Author Topic: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**  (Read 22335 times)

Offline pharmerjoe

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good luck with the surgery, and as for the train. You can usually go to the bit where they sell tickets, and explain to them you need that ticket changed to a later train, you will maybe have to pay a bit extra to get a changed ticket, but you are not usually any worse off than if you had bought the correct ticket already.

Offline fingerit

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Managed to rearrange my tickets but cost me another £60, not to worry, whats £60 when I'm spending 4k on the op, drop in the ocean I guess.

Anyway, my op is a week today and I'm not sure what the rest of you guys felt like at this time but I'm pretty damn excited! Is that weird? Should I be nervous? No doubt when it comes to the day, I'll be a nervous wreck but the only thing I'm actually worrying about is how I'm going to keep it quiet from people at work. I'm tempted to take a few days of the following week off sick, we'll see.

This time next week I will hopefully be on the train home or be home resting and recovering, cant bloody wait!!

Offline fingerit

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Hey guys, had my surgery today with Karidis and am home recovering nicely in my bed, bit uncomfortable and slightly groggy so will give a full update with pics tomorrow or friday.

Offline fingerit

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Right guys, after am uncomfortable nights sleep I'm up early and thought I'd crack on with updating everyone.

So I travelled down to London on Wednesday night with my mum, and stayed in a nice hotel near paddington station, got there pretty late so pretty much went straight to bed, didn't have a bad nights sleep actually considering. Got up, had a shower and headed to the tube station to get to the hospital and got there about 10mins before my 7:30 appointment, I was sent up to my room and met the nurse there who was going to be looking after me, she was really nice and explained everything, I was given my awesome stockings and socks to wear ;-), the backless robe and was allowed to wear my boxers. I looked like a right prat but I was given a bath robe too which I made the most of and wore that. Dr. Karidis came and saw me about an hour after getting there, I signed a form and he took some photos before marking me up, it was a pretty quick stop for him since he must have been quite busy. The anesthetist came and saw me and asked me a few questions and explained what he was going to do, again that was pretty quick too but I didn't really have any questions.

So after a little wait the nurse led me down in the theatre lift (separate to the public life which was good) and I had to walk through a group of about 10 different nurses, I felt like a right d1ck in all the outfit, plus I had to take my contacts out and wear my glasses so was doubly self conscience, I said hello to them all anyway and they were all really nice about it, they obviously see people at their worst all the time.

Anyway, I was led into the anesthetic room where a staff nurse confirmed my details, he was really nice and I had a nice chat with him, he put some compression things on my legs over the stockings which apparently help the blood flow when under. I then got a cannula put in my arm for the drip, I was worried they would put it in the back of my hand because I bruised quite easily with my blood test and didnt really fancy explaining to everything what the bruise on my hand was. So the anesthetist came in and saw me and explained again the situation, he first came me a sedative which made me feel like I was wasted, felt pretty awesome to be honest, then next thing I remember is waking up, felling drunk, dry throat and blurry vision. I also kept trying to grab the pen of the nurse next to me since I thought she wanted me to sign something but I couldn't really move, she was laughing and telling me to relax. Apparently I said to her I was dreaming of beer, ha ha.

So they wheeled me back to my room, I still felt pretty groggy and they made me shuffle onto my bed, was tough work with the tight vest on. I lied there for a couple of hours drifting in a out, the nurse came and checked my blood pressure frequently and then every hour after that and kept drinking lots of water since I hadn't had any all night and morning, I think I polished off 3 jugs. About 1pm I started to feel hungry so I got my meal, tomato soup, cheese sandwich and vanilla ice cream. I polished the whole lot off and felt great.

Jasmine, one of Dr. Karidis' nurses came and saw me (she is amazingly beautiful), she explained post operative care, gave me 2 spare vests as well as the one I was wearing because she wasn't sure what size I would need. She was really great, and so friendly.

The nurse came in again and brought me painkillers, laxatives (since apparently the pain killers can cause constipation), which was a bottle of liquid rather than tablets, and two antibiotic pills that I needed to take that night when I got home and this morning.

