My Recovery Experience

[Pearlsnap]

I will be providing regular updates on my recovery and hopefully it helps others the same way I have been helped by this website.

About me: 29 yrs old, 6'4, 210 lbs. 

I developed gyne when i was a little kid. I remember being terrified of cancer when i was little and finding a lump in my chest. I was convinced i was dying. The dr told me it was normal and it would go away. But then it didnt.

Gyne hasnt totally dominated my life like some others here. Ive had plenty of success with women but I'm not convinced some have been turned off because they thought i was lazy and could get rid of it by working out more. Few people have ever commented on it. Being skins in basketball back in high school brought on a couple teases but nothing too serious. Thats about when i started being self consious. Of course i didint know what it was then.

Then in college i was in very good shape. I had a firm stomach and was lifting weights regularly. Everything looked great but my chest. I began wearing collared shirts under shirts to cover it up (thank god that look was stylish). Id also keep my hands on my backpack straps up by my chest to hide it more. My roommate in college drew a stick figure picture of me and him and the girls upstairs, one of whom i thought i was in love with. I found the picture and they had drawn the man boobs on me. That one hurt.   Aside from that, occasionally a friend or a girl will hold out their hand - palm up -  and do a sort of lifting motion under a moob. One guy did it somewhat frequently until i knocked is hand away and told him to quit doing that shit.

In a way, gyne hasnt been that rough for me (as described above). But at the same time, I feel like it has defined a large part of my life. For example, i claim that i hate swimming and the beach. Who really hates the beach? I'd love to go to the beach for a weekend during hot NYC summers.

I decided only about a month ago that i would have the surgery. I set up a consultation, scheduled the surgery for may 31st and then waited. I only did one consultation because Dr. Jacobs' office is very convenient for me. I walked to the surgery this morning.

I was a little nervous but everyone in their office is great. Dr Jacobs did his lypo technique and made small incisions under my nipples to get what he needed to. When i woke up i got a peak at my chest. It was flat, which felt amazing. My nipples suddenly looked normal. Good even. But at this point my chest was a mess covered with all that brown fluid they use. It looked pretty gross but the shape and the flatness looked amazing.

My biggest concern in this ordeal is the chest strap thing. It's just as uncomfortable as i imagined and it's a tight son of a bitch. I tried on t shirts and polos and you can definitely tell im wearing something. I dont wear baggy clothes, which may explain the difference. It is also digging up into my arm pit. Hopefully tomorrow it is better.

Pain is moderate. I took some tylenol but i probably didnt need it. I have a surprisingly good range of motion without pain as well.

The biggest surprise so far is a feeling of depression and anxiety. I think this is a side effect of anastesia. I tried watching tv, movies, and playing video games. Nothing is appealing. Im hopeful this will improve tomorrow too.

I know from experience that these threads often die off because those with good results move on with their life. I will do my best to update this frequntly at first and then periodically after a month.

 

     

[cduub]

Thanks Man!! Im interested in hearing your whole recovery because we need it.

[Pearlsnap]

On Day 2 now.

I was told I would feel much better the day after surgery and I do. Sleeping on my back was a little difficult but I feel pretty good today. I'm not that sore but sore enough to where my arms hang funny and dont swing naturally when I walk. I pulled the strap down a little to take pressure off my armpits. 

Today I will hang around the apartment. Maybe go buy another underarmour shirt in white. I can take off the bandages and shower tomorrow. 

The strap thing around my chest has some blood stains on it. I guess it's ok to remove this thing for 30-40 minutes to wash it. Probably wait until monday to do that.

It's a pretty neat feeling waking up and not being frustrated with gyne and having to figure out what to wear to best cover it up. Now i just have to cover up a strap but at least its flat.   

[papashango9]

The first 10 days are the worst then after that the bruising and pain are pretty much gone, but your nipples still feel numb and tender at the same time, and 2 weeks in scar tissue will probably show up if you got areola excision. It feels like the nipples are huge but they dont look that way, just a feeling. But the vest feels really uncomfortable for the first week then you will get used to it, then around the house you will actually like the feeling. Feels vulnerable otherwise. I am 22 days in...

[Pearlsnap]

On day 3.

Sleeping is rather difficult. My back was killing me and it was hard to find a comfortable position. Anyone know how long before you can sleep on your side?

I took the bandages off for the first time this morning. That is probably the most painful part of the experience since the tape was stuck to armpit and chest hair.

My chest is flat but the small amount of swelling and the bruising/dried blood doesnt make it look good. After my shower i tried on a few shirts before putting the underarmour and wrap back on. It looked great and im excited to be done with healing.

I got the wrap back on ok although i couldnt get it as tight as the nurse did. My only concern thus far is the amount of swelling thats directly above where the wrap is. Its like the wrap pushes all the swelling upwards and it rolls over the wrap on my upper chest.

I have to go back to work monday or tuesday and im stressing about the wrap in general. This thing flat out sucks and it is cheap. Seems like they gave zero consideration to the fact that you have to wear shirts over this thing. This surgery is much more convenient in winter since it would be easier to cover up.

I dont think im going to be able to wear this for 4 weeks.   

[blanks77]

I just had surgery on May 23rd. Yeah, the compression vest is brutal at first. For the first week, it felt quite tight and uncomfortable. I was waking up at night with terrible back pain. But after the first week, somehow it got more comfortable. No more back pain or anything. I don't know, maybe it stretched out a bit. Hang in there, it will get better.

[papashango9]

Yea the back pain was awful for a week. Then itchiness real bad for 5 days. Then swelling and scar tissue which hasn't gone away

[Pearlsnap]

Day 5

Today was my first check up. I'm hardly sore at all today.

