8th November Op date with Karidis ( NEW PICS )

[Mickydubs]

7-8 week Post Op
Well i'm now 7 1/2 week post-op and would be a little bit disapointed if i'd not read through the many threads for guidance.
Even though i was expecting the ups and downs to kick in, when it does it knocks you back a little, anyway quick update.
Seems to be taking ages for the numbness / soreness in the chest area to wear off and is at its worst like a band across both nipple areas in the morning, or after lounging to whatch a movie, ( must be to do with the flat position ).
Nipples at times seem to be swolen and permanently erect and very sensitive even though they feal numb, pretty hard to explain really, just a weird fealing. Not sure weather pics will do justice.
When I raise my arms above my head I can feal all the scar tissue which has knitted together pulling from my nipple area to my armpit, kind of feals like a tendon/muscle, suppose with carrying a bit of excess for many years I'm just not used to the tight  fealing.
Started to get a bit of sagging under nipple area which is what I have read can happen on some of the threads, this would of worried me greatly if I'd not read up.
Not wore any kind of compression garment for a couple of weeks now, was using the Nike pro for a while whilst at work which gave you reasurance whilst doing manual tasks, feal great in t-shirts, fitted shirts etc, even with the swelling still doesn't feal anything like the old gyne coming back like some people have said.
Overall so far so good, worth every penny, no regrets what so ever !  ( well, exept why did I wait so long ? )     
 

[Mickydubs]

[Mickydubs]

[Swarley]

Hi Micky,
Pretty much exactly the same for me.
I think this is definitely the sh!t stage, where the swelling and scar tissue is at it's worst - but with a t shirt on it looks completely normal. I think we picked the perfect time of year to have the op - by the time it's warm enough to take your shirt off, the swelling and scar tissue will all have settled down.

[Mickydubs]

Hi Micky,
Pretty much exactly the same for me.
I think this is definitely the sh!t stage, where the swelling and scar tissue is at it's worst - but with a t shirt on it looks completely normal. I think we picked the perfect time of year to have the op - by the time it's warm enough to take your shirt off, the swelling and scar tissue will all have settled down.

Hi Swarley,
yep couldn't agree more with timing for op, think its definately gonna take 6 months and then anything up to 12 to feel back to normal, ie no scar tissue feeling / swelling etc.
Just so pleased we got it done when we did and realy looking forward to the summer.
Got my check up with Karidis on 13th Jan which is earliest I could make, but at least now I'm ready for the poking and prodding on the scar tissue, cheers mate.

[Bikkembergs]

Great attitude Micky. Many others seem to panic but you know exactly whats going on.

I can see what you mean, but as you say, it's been seen in many other threads too at this stage. Your overall chest shape is great, freedom of clothes must be awesome for you 

I'm hoping I'll be "ready" just in time for Summer too (jan 14th), cant wait 

[Mickydubs]

Great attitude Micky. Many others seem to panic but you know exactly whats going on.

I can see what you mean, but as you say, it's been seen in many other threads too at this stage. Your overall chest shape is great, freedom of clothes must be awesome for you 

I'm hoping I'll be "ready" just in time for Summer too (jan 14th), cant wait 

Cheers mate,
I try to take possibly the worst pics for vanity but best for showing the healing / swelling but its surprising how hard it is to get the swelling and sagging to show up on the pics, I suppose internal scaring is hard to show up on a pic, glad you could make it out.
Being able to pic up any t-shirt and not worry about the moob look is just awesome !!!
Yep you should be looking great for summer, think a safe bet for all seems to be 6mths, roll on the 14th mate.

[thetodd]

Dont feel disheartened I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, have i just wasted £4k?

looking at your  pre ops and post ops, the difference is huge! You are at the crap point of recovery and it will be like that for a while but it does even out! I found it harder to get it into my head that it my surgery was a success. There was a point just over a year ago that i was convinced that i needed kenalog shots despite people on here saying otherwise. I took a trip to London and heard it from the horses mouth and i just accepted it.

If you have the time id urge anyone to go back and see him. It may be a load of hassle getting down there, but its worth it!

