Possible non candidate?

[shaknbake]

I have never really given this much thought as to whether or not it would affect my chances of being turned down for surgery until I recently read another post from a man turned down because of a medication he had to take.  I can only assume in his case, the medication he was on would have caused excessive bleeding, and / or clotting issues.  My situation is totally different.

In 2005, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Multi-Focal Motor Neuropathy (MMN).  It is a rare, but treatable disease which causes my immune system to go into hyper drive and attack my own nervous system by stripping the mylen coating from around my nerve endings (pretty much restricted to the extremities) which in turn cause a "short circuit" of sorts.   These "short circuits" cause weakness and sometimes partial paralysis in the affected areas.  As mentioned before though, luckily for me, this is a treatable disease.  Every 3 weeks (for the rest of my life) I go to the hospital for 85g of IVIG.  It takes about 4 1/2 hours to administer at a rate of 225 ml/ hr.  Since IVIG can possibly affect the kidneys when taken over very long periods of time, I have bloodwork done every 3 months to keep an eye on things (which comes back perfect every time....knock on wood).  While it really REALLY sucks to have to do this, it's better than the alternative!  The IVIG regulates my immune system back to normal levels allowing my nervous system to regenerate and repair the mylen on the damages nerves.  It's weird though,  you get better after the treatment, then slowly worse again as the next treatment date approaches.   BUT - I still work every day and lead a normal life with my wife and daughter, so I really can't complain.  I'm so normal in fact, that if I didn't tell anyone I had an issue, no one would ever know.  I'm also very fortunate to live here in Canada and have the medication paid for because it is very expensive ($100 / gram @ 85 grams = $8500 every 3 weeks for life!).  Needless to say, I am very grateful to even be able to have it done!

So, after a little history of my situation, it brings us back to the original point (sorry for being long winded).  Will my auto-immune disease or IVIG medication have any affect on the possibility of having gynecomastia surgery?

If you have any further questions about my medication or auto-immune disorder, let me know.  Since 2005, I've made it a point to become very well informed on the issue, and should be able to answer anything else you may need to know.  Thank you all very much for being here to answer such questions, I really appreciate the professional advice!

[shaknbake]

No one wanted to touch this one eh?    No problem.  Most docs haven't even heard about my condition (my own GP included!  At least until me that is), so I understand why none here wanted to risk answering.  Turns out my worries were for nothing.  Seems that as long as the medication does not affect healing or blood clotting at all, it shouldn't be a problem.  I was given the o.k, and booked my surgery for just after the New Year.    Thanks anyways, cheers!

[Litlriki]

I recall early in my practice, I had a patient with a neurological disorder associated with gynecomastia, and I treated him for his gynecomastia, as it was painful and fairly severe.  He was in his 50s. I can't recall the details, but there was no issue as far as doing the procedure, and in your case, as long as you have normal bleeding parameters, there is no reason not to treat the gynecomastia after clearance by your medical doctor.  So sorry for the slow response...Busy time of the year.  Good luck with your surgery.

Rick Silverman

[shaknbake]

Haha, no problem Dr. Silverman!  I appreciate the response.  While researching my condition online, I have read some papers where the odd doctor had noted gynecomastia as being present while diagnosing the disorder, but I don't really know that it was relevant or not.  In either case, the disease is not hereditary, and cannot be passed on to anyone via blood contact etc.  The treatment does not affect blood clotting or healing in any way, so for that I am thankful.  If your patient with a similar disorder had good results with gyne surgery, hopefully I can get the same.  Thank you again for responding!