As everyone in this thread told me, im slowly getting used to the binder. I still dont want to wear it for another 25 days but ill make it work. I keep spending money on different ways to cope with the binder. I ordered 2 v neck under armour shirts and a vest from north face that i can wear to and home from work.

I had my check up today and it was very encouraging. I have quite the bruise but that should clear up in a week or two. I was told the swelling should start going down soon - which i was pleased to hear because im already happy with how flat my chest is. Knowing that it will only get flatter from here on out is just frosting on the cake.

I was also told that after the swelling goes down the scar tissue will start to form and will solidify. Im not too concerned with that. Im just happy it will be as flat or flatter as it is now.

The two scars on my sides where the lipo deal went in are really small and in such an odd location that the scarring (if there is any) will be of very little concern. It's too soon at this point to think about the scars from the excisions under my areolas. They seem to be right on the edges of my areolas so i think they'll likely blend in. Plus my chest is hairy enough you likely wont be able to see them. Even if you can see the scars, thats a very small price to pay.

Overall I'm very happy with my results. And after learning today that it will only get better...im absolutely thrilled. I chose Dr. Jacobs because i didnt want to have regrets should something go wrong and Im so happy i did. His staff and anastesiologist are great too.

I'm so happy with my results that I feel like I dont need this site anymore. This is where people with good results usually disappear and we're all left with posts by people that have had something go wrong or something happened that they didnt expect. However, Ill continue to post updates which will hopefully benefit someone in the future looking for an example of things gone right.
     

[Z31T]

This is really encouraging to read through, thanks for posting. I'm having my surgery with Dr. Jacobs on the 12th and I'm hoping I have a similar experience.

[Pearlsnap]

Day 10

Here are a few updates.  Chest still feels tender but it doesnt hurt. Id say around day 7 i could start sleeping on my side a little. Sleeping quit being difficult around day 7 or 8.

Im still bruised below my chest. Some of the bruise is still red but its starting to fade. I may have bruising for another 7 to 10 days. The areola incision sites dont seem like theyre healing as fast as i thought they would. I suppose it has only been 10 days though. I would expect by day 20 the wounds will have mostly healed.

 

[Hi_Top_Guy]

I found it easier to sleep on my side by doubling up on my pillows. I've got two Tempur Pedic pillows and when I use them one on top of the other, the raised position helps me sleep comfortably on my side.

Keep updating. I'm going to have to do that, too. I'm almost at the two week mark.

[Pearlsnap]

Today is Day 19. I haven't updated this for a while because after a week or so there really isn't much to say.  Most of the bruising and swelling starts to fade, you're not as uncomfortable and it stops feeling like a big deal. 

At this point all of my bruising has gone away.  I can't really tell if I have any swelling and if I do it isn't that bad.  When I remove the strap my skin is indented so I can't get a great sense of what my chest looks like.  I am still happy with the results though.

The two spots on my side where the lipo thing went in are small red dots at this point.  They sort of blend in with other marks I have on my body and if you're concerned about surgery because of these scars I would tell you not to be.  The arealoa excision scars are healing up nicely. Every day they look better and I am guessing I'll stop covering them with band-aids and neosporin in 3 or 4 days.  My Dr. told me to wear the strap for 4 weeks.  Friday will be Day 23 and I'll likely spend Friday night and the weekend without the strap since I have a female guest from out of town staying with me over the weekend.  I'll probably resume wearing it Monday - Friday if I feel like I need it.  I feel like I don't need it anymore right now so I feel comfortable removing it in 5 days.

One surprising difference from a psychological perspective is that I'm not as embarrassed about it as I thought I would be and I even told a handful of friends.  A couple of them said they had it when they were younger but it went away, and one has it currently but I have seen him without a shirt on and it's not bad.  Anyway, most of them made the comment that they would have had the surgery too. A couple of them did kind of laugh at first but once they saw I wasn't laughing they quit.  I'm sure it's just because they're not quite sure how to react to such a thing.  Anyway, all of them said they never noticed I had it - which just means I hid it well.  I'm obviously not comfortable telling everyone about it though (I didn't tell any female friends).

One of the worst parts about this experience is that I only have a few shirts that effectively cover up the strap and I am very sick of wearing them for everything outside of work.

I'll check back next week after the strap comes off.  I'm really looking forward to giving that update.

[Pearlsnap]

I had my surgery exactly 4 weeks ago today.  I was supposed to wear the strap for the entire 4 weeks but I took it off last Friday (around day 23 I think).  I was going to resume wearing it this week but didn't feel like it and I didn't think I needed it. I did sleep in it last night just to see if it would make any difference and I don't think it did.  My chest is still pretty tender though.  My  friend slapped my chest this weekend when we were joking around and it stung a lot. But it gets better and better each day. 

There is some slight swelling still but I don't think I have the scar tissue problems that I heard so much about.  That may still be in my future though. I had my shirt off a lot while my female friend stayed with me this weekend and as far as I could tell she did not notice anything. You would have to look pretty closely I think.

Since it has been 4 weeks I can also start working out again.  I am missing the motivation a little bit right now but I'm looking forward to getting in shape and not getting discouraged because the gyne doesn't go away.  It was always a feeling of "what's the point?". I'll probably go for a run tonight and see if I can force myself back into some motivation.

I'm not sure what else I will have to update folks on in the future. I think the vast majority of my healing is complete at this point. Maybe I'll give an update in a month or so.  I do check the forum with some regularity so feel free to ask questions if you have any.