Surgery with Levick COMPLETE (29-08-12) <pre and post op pics posted>

[adamj]

Friday 26th October it comes off for me and knives too, and it's payday too! CANNOT WAIT!

[darkstar]

Ok so I went out for the first run since the op today, as I think I left it long enough. I was a bit apprehensive, as I had an image of waking up the next day swollen.

I waited until it was dark, as I've always ran in the day, apart from the winter time. I ran in the light during the winter, because it was cold, and I could wear skin tight thermals and have a relatively flat chest. I could feel like a man for that hour or so, and felt great. But as I'm very out of shape, I thought I'd stick to not being noticed today!

Changed into my gear, including skin tight thermal and had another feel good moment. I was looking in the mirror and had a new wave of relief the gyno has gone. I was becoming used to it, until now.

I went out intending to go a mile at a slow pace, but just felt great so kept on going for a few more, I'm shattered now but the freedom running gives is something I've missed. It can improve your mood every time. I've been in a habit in the past few weeks of going out drinking then staying in my dorm room working most of the day, and repeat. Not good for the mindset.

I've uploaded a pic of me pushing my chest out in the top before I ran.

So yeah, a very positive post

[wingman]

Great news mate, looking great in the running gear.

How did the run go physically? Was it hard work as you haven't done exercise in over a month?

[darkstar]

Cheers man. It wasn't as bad as I first though, think I was on a bit of a high. Speed wasn't great but ran about 3.5 miles. So if I give any advice at all, it would be not to worry about losing fitness, as the impact wont be as bad as you think. The recovery gained from not doing too much is more important.

[sjwsjw]

Awesome mate, i miss running. I got a Ballot place in the last London Marathon (april 12) but i had a bad ankle ligament injury so had to pull out of that. They let you enter the next years one if you pay if you have to pull out because of injury and i was going to run it and get this op done after but i couldn't face the thought of running that distance with my gyno in my mind for that distnace with that many people around lol, even with compression tops. Thats what made me see how important it was to get this sorted asap and not be held back anymore.

I have a consultation with Karadis on 15th Oct wanna try get the op done asap after that all being well
Good luck with the running and healing, looking forward to being where you are myself!

[adamj]

Congrats sjwsjw, that's the big leap. Once you have the consultation you're flying from there. 1 week tomorrow too! I originally thought that you had to wait months for Kara to have a free slot but I went in for my consultation on the 3rd and managed to book the surgery on the 29th, but I think I could have got earlier if I'd wanted. So yeh, you'll be sorted in no time at all, it all happens very quickly! Karadis is a great guy too, nothing to worry about at all. He has a really swanky studio now too, it's a bit surreal when you're in there because he's actually a plastic surgeon at the end of the day so it's mainly middle-aged women in there getting different stuff done. I was the only guy. It takes like 15 mins max and he'll just show you pics of successful ops and then ask you to take your shirt off and have a look and feel of your case. He will also give a little info on the procedure and answer any questions you may have. £75 seems scandalous but apparently it goes to charity, and at the end of the day money is just money. To to live without gyne consistently on your conscience for the rest of your life it's worth every penny, i'm sure most will agree. I am truly delighted I got it done, makes such a difference. I'm not going to lie, recovery is a massive pain in the arse and is dragging, but again worth it.

How much is the marathon by the way? Fancy that, especially now I can run and not worry about people looking at my chest bobble up and down!

How long did you wait to run darkstar, over a month? I'm considering going for a jog next weekend, that'll be about 2 and a bit weeks. The nurse said jogging after 2 weeks should be fine I think, might call and ask anyway though. I've eaten very badly this weekend too, can't wait to do some exercise! Going to try and limit my diet to 1800 cals to try and not pack on too much fat this week. Looking forward to the gym so much.

[sjwsjw]

Totally Adam, tbh when i was first looking into this i was expecting to have to pay more. Im not rich by any means but i've lived with this for half my life (12 years), its cost me more then any amount of money could replace, its a constant issue that plays in my head (not that i need to tell anyone here that but its impossible to tell anyone that hasn't had this whats its like, the best thing about this forum for sure). If i could get in that quick amazing.

