Surgery with Alex Karidis 5/4/11 + pics! (Updated regularly)

[emanresu]

I'll be regularly updating this post with pictures, so keep checking back to see the post-surgery progression.

Okay guys, pics first coz I know that's what you really want to see lol.

Pre op, 3/4/11

Nipples were usually way more puffy but the room temperature was slightly cold.






24hrs post-op compression garment 6/4/11




24hrs post-op without compression garment

Right nipple started bleeding after removing the dressing, so I immediately re-dressed it.








2 days post-op. Plasters removed




3 days post-op. Bruising starting to subside




4 days post-op

Everything's starting to settle down nicely now. The flesh and skin is starting to firm-up.




6 days post-op

Really pleased with the result at this stage.






2 weeks post-op

Not so pleased with the results at this stage. The skin is lumpy and has started sagging despite wearing the compression garment 24hrs a day. Both nipples are inverted at the point of the incision, particularly the left one.





Left nipple has sunk inwards at the point of the incision.



From the side. Clearly sunken.




1 month post-op

Far from perfect but improving. Nipple incisions are considerably less inverted + the skin isn't so lumpy.



The nipple in the foreground is slightly puffy.




2 months post-op

A definite improvement.






3 months post-op




The pictures aren't the best quality, but I'll be uploading the pics that Dr. Karidis took, which he promised to send me.

Obviously there's a lot of bruising but that will pass with time.

The actual operation itself was a breeze! The worst part was the pre-op nerves. I was literally sh*tting myself before the op, not least because I'd been heavily drinking alcohol only 48hrs before! You're supposed to abstain from alcohol for a week beforehand. Oops! I explained this to the anaesthetist and he said 48hrs is okay because the alcohol should've left your system by then.

I arrived at the hospital at 7am in the morning and was in theatre an hour later. Before the operation Dr. Karidis took some photos + drew some lines on my chest. When I was wheeled into the theatre on a trolley the staff were very professional and reassuring. The anaesthetist placed a cannula into my vain through which he injected several tubes of drugs.

The next thing I can remember is having pleasant dreams and being rudely awoken by one of the nurses!

I spent the next several hours recuperating in my comfortable private room; no shitty NHS-style ward with curtains! The only disturbance was the nurses coming in once an hour to take your blood pressure. I mentioned to the nurse that I had a sore throat and she told me it was because during the operation you have a breathing tube shoved down your throat.

By 2pm I felt completely fine and was pacing around the room ready to leave. It's amazing how quickly you recover from the operation. I arranged for a taxi to collect me from the hospital at 5 and spent the rest of the evening chilling out in the hotel room.

The day after the operation I left the hotel and hopped on the tube to get back to where I parked my car. Whilst I was on the tube I saw Nigel Lawson and shook hands with him and exchanged a few words. That made a good day into a perfect one!  

Anyway, that's all I can think of to say right now, other than if you're considering surgery with Dr. Karidis, DO IT!

Any questions, fire away!

[chopper]

Cool, nice to see the before and after pics. Won't lie, the after pics look sore but im planning for it Keep posting regular piccies mate so we can see how it changes

[emanresu]

I assure you that despite the bruising there was no pain whatsoever! Those pics were snapped first thing in the morning after the operation. The local anaesthetic was still working at that stage. I started to get a tiny amount of pain by midday but the painkillers kept it under control.

[thetodd]

 Looks great mate proper flat

You look like your having an allergic reaction to me on your armpit incisions (from the plasters), im not sure how your nipple looks but id imagine itl be inflamed. Leave the plasters off the armpit incisions and just take it easy theyve healed over so theres no need to have them on

Id say tommorow take the plasters off the nipple area and leave them off, they should be scabbed over!

The bruising will be gone soon dont worry about that. I remember karidis marking me up with the pen on the day of the op and taking some pics i looked in the mirror once he'd gone fuckin scared the life out of me Would be interesting to see the pics he took.

[MG12]

Hey, glad everything went well, the results look good.

Keep the updates coming, I'm in on Saturday so it will be good to know we're on the same track in therma of recovery.

[emanresu]

Hey, glad everything went well, the results look good.

Keep the updates coming, I'm in on Saturday so it will be good to know we're on the same track in therma of recovery.

I'll be updating the pics regularly so everyone can see the whole process.

Good luck for Saturday mate. You have nowt to worry about because the surgery itself is a flippin' breeze. You should be up and about with no problems just hours after.

[chopper]

I assure you that despite the bruising there was no pain whatsoever! Those pics were snapped first thing in the morning after the operation. The local anaesthetic was still working at that stage. I started to get a tiny amount of pain by midday but the painkillers kept it under control.

Result, glad it's not sore...it just looks it lol
Hows sleeping at night ?You on your back using one of those travel pillows or can you sleep on your front?

[emanresu]

Hows sleeping at night ?You on your back using one of those travel pillows or can you sleep on your front?

Sleeping quite well TBH mate, but that's probably because the hospital prescribed a small course of valium which helps make you drowsy. I just prop a shitload of pillows up against the wall in a wedge shape and sleep on them at roughly a 20 degrees angle. I'm pretty good at sleeping in one position so that's not a problem. The only problem is waking up in the middle of the night to find you've slid down the pillows, towards the bed, and are nearly horizontal again. The nurse said that you must sleep with your head higher than your heart for the first week because this allows the fluid to properly drain.