[Bikkembergs]

Dont feel disheartened I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, have i just wasted £4k?

looking at your  pre ops and post ops, the difference is huge! You are at the crap point of recovery and it will be like that for a while but it does even out! I found it harder to get it into my head that it my surgery was a success. There was a point just over a year ago that i was convinced that i needed kenalog shots despite people on here saying otherwise. I took a trip to London and heard it from the horses mouth and i just accepted it.

If you have the time id urge anyone to go back and see him. It may be a load of hassle getting down there, but its worth it!

He told you that you didn't need the shots?

Edit: Just seen the latest photos from your thread, albeit a while ago, I cant see how you could possibly have thought that 

[Mickydubs]

Dont feel disheartened I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, have i just wasted £4k?

looking at your  pre ops and post ops, the difference is huge! You are at the crap point of recovery and it will be like that for a while but it does even out! I found it harder to get it into my head that it my surgery was a success. There was a point just over a year ago that i was convinced that i needed kenalog shots despite people on here saying otherwise. I took a trip to London and heard it from the horses mouth and i just accepted it.

If you have the time id urge anyone to go back and see him. It may be a load of hassle getting down there, but its worth it!

Had to look up Kenalog shots for the meaning mate, kind of guessed it was something for swelling but as Bikkembergs said can't see anything on your pics, just looks like you had a swelling free recovery which I know was not the case.
Really great thread mate, always there for reference.

[thetodd]

They are injections for keloid scar tissue its been so long since ive had it done i cant remember the exact time frames but once the swelling goes down you may be left with some scar tissue. You will know it when you have it because it just feels really hard to massage it!

Recovery is a weird thing, i can still remember the day after the op taking pictures and feeling great and a few months down the line just constantly thinking i was going to need revision surgery!

I went down to London last year full of rage to say i thought the revision process was a rip off. He just sat me down and asked me what i thought was wrong and after 10 minutes to talking to him it dawned on me that id been a bit of a male thingy over it, and i was just paranoid. At the end of the day he could of just said upto you, and i would of wasted my time getting shots and never been truly happy with the result. And he was the only person that could get that into my head, top bloke!

But anyway, ive gone off on a massive tangent here lol my point is if you ever have any doubts about the surgery go and see Karidis, hes worth his weight in gold honestly! And i reckon youl be healed up for summer!

[chopper]

Hey Micky all looks like it's healing perfectly 
I remember around week 6 the flat chest was gone and it was a bit of a mess with scar tissue and swelling for a month or two and then just as quickly as it all seemed to come out of no where it all disappeared just as fast except for a couple of small patches. One of the little patches has only just gone down completely and that took around 8 months. I don't think i have much more healing to do, the scar tissue is really small and no big deal at all, it's half the size of a frozen pea, probably a 1/4 of the size and doesn't make a single difference to the contour of my chest with my top off

Summer 2012 is coming boys!! I am so looking forward to this summer as im determined to be in the best possible shape i can be and once I pick up a tan, there will be no stopping me 

Happy New Year fellas

[Mickydubs]

Christ chopper, was looking at some old posts the other day and stumbled across one of your threads, think it was 8 or 9 pages back were you had before and after pics, bloody hell that is some weight loss on the september pic ?
Am gonna put a bit of effort in now and see what can be done mate. 

[sparta]

micky, how did your follow up appointment with karidis go?

[Mickydubs]

micky, how did your follow up appointment with karidis go?

Thanks for asking Sparta, went pretty well.
Decided to go down early with my wife and spend the full day in London knowing for sure it would only be an in and out thing, which it was.
Had follow up booked for 9.30am and was greeted on the dot by Dr. Karidis who was warm and welcoming as per usual.
Went in took coat off, his first reaction was your looking good in a t-shirt now lets see you with it off.
He said looking very good and had a press here and there,
said there was still swelling which I know because I can still feel it, said i had some scar tissue ( feels like hardish lumps ) which i need to keep massaging to get rid off.
Said i was very pleased with the results and he wants me to push the fitness and come back in May for some pics which is when he predicts I will be all healed, which is 6-7 mths from start to finnish.
Said I've always thought it was a 12mth thing so am happy overall with how it went, was in about 20mins which seems like his standard appointment time.
Great day in london, bloody cold though and the St Johns Wood escalator isnt working again for people having their op !!!!