Yea i can understand that the healing must be frustrating after finally feeling free of the gyno but a year to heal to full is just part of the price of being free from it i guess

The marathon only cost £32 and you only have to pay that if you get accepted via the ballot (you have to apply on the offical website, normally the day after the marathon is on, have to be quick tho they stop taking applications after 250k entries and that can be as quick as hours). You can enter via a charity place if you can guarantee normally like £1k+ donation if you are able to do that you can contact the charities

[darkstar]

How long did you wait to run darkstar, over a month? I'm considering going for a jog next weekend, that'll be about 2 and a bit weeks. The nurse said jogging after 2 weeks should be fine I think, might call and ask anyway though. I've eaten very badly this weekend too, can't wait to do some exercise! Going to try and limit my diet to 1800 cals to try and not pack on too much fat this week. Looking forward to the gym so much.

I waited 5 weeks, but could have gone back much earlier to be honest. It was just a combination of worrying, spending the first week without the bandages off with my best mates who were off traveling for a year, then moving into uni halls and a heavy workload from day 1. But now I wish I'd have started a week ago because of the endorphins, but that's life

[darkstar]

Awesome mate, i miss running. I got a Ballot place in the last London Marathon (april 12) but i had a bad ankle ligament injury so had to pull out of that. They let you enter the next years one if you pay if you have to pull out because of injury and i was going to run it and get this op done after but i couldn't face the thought of running that distance with my gyno in my mind for that distnace with that many people around lol, even with compression tops. Thats what made me see how important it was to get this sorted asap and not be held back anymore.

I have a consultation with Karadis on 15th Oct wanna try get the op done asap after that all being well
Good luck with the running and healing, looking forward to being where you are myself!

I think you've made the right decision man, the number of people lining the street for the marathon is crazy, you'd feel much better if you can feel comfortable. I ran a half marathon and was shot by the end, would need to commit more if doing a full one.

In the future I'd love to complete a half ironman, and maybe even full one. Lot of dedication and training involved though!

Congrats on booking the consultation, you'll be on the other side in no time

[sjwsjw]

True darkstar, it just feels like i would have been putting other things in my life on hold just for the sake of running too, i miss the training but that can start after this and i think i will enjoy it even more. I've found that since i've booked my consultation i've felt even more aware of my gyno too so i wanna try get a date asap if all goes well.

Nice, btw where'd you do the half marathon? Ironman is crazy, but then i've never felt that comfortable with swimming so i guess thats why i'd find that part too hard atm

[darkstar]

I ran it in Liverpool when I was an undergrad. Didn't do enough training though, finished in 1:49ish. The swimming section and cycling section of the Ironman would come more easily to me than the running, not sure why but I'm not not naturally good when it comes to running.

[darkstar]

Small update. I was on a drinking session last night with some rugby lads. Whilst out, had a game that involved downing a pint followed by press ups. I went with it and was lucky in that I only had to do 10 press up total. Chest felt fine and woke up today and no change in the chest. I won't be making a habit of it and tbf, I was only doing military press ups, so hands close together, meaning it's mostly triceps. But good to know that in a week or so, when I'll be hitting the gym hard, it should be ok.

Been running again since as well, in the rain. felt great.

[adamj]

Haha what a nightmare scenario. Good job you're a fair way in! Can't imagine what it would have been like saying no to a group of pissed up rugby lads! Congrats on being able to go to the gym soon. I feel like a right fat lazy bastard at the moment not being able to do anything and making excuses for anything remotely physical.

[darkstar]

*6 weeks 4 days post-op*

Just a quick update to log that today I had my first heavy workout (not including running). I've started P90X again, which is what got me in half decent shape before the surgery. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a 90 day DVD workout regime. It sounds easy. It sounds like it's similar to the celeb workout DVDs you see advertised around christmas time. It's not, it's actually pretty brutal. Monday is Chest and Back so I was doing different types of push-ups and pull-ups with a few free weight stuff mixed in.

I didn't feel in any discomfort through the whole session (I only did one round, instead of two) apart from the initial stretching. I've lost a lot of strength, but think I should be back to where I was pre-op within 6 weeks.

[Nipper]

Keep us posted mate, itching to get back to it myself but only 4 weeks today so easing back into a bit cardio indoors on my turbo trainer for now.