At about 3:30 I got dressed with a little difficulty, it really helped having my mum there to help so I recommend taking someone with you. We left the hospital and just had a wander around London for a while since my train wasn't until 7pm. I felt generally ok, although I just had a bit of a headache and a thick groggy head, I guess different people recover differently to the anesthetic. I also just felt a little delicate, I just couldn't jude the limits of my movement really, I couldn't tell whether some of the tightness feeling was the vest (and the white band around it), the tape for the blue padding or the incisions. I just didn't want to push myself too much so moved my upper body carefully, thank got I didn't bring anything too heavy.

The last tube journey I had wasn't pleasant since it was really really hot and packed so I suggest to you guys you try avoid that time. After a not so bad train ride home my dad picked us up and when I got in the car it was the first time I felt real pain to be honest. It was quite bad but went away, I feel I probably did too much walking and moving around, not sure but anyway, when I got home about 10pm I got into something comfortable and set my pillows up to go to sleep. As I say, not the best nights sleep, my back is aching to bad from not sleeping flat but at least I can have a leisurely few days.

I think I'm going to take the last antibiotic in a min then think about trying to get a shower. I'm a little hesitant about taking the vest and all the padding off, I'm not sure if I'm ready to take the plasters off yet, I'll see how it feels. Will take some photos of that too.

So, here are some pre op pictures, as of 22nd of June. I didn't save them in the best quality but I think they'll do. As you might be able to see, my case was pretty asymmetric:




Any questions, feel free to ask, hope this gives some of you guys who are considering or having surgery some idea of what to expect, hope it helps!


 

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Ok so I managed to tentatively have a shower, I feel like I'm being a bit of a wuss, I don't really wanna move my upper body that much since it feel still and I do't want to push it. I took off the white strap and vest and the blue padding, there was loads under the vest which is probably why it was so tight. The plasters looks ok from what I saw so I left them on for the shower, I had a very gentle soap up, my chest looks so freaking flat, bit surprised actually how flat it is, no doubt I'll start swelling the next few days. I gently touched around my chest area and its pretty numb, I'm not going to do much prodding around so I'll just leave it all alone. Not really looking forward to taking the plasters off the nipples so might leave them for a few days unless they start to come off.

Felt a bit woozy doing all this so really took it easy, think it was just taking the vest off and relieving pressure that did it. Was a bit of a job getting the new vest on, I'm glad she gave me 2 sizes because I would have never got the medium one on! Feel much better though now I've had a shower, still a bit tired so going to take it easy today and the rest of the weekend. How I feel on monday will determine whether I'll be going into work or not. We'll see.

More pics!

Here is pre op again but with markings:


Post of with vest on:


Post op without vest (feel pretty shrunken and pathetic in this one):


Offline Choda

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Well done Fingerit, how weird does it feel taking the vest off? Proper mental, I'm at the stage where I'm slightly getting feeling back in my chest and its very itchy.

But your spot on about having your mum around, or somebody because looking back I don't think I could have done this by myself.

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Yeah, felt really weird mate, the numbness is so strange and I don't dare to touch it too much at the moment. Its nice to know you're pretty much just a day ahead of me so I know what to expect :-). I'm not really looking forward to having to wear the vest to work though. Also, not sure what to tell work if I'm not feeling up to going in on Monday or Tues :-/

Offline Choda

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Yeah, felt really weird mate, the numbness is so strange and I don't dare to touch it too much at the moment. Its nice to know you're pretty much just a day ahead of me so I know what to expect :-). I'm not really looking forward to having to wear the vest to work though. Also, not sure what to tell work if I'm not feeling up to going in on Monday or Tues :-/

Play it by ear, I'm three days in and the vest isn't that bad. But your movement is still restricted as expected, I'll be taking my vest off tomorrow for a short period and I'm hoping it feels more natural. I didn't want to touch my chest first time, it just felt weird and I wanted the vest on asap. But it really does improve day by day. ;)

Offline pharmerjoe

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
while it's hard to see, I can see an improvement, although your case wasn't too bad. I am starting to worry about my operation in a few weeks as from what I gather from some guys here, I am really going to be out of it that day, and will struggle, since I will be by myself. I tend to get really bad when I get ill, so this operation is probably going to knock me for six, so need to just grit my teeth and get through it.

