Surgery in 5 days... Terrified

[xoxxx]

I'm having surgery for asymmetrical gynecomastia in 5 days and am terrified.
Reasons:

- surgeon insists on general anesthesia (never had it)
- my gynecomastia is very much asymmetrical (right much bigger)
- scares me to think that healing will be asymmetrical and look terrible
-he said he did 6 of these in 2010 (not many at all)
-terrified about everything and will probably have a panic attack when I get there


He is a pretty well know surgeon here. 55+ years old. Went to duke medical school.

Any reassurance?

[Paa_Paw]

A certain amount of asymmetry is actually more normal than perfect symmetry.

You mention little about the surgeons qualifications or board certifications, Those are the things that are important.

If the surgeon is young, he might be expected to have been taught the very latest methods but be short on experience. Life is full of these kinds of trade offs.

[xoxxx]

Thnks for the reply!
Yes he is board certified and his office recently became certified for in house procedures. I would say he's 50-60. And he went to duke med. I'm pretty sure it's an ultra competitive medical school.

My concern is that he does 6 of these a year. I'm in a semi-rural area, the closest big city to me is Atlanta. 4hr drive away. So as you can see he was my best choice..

[xoxxx]

Just looked it up, his certified for:
American society of plastic surgery, laser,Aesthetic plastic surgery.

So it looks like he has 3 board certifications.

[Paa_Paw]

Good Luck.

Actually that is a dumb thing to say, Luck has little to do with anything important.

Anyway, I wish you well.

[xoxxx]

Thanks, any one else have input?

[Litlriki]

By now, you may have already had your surgery, so there may be little value in reassurance.  If you feel comfortable with the surgeon, if he is well trained, board-certified with a good reputation, and you're not aware of a string of complications he's had with routine procedures, the likelihood is that you should get a decent result.  Hopefully, you saw some photos of previous patients, which showed good results. 

Most plastic surgeons perform this surgery.  The surgeons who comment on this forum tend to focus on gynecomastia in our practices, and that gives us some added expertise (and perhaps added credibility) when discussing the condition and treatment.  But many surgeons are capable of doing this surgery and get excellent results, even though it's not their primary focus.  I am optimistic that you found such a surgeon.

Rick Silverman

[xoxxx]

Thanks Rick,
Yes I had the surgery 5 hours ago. Everything went well in terms of anxiety.
They gave me a patch to put behind my ear that helped with anxiety and anasthesia.
They also injected me with some stuff that let me feel good.
I will update with pics soon!