Consultation with Levick on 14/08/12 - Op carried out 23/08/12 - Recovery

[kingboob]

What particular risks are you worried about? Theres always risks with surgery but i'm sure its a minimal risk. Theres risks with everything in life!

I'm bricking it about the GA, never had it before and it worries me more than anything else about the whole thing!

I've had a GA loads of times now (10+) and yet every time I seem to get even MORE nervous than before. Very recently I had surgery with Levick on .. a minor revision with a bit of fat grafting and it all went well.

All I can say is it is normal to be nervous but nothing bad will happen. You will stay asleep while he is operating and wake up when they want you to! 

The anesthetist will come around to your room prior to surgery and you will be able to discuss any concerns then.  The most nerve racking part is just before surgery when he does the marking in the room next door the theatre - it is all a bit cold / clinical and the reality of having surgery tends to kick in right about then!

Apart from that it is fine, you will wake up and feel a bit dozy and away with it for a few hours but after a good nights sleep you will feel fairly normal...although a bit sore obviously.

Having drains out isn't necessarily painful  but it can feel a bit odd and might make you a bit queasy or light headed if you watch them actually pull the tubes out (they are shockingly long and go in a fair way!).

[covfefe]

The consultation went well, and I am still proceeding for surgery on the 23rd.

If you do go for a consultation at the Priory, my top tip would be take at least a £1 coin, otherwise you will be deprived of vital coffee. The lack of caffeine was the most painful part of the whole experience.

You will arrive at the consultation suite, speak to a receptionist who will take a copy of your credit card details and take some brief details from you. You will then be shown to a waiting room, where there is a coffee machine - which is 50p a pop, wrong of me to think that a £100 consultation would come with a free coffee! You will then be taken to another consultation room, in both of these rooms is a real mix of people, without a peroxide blonde "dancer" type in either, I was wrong with my pre-conceptions of cosmetic surgery.

Gail will come and collect you and ask you to fill out a comprehensive medical questionnaire, you will then return to the waiting room for a few minutes until you meet the main man himself. Paul was very kind, understanding and willing to answer all of the questions I had. He spent a good 15 minutes explaining the procedure, with a physical examination, before and after photos and showing the instrument used in the procedure.
All in all, a far more pleasant experience than I was expecting. Roll on the 23rd!

[Btgl88]

First time poster! Just emailed them for a consultation! After reading for months and reading about levicks  through the armpit removal - I'm in! (he says with a brave face)

Please do keep us updated on it all - seeing as I want Levick to do mine.

Thanks

[covfefe]

Will keep everyone updated don't worry.

5 days to go, excited, anxious - proper mixed bag of feelings right now.
Just hoping that it all turns out well in the end and that I don't get a large amount of scar tissue afterwards. Fingers crossed, I suppose I've done the best I can in selected one of the best two surgeons in the country for this procedure.

Any suggestions for things to take with me on the day are most welcome at this point, any words of encouragement would also help me out I think. I know on Wednesday I'm really going to be bricking it.

[kingboob]

Will keep everyone updated don't worry.

5 days to go, excited, anxious - proper mixed bag of feelings right now.
Just hoping that it all turns out well in the end and that I don't get a large amount of scar tissue afterwards. Fingers crossed, I suppose I've done the best I can in selected one of the best two surgeons in the country for this procedure.

Any suggestions for things to take with me on the day are most welcome at this point, any words of encouragement would also help me out I think. I know on Wednesday I'm really going to be bricking it.

I don't think you need to take a whole lot...but dressing gown and slippers to walk down to theatre in is a good idea and obviously take loose comfortable clothes for the return trip.  Not a bad idea to take a spare shirt/boxers just in case you should have any oozing post-op (unlikely). 

Take something to read (magazine that doesn't require any thought is ideal) because if you are one of the last on the list you could end up sitting around waiting to go down until 3pm or whatever.   As you are having a GA you will be nil-by-mouth from whatever time they state on the letter (usually like 8am ish for early admission?), so personally I always make sure I'm awake early enough to drink a few large glasses of water before the cut-off time stated.... otherwise I can get very thirsty/dehydrated if last on the list and not had anything since the night before! 

 
Hope that makes sense.   

Also, you don't have to shave but if you are very hairy the bandages can give you a surprisingly painful waxing experience when coming off.....

[covfefe]

Think I'm in theater at 10ish

[kingboob]

Think I'm in theater at 10ish

Yes... but he isn't known for running on time in my experience ;-). 

[covfefe]

Think I'm in theater at 10ish

Yes... but he isn't known for running on time in my experience ;-). 

Did you have surgery with Levick? If so are you pleased with the results?

Thanks

[covfefe]

One and a half days to go, excited and anxious still... Just hoping all goes well. Will post once I've had it done.

[IT100]

Hey, I did, way back in 2003! Results were great, and never looked back since. Not logged into here for years, but suddenly thought about it and came to have a look around.

I had one sided gyne, which first developed in my teens, but not enough to think about surgery, but then it got much bigger in my early 20's in a fairly short space of time. Imagine a golf ball sized lump under one nipple with associated extra fat etc. If you do a search on my name, you will probably find "My Diary" I think I called it. Which was a comprehensive run through of my experience.

Levick was great. In fact I made the 4 hr round trip back to Birmingham for a follow up consultation for no better reason than to say thank you and show him how well he'd done!

I even kind of enjoyed the surgery, felt quite evangelical about it afterwards! Was pretty tender afterwards, but you will certainly be able to get back to an office job after a week. It took me a while to be able to fully raise my arms above my head again though. (because it pulls the skin around the arm pits)

If you have any questions, happy to answer them!

E

[covfefe]

Just read your diary, made me feel loads calmer... cheers

Will post pics once I'm "Done".

[darkstar]

Best of luck Fackste, Ill be a week behind you!

[covfefe]

All done - 40g gland each side and 400cc fat (approximate)
Currently sat in bed watching hairy bikers, will do full update when I'm home tomorrow.

[improving]

Great stuff well done mate. Look forward to your updates !

[covfefe]

So I've just got home, and feel pretty good considering what my body has been though.

Had surgery at approx 11am yesterday and cannot fault the nursing staff, or any other members of the Priory team that I had contact with. The nurses are incredibly friendly and I built a decent rapport with a couple that were looking after me. One of the male nurses (charge nurse can't remember his name) built me a "throne" out of pillows which caused much laughter from one of the female nurses.

Good choice of food as well, had pizza for lunch and curry for dinner, but couldn't eat the curry as I was feeling quite nauseous at the time (managed the apple pie though - yum!).

Over all its really nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, the only bit that's bother me the most is the difficulty I've had passing urine, but apparently this is quite common and should pass (already seems to be easing). The aesthetic seems to have cause me to feel quite drowsy as well (still) but apparently this will pass as well.

Mr Levick said the operation had been a roaring success and showed me some photos of the gland and lipo removed, apparently 40g of gland from each side and 400cc of fat, so I imagine this is quite a bit?
I feel a bit tender today but nowhere near as bad as I thought I would.

Roll on the next few weeks of healing!