Offline thetodd

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
kin ell mate your pretty ripped up, yeah the right hand side is definatley bigger than the left i mean your left side looks normal pre op

the pics are small, but its already a safe bet that your going to have a good result!

nice one
Surgery With Alex Karidis - 16/05/09 - Completed!
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=17738.0

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Yeah, I know what you mean about it not looking too bad the pics don't really do the gyno justice to be honest (I should have uploaded better quality), if that makes sense, lol. It was definitely pretty bad on one side and just slightly puffy on the other, it was the fact that it was so unbalanced that kind of made it stand out even more, plus I'd tried losing some body fat before surgery. I was half expecting him to say that he would only do one side but he said it was easier and would make it more balanced if he removed glad from both sides, however minimal. Which I'm happy with to be honest and I totally trusted his plan.

I'm going to be interested to find out how much glad he actually removed from my right nip since when he grabbed it to mark, there was a hefty amount.

pharmajoe, seriously mate, I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to things like this, looking back, I didn't actually feel that bad. The worst thing was the tube journey in rush hour, I was just worried I was going to get bumped but I came out ok. I think you'll be fine, just remember you've got a good amount of people on here for support  :)

Just a quick update, so its day 2 now and I've just had a shower, I decided to take off the armpit plasters off because they weren't sticking well and were soggy after my shower, I've had a look and the incisions have sealed up so going to give them some air. I've still got the original platers on my nip incisions, I think I'm going to brave it and take those off tomorrow but very slowly whilst sat down, just in case I feel a bit woozy. I'll see what they're like and a might just leave them off if they've closed off. I firmly believe in getting air to the incisions if they've closed up. I've also just noticed in the mirror I still have a heart monitor thing stuck to my back, ha ha, but I can't reach it and I haven't got anyone around to take it off :-/

Generally I feel loads better today, not spaced out, taking the arnica regularly, drinking plenty of water, getting a little more movement and more importantly confidence in moving around a bit more. Slept really well last night, not sure if the pain killers are the reason but I definitely had a good night.

Day 2 Post op:

« Last Edit: June 26, 2011, 11:36:05 AM by fingerit »

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Ok, so day 3 post op today, sleeping well and arms aren't as stiff. Had a shower, I still had the nipple plasters on but when I got out and they were softer I decided to brave it and peel them off, very very, slowly. The incisions seem to have closed up nicely but I still have some gauze looking tape on the incisions which I'm not about to take off, probably leave that for a few more days.

I'm getting some strange sensations from around the nipple areas at the moment, its hard to describe but I think its just because the numbness is starting to subside and I'm getting the feeling back.

Overall at this point I'm over the moon with the results but I know that I have a lot more healing to go and it might start to look worse before it looks better regarding the scar tissue and swelling etc. I'm still getting the arnica down me and drinking pineapple juice, hopefully that will help but it can't do any harm I guess.

Day 3 Post op:


« Last Edit: June 26, 2011, 11:36:53 AM by fingerit »

Offline NeedToLoseWeight

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Epic results so far mate I bet you're chuffed. What's your height and weight if you don't mind me asking? Jw.

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Yeah mate, well chuffed so far, looking forward to getting back in the gym. At the moment I'm 13st and 6ft mate.

Offline fingerit

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Re: ** Surgery completed with Dr. Karidis on 23rd June!(Will update regularly)**
Day 4 post op. Yesterday I braved having a short walk to the supermarket to get some more pineapple juice, I mainly just went for a little exercise to be honest and I felt ok but still rather vulnerable if that makes sense? However soft it sound I just feel a bit delicate at the moment I guess, worried someone might bump into me or something like that. I'm getting more and more sensation back in my chest, its a strange feeling but welcome as the numbness is a bit strange.

I had a shower this morning and although I took off the waterproof plasters yesterday I added some more just for the shower and took them off when I'd dried, I dont want to get the incisions wet but I don't want them sweating under a plaster all day, hopefully it will help the healing. I still haven't taken those small gauze plasters off yet, cant face pulling them off yet. When did all you guys take these off?

Day 4 post op pic:


Tried to take some side boob shots but they did't come out right, will try again tomorrow.


 

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