery cases I think (40) so there's a chance that my skin and nipples won't contract as much as someone in their 20's.

Overall improvement as of 7 weeks - 90%.  My goal was to wear a t-shirt without feeling self-conscious.  I have far exceeded that and now thinking I might actually be able to go swimming, hang out at the beach shirtless, etc., etc.  That would make it a 100% improvement.

Photo Notes:

Front - Notice how the right side looks like the nipple is much lower than the left.  My wife thinks it's the photo or my posture because looking at me in person that affect isn't there.  Looking in the mirror it looks like I hunch my right side towards the front, something I probably started to do years ago to hide the larger right side.  When I pull the shoulder back everything lines up properly.  HOWEVER, the nipple is still stretched out (non-retracted) so far, similar to pre-op.  Plus the scar tissue towards the outer bottom of each nipple, gives the perception of it being droopy.  But you can see with the side photos that it actually looks pretty good.  Next time I take photos I'll lean against the door and make sure my shoulders are both evenly touching it.

Flexing - (next post)  Wanted to do a flexing photo to look for indentations, crators, etc.  So far looks good although the nipples look a little funny.  I think this is the scar tissue poking out giving the rest a slightly indented look.  I think that will heal fine.  My arms look pretty muscular which is goofy genetics.  I've always had stronger looking arms even though I haven't worked out in a decade or more.  I'm an office desk jock so it's not from a job either.  Looks weird as the rest of me is not! very athletic looking at the time being.  About to change that...

[waves]

Left side and flexing:

[shaker]

excellent results dude only wished mine were something like that ! Will see in 4 more weeks time if i am any closer to recovery and somewhat similar results, i have weird shaped chest from the side angles  

img842.imageshack.us/f/33week.jpg/

[Raider Fan]

Probably some of the best results I've ever seen on here.  Congrats!

[waves]

Probably some of the best results I've ever seen on here.  Congrats!

Wow RF, thanks!  It's hard to self-evaluate but I didn't think it was much different than many other results I've seen.  Although there are not a lot of posts showing later post-op stages.  I hope to continue posting after a few key milestones so that future users can see improvements (i.e., 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post op).  Crossing my fingers that everything continues to at least stay at this level of improvement or even get better.

[waves]

Well....2.5 years later and thought I'd check in with a quick update:

Still loving the results and freedom that's been given back to me.  I'd say about a 95% improvement overall.  The right side has a little crease if I flex a pec muscle, but really it's hardly noticeable.  And at my age (mid 40's) where most guys without gyne are starting to droop and gain significant mass anyway, I'm looking WELL above average!  The improvements continued for several months and perhaps as much as the first 2 years.  Very slight, and things take longer to heal the older you are.  And possibly my age is the reason i didn't get 100% (Fielding commented about that).  But now I regularly rip my shirt off at the beach or pool to go swimming and don't even give it a second thought.

If you're still waiting to pull the trigger on surgery, my advice is to book an appointment now.  Get your life and confidence back!

[healthpro77]

Ya great results, makes me feel more confident going into surgery which I will have in a month and a half (with Dr. Fielding).  Very cool

[Mikec1294]

How long is the wait between consultation and surgery with Dr. Fielding usually? I have a consultation scheduled for April 14!!