First time consultation in 30 years of my life

[cutemarty1]

SO finally today I did it.  I had a consultation with Dr. Michael Newman at Torrance in California.  

I have been living in fear for the last 10 years! In college I could never take my shirt off or go to the beach!  I always have to wear loose clothing or shirts with prints. I  always have to put band-aid on my nips to hide them in my shirts ---like a man bra.

At work, the girls always like to touch my chest so I had to flex them right before quickly --- or else. soft breast tissue is felt.

The surgery cost will be 5500.  He said he will try submitting  the photos he took to my insurance. Praying it gets approved. Praying hard.  Or else, have to take Carecredit for this procedure.

I always wanted to bathe at the beach but have been so scared of this dilemma.

Two weeks for pre-authorization! argh....

Before, when my weight crashed to 155, I could swim at least --- not too much fat in my chest area but still the areolas were big!

MD said incision with lipo plus gland removal.  Drains
for the first week due to glad removal. Am scared!

[TigerPaws]

SO finally today I did it.  I had a consultation with Dr. Michael Newman at Torrance in California.  

I have been living in fear for the last 10 years! In college I could never take my shirt off or go to the beach!  I always have to wear loose clothing or shirts with prints. I  always have to put band-aid on my nips to hide them in my shirts ---like a man bra.

At work, the girls always like to touch my chest so I had to flex them right before quickly --- or else. soft breast tissue is felt.

The surgery cost will be 5500.  He said he will try submitting  the photos he took to my insurance. Praying it gets approved. Praying hard.  Or else, have to take Carecredit for this procedure.

I always wanted to bathe at the beach but have been so scared of this dilemma.

Two weeks for pre-authorization! argh....

Before, when my weight crashed to 155, I could swim at least --- not too much fat in my chest area but still the areolas were big!

MD said incision with lipo plus gland removal.  Drains
for the first week due to glad removal. Am scared!

Good luck. To be honest you need to be far more than frightened; you should be terrified, you are about to cut holes and remove parts of your body that are healthy. Unlike a tumor or and hot appendix gyn will not physically harm you, surgery carries many risks from server scaring to death. No matter how experienced the surgeon accidents happen, you could have a reaction to the anesthetic and die or become permanently brain damaged. You could wind up with a sever infection leaving your immune system compromised leading to pneumonia which is one of the leading causes of post surgical complications and death.

As with anything the choice is yours, honestly "if" you do decide to go through with surgery, I wish you be best of success simply understand the risks you are taking for a purely cosmetic result that may not work or last.       

[cutemarty1]

Tigerpaws : yes, you scared me with your post.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Although Tiger Paws is certainly entitled to his opinion, I would differ quite strenuously.

Gynecomastia surgery is one of the safest operations that are performed.  In the hands of an experienced surgeon and anesthesiologist, the results are usually quite good to excellent.

If you are motivated to have surgery for your gyne, then do your homework and choose the best and most experienced surgeon available.  You should end up healthy and with a really nice chest.

Good luck!

Dr Jacobs

[Chicago]

Its just like the stock market. What is your risk tolerance?

Some people have died from the anethesia at the DENTIST, but we think of it as a relatively benign and easy procedure to have something like your wisdom teeth extracted.

Most times, everyone at least lives through the procedure. however, there is a reason why each one of the doctors has to carry malpractice insurance (and that is regardless of their skill and history). Humans err, Humans make mistakes, even the most talented and educated among us.

I know my risk tolerance, and its not very high. I dont even let our pets go under anesthesia for teeth cleanings and other "normal" procedures.
 

[greatlakes]

cutemarty1,

You made the first step towards surgery. Congrats! You will be fine. Common over to the surgery sections (prep area) this site to get some high fives!

As you may have noticed from some of the responses there are two main camps of guys here - 1) Acceptance  and 2) Surgery.  Both are helpful depending on which direction a man will take with his gynecomastia and you can get plenty of support with either decision.

[TigerPaws]

Although Tiger Paws is certainly entitled to his opinion, I would differ quite strenuously.

Gynecomastia surgery is one of the safest operations that are performed.  In the hands of an experienced surgeon and anesthesiologist, the results are usually quite good to excellent.

If you are motivated to have surgery for your gyne, then do your homework and choose the best and most experienced surgeon available.  You should end up healthy and with a really nice chest.

Good luck!

Dr Jacobs

Sir I am not here to argue with you, and while you are correct in your statement that "Gynecomastia surgery is one of the safest operations" it is still surgery which carries certain risks, some of which I enumerated. We are still talking about cosmetic surgery, not something that is going to threaten your life or your health. Much like breast augmentation this is a feel good about yourself surgical procedure that requires the removal of a normal healthy part of the human body for no medical reason other than to "hopefully" allow someone to feel good about themselves which is by definition a psychological issue.

While there are legitimate medical reasons to preform a Mastectomy (which is after all what we are talking about when the breast gland is removed from a man or a woman) one should not minimize the risks for a purely cosmetic surgical procedure. Personally I have known men and women who have undergone what was characterized as a "simple and safe" procedure who never made it off of the operating table or out of recovery and I really dislike funerals.

I understand that you and the other physicians who support this forum (which is greatly appreciated) are in the business of performing this and other surgical procedures. That said the risks are very real and need to explain in detail what those risks are so a person is able to make an intelligent, informed opinion is imperative.  

[hojo1234]

Just doing more reading before surgery and felt a strong desire to say this- Hey TigerPaws, shutup.

[tpuk]

SO finally today I did it.  I had a consultation with Dr. Michael Newman at Torrance in California. 

I have been living in fear for the last 10 years! In college I could never take my shirt off or go to the beach!  I always have to wear loose clothing or shirts with prints. I  always have to put band-aid on my nips to hide them in my shirts ---like a man bra.

At work, the girls always like to touch my chest so I had to flex them right before quickly --- or else. soft breast tissue is felt.

The surgery cost will be 5500.  He said he will try submitting  the photos he took to my insurance. Praying it gets approved. Praying hard.  Or else, have to take Carecredit for this procedure.

I always wanted to bathe at the beach but have been so scared of this dilemma.

Two weeks for pre-authorization! argh....

Before, when my weight crashed to 155, I could swim at least --- not too much fat in my chest area but still the areolas were big!

MD said incision with lipo plus gland removal.  Drains
for the first week due to glad removal. Am scared!

Good luck. To be honest you need to be far more than frightened; you should be terrified, you are about to cut holes and remove parts of your body that are healthy. Unlike a tumor or and hot appendix gyn will not physically harm you, surgery carries many risks from server scaring to death. No matter how experienced the surgeon accidents happen, you could have a reaction to the anesthetic and die or become permanently brain damaged. You could wind up with a sever infection leaving your immune system compromised leading to pneumonia which is one of the leading causes of post surgical complications and death.

As with anything the choice is yours, honestly "if" you do decide to go through with surgery, I wish you be best of success simply understand the risks you are taking for a purely cosmetic result that may not work or last.       

@ Tigerpaws - you are not exactly risk-averse ! Being a solder has certain obvious risks. Maybe somebody could describe why another career would be safer & why one should not join the forces.

Its all down the the individual.

I say go for it.

The risks are not what they used to be in many ways.

re; the scarring I only had 2 tiny incisions under each armpit - it would hardly matter if there was scarring...the incision points are more or less invisible.

[about2change]

Tigerprawns- shut the f*** UP! Why are you on this forum? You should be helping people out and not  attempting to scare them to death! moron.

good luck cutemarty1