surgery with Dr. Karidis

[scuba]

Hi there,

I am quite new here and I ll start telling you my story as I need some advice from you guys.

I had my consultation with Dr. Karidis on 18th of July and that day we arranged my operation to take place on 28th of July.
I am on my 2nd day post-op at the moment and there is no pain or bleeding at all.
However, I am really concerned as my chest looks really over-flat and not normal at all. I hope this will change by the time.
Did anyone else have the same feeling the first days after the op guys?

I ll post pre-op and after-op photos asap.
Thanks

[mr rich18]

Congratulations on your surgery. I think this is called the pancake effect. In the next week it will start to swell and you will put your compression vest on. I had my surgery with Levick and he make you wear a compression bandage for the first week so I didn't actually see the pancake because the swelling was already in place.

Put some pre and post op pics up so we can see.

[fingerit]

Yeah, I had my surgery with Karadis too mate, I'm almost 5 weeks post op now and when I first took my vest off it was shockingly flat, was really weird but it will fill out, my pecs have come back thank god.

[somedude999]

Congrats mate.
As mentioned above this is the pancake effect
Mine wad like that for about 7 weeks until I stopped wearing compression and then it filled out a bit with scar tissue.

Here's the hard part, well for me and some others at least. You will get used to the pancake effect, I loved it lol.
But then ur chest fills out a tiny bit and ur mind starts
Playing tricks on you and you worry u are not pancake flat anymore.

[scuba]

thanks guys for your replies.
I feel a bit better now.
How many days after your op did they start to "spring back"?

[kieran_22]

When you say you aren't pancake flat anymore, it doesn't mean that they have come back completely does it?

I don't want to have the operation and within a few weeks I'm back to square one...

[somedude999]

thanks guys for your replies.
I feel a bit better now.
How many days after your op did they start to "spring back"?

I'd say about the 7 week Mark for me mate. When I stopped wearing the compression vest overnight. 
Dont forget the compression will be flattening u as well.

[somedude999]

When you say you aren't pancake flat anymore, it doesn't mean that they have come back completely does it?

I don't want to have the operation and within a few weeks I'm back to square one...

No they havent come back at all, chest just looks natural now rather than the almost concave look u get right after surgery.

[scuba]

3rd day after the operation and my chest looks totally flat (less than the first day) and has almost a concave shape.

I am trying to post some pre and post-op photos, however i dont know how to attach them here.

[scuba]

I did upload some pre-op and 3days post-op pics. Have a look guys here
s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa431/scuba7/?action=view&current=3day-postop2.png&newest=1

At the moment, I am quite happy with the results. However, i do expect my chest to take a more natural shape soon.

[somedude999]

I did upload some pre-op and 3days post-op pics. Have a look guys here
s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa431/scuba7/?action=view&current=3day-postop2.png&newest=1

At the moment, I am quite happy with the results. However, i do expect my chest to take a more natural shape soon.

Great result there mate. Mine looked exactly the same post op, will begin to look more natural in a month or so I'd say.

[scuba]

10 days after the op and here is an update of my progress so far.
I am really happy with the results at the moment. There is still some brushing (yellowish) but i ve got almost 90% of my arms movement back.
I haven't noticed any swelling yet. Do u think it is too early for that? I have read in Karidis post op notes that swelling peaks in day 4 after the op.
I have uploaded three photos to see how my chest looks at the moment. As you ll see, I still have the plasters on. How long did you guys leave the plasters on? I am thiking to remove then in a couple of days.

Here are the photos
Photo 1:
i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa431/scuba7/10day-postop1.jpg
Photo 2:
i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa431/scuba7/10day-postop2.jpg
Photo 3:
i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa431/scuba7/10day-postop3.png

What do u think guys?

[sawyer]

looks like a really good result mate nice and flat. i'd be over the moon if i get a similar result

[fingerit]

I dunno mate, I think its probably too early for swelling, I think for me (not that I noticed that much swelling) it was around the time when the bruising was settling down. Ultimately its going to be different for everyone since not everyone reacts the same way to surgery.

I cant remember now, have a look through my post dude, I think the plaster started to get a bit soggy after a few days due to showering so I took them off and just left them off apart from sticking more on when I went in the shower, I did that for a few days until I felt that they didnt really need covering. You only really need them on if the wounds havent closed up and mine closed up pretty quick. I did leave the little gauze strips over the incisions though but thats only because I was too much of a wuss to peel them off. Think I left them on for about 10 days in total.

I would just play it by ear, if you take them off you still have some spares to replace them. I just thought that the air would do the healing good if they were closed up, I dont like wearing plasters anyway since the skin gets all wrinkly and clammy underneath.