No way would I sleep on my front at this stage! TBH I think it would risk doing some damage. The flesh on my chest is still very tender and kind of sloppy and soft + the incisions have only just sealed up. One of them was still bleeding yesterday. I think you need to leave it a week or two before sleeping on your front.

Just updated the first post with a new pic snapped today.

Today I showered for the first time and was slightly disturbed to see that my nipples actually sucked inwards when I raised my arms above my head. Not only that but the skin surrounding them is very loose and 'sloppy'. I'm hoping this is normal and that the compression garment will deal with this in good time.

Still, despite the bruising there is virtually no pain. Most of the pain was experienced yesterday as the local anaesthetic was wearing off.

[emanresu]

Id say tommorow take the plasters off the nipple area and leave them off, they should be scabbed over!

Dude, today I followed your advice and disposed of the plasters completely. Now I just have the compression garment directly on top of the incision sites...

... Then I re-read the post op' instructions:

You may shower after 24 hours. Do not have a bath. Remove original dressings and dispose. Reapply waterproof dressings on the four incision sites. Leave these on for 7 days before changing/removing them. If they peel off before this time then reapply a new dressing.

Now I'm getting worried coz I have no dressings left and this garment has been rubbing against the incision sites all day now. I'm going to hop down to the local hospital and get a doctor to have a look + get some new dressings.

[thetodd]

Dont worry you dont need them on, when you come out of the shower just pat yourself down with a towel so they arent wet for long periods of time. I stopped wearing mine 1 day post op and didnt have no trouble and ive told loads on here to do the same as long as its scabbed up your fine to leave them off. Once the skins scabbed over, infections cant get in what scabs are there for .


dont go to hospital id imagine youl have a few hours wait and a nurse telling you to let the air get to it.


You need to stop worrying and chill out lol, dont raise your hands in the air and look in the mirror your meant to be healing all thats going to do is put pressure on the incision points. The skins so sloppy because its swelling dont panic

[emanresu]

dont go to hospital id imagine youl have a few hours wait and a nurse telling you to let the air get to it.

As it happens I live right across the road from a general hospital. I waited about an hour until the doctor finally saw me. Good news is he said it all looks fine. Bad news is it was the same doctor who practices at my local surgery. Presently I've got a bit of a beef going with that particular surgery because I'm refusing to pay the £40 charge for the blood tests which they're trying to charge me. Basically I opened my big mouth and told the doctor that I needed to get blood tests for private surgery. He said fine, but you have to pay for the blood tests. I said fine. A few days later I had the blood tests and sent the results to Karidis.

Then I had second thoughts about whether I should actually have to pay to for the frigging tests considering that the NHS has turned me down for the operation no less than 4 times in 10 years! I met all the criteria for acceptance (I was suicidal and had mental health problems caused by it) yet they still turned me down. So I refuse to pay on principle for blood tests that would've and should've been free anyway! It just seems wrong somehow having to pay for something that I pay for out of my taxes and which they should have funded anyway!

Anyways, the doctor had a right go at me for not paying and told me to find another practice to which I replied "Fine!". I felt like telling him to eff himself.

Just spoke to Chantelle from Karidis' team and she said basically the same as you, theTodd, which is dressings don't matter as long as it's healed over, but that you can place dressings on the incision sites anyway if you're not sure...

Phew, what a day!

[thetodd]

Id say just pay them, dont shit on your own doorstep the doc sounds like a bit of a prick but for the sake of £40 id just keep him happy. I paid £20 for my blood test so its not to bad

The real crooks in this situation are STJohns £137 for a bloodtest is a complete pisstake!

[PecDec]

Excellent results emanresu. Keep the updates and pictures coming.

They always say don't expect 100% results plus you've only just had it done. Healing comes with time.

Once it's all healed up get into the gym and build up your pecs.

A lot of fat & gland get's removed so there is a lot of empty space there now hence why scar tissue forms.

It's your body replacing that area. You should replace it with muscle, build your pecs up which will help shape your chest.

Will even help with the nipple looking in wards, the muscle behind it will push it out and give it a better look.

With good eating, hard weight training & cardio you will see your results improve dramatically.

Looking good isn't about getting surgery done, like everything with fitness it's only a part of the bigger picture.

You need to combine everything you know about looking good to get the finished results.

I love training but have been held back with my gyne. I'm using my surgery as the next step in getting the look I'm after.

Once it's gone I'll be losing even more weight because I'm not worried about my gyno looking worst.

Sounds like you had stressful experience, hopefully everything calms down for you.

I've got my surgery coming up really soon. Will let you know how it goes

[emanresu]

I've got my surgery coming up really soon. Will let you know how it goes

Sounds awesome mate! Keep us updated and make sure you remember to take some 'before' pics; not least so you have something to remind you what you used to be like.

I'm not going to upload any more pics for a couple of weeks to save this thread from being bombarded daily with pics. I'll definitely produce a full pictorial progression, including the 'finished product' pics several months down the line.

Alex Karidis you are a flipping genius!

[emanresu]

It's 8 days post-op and I'm still getting some nipple pain; usually when running down the stairs too quickly or driving over speed bumps. Is this normal?

Been drinking quite heavily over the past few days so I've put a bit of weight on. As a result the compression garment feels much tighter. Oh well, only 6 more days and I'll be wearing it at night only.

Even though it's only been a week, my mental state has improved dramatically. I've been walking around my local town with only the occasional, and short lived, twinge of self-consciousness. Previously I would have driven to the shops, even though it's only a few minutes walk.