Hey guys, (Warning Long Post)
Firstly wanted to say what a great help this forum has been in helping me go through with the surgery etc. Always knew I was going to have the surgery but with everyone's post's it just helps the whole process and ultimately helped me decide on going through with Dr.Karidis.
A bit about me.I'm a 22 year old student from South London near London Bridge area, I initially came across this forum in 2010 which spurred me on to see Karidis, and go for a consultation in late 2010, however at the time I had no money to go through with the actual surgery just more curious than anything. I lost a bit of weight and then 2 months ago I began saving up the money for a new car but thought it would be pointless if I still wasn't happy with my body hence I put the money towards the surgery and here we are today.
My weight loss over the last 2 years has been on and off and from the pics you can see me at my heaviest
22 stone 12lbs and my current weight
15 stone, it took me altogether 6 months to lose the initial 8 stone and i've been maintaining since then, at my lowest I got down to 14 stone which I aim to be back down to before Christmas, my heigh is 6 ft 5.
SurgeryInitially I planned to go through with just the Gynecomastia surgery however after seeing Swarley's great results and others too, and realising it was only £1000 on top to be quite fair it seemed a bit of a bargain, so I decided to get the Flanks done aswell. the cost altogether was
£5658, I had my blood test done on NHS for free.
The day of the surgery was fine, I had a great 11 hour sleep before, this being my 4th surgery previous including 2 hernia op's hence the scar on my belly and a circumcision, I felt rather calm before the op, I surprised my self. I took the tube up from London Bridge, only a 12 minute journey, and was admitted at 7am where I was greeted by the infamous cotton pants, had my blood pressure checked frequently and met the anaesthetist and other staff who were all very friendly. I was then marked up around 9am by Karidis, photo's taken and lines all over my chest, by 10am we were ready to go, it was showtime!.....Down the lift, into the small room where they put you to sleep, I had a good conversation with the assistant anaesthetist asking about my tattoo's etc. and before I realised it the oxygen mask was on and I remember saying I'm a big guy you might have to up the dose... Then it was lights out
.
Next thing I was awake in recovery, felt like I just had a light nap, I had a rather warm blanket which had a heater blowing hot air into it, I asked for it to be turned down a bit, and 10 minutes later I was brought back to my room, the sore throat began to set in which actually was the worse bit about the whole surgery, I was looking forward to lunch, some water, and the tea went down a treat.
Blood pressure was checked regularly from then on, they said everything was perfect, I did have a fair bit of oozing from the flanks, and none from the chest, at this stage i'd say the pain was 2/10.
Nurse Amy said i had
55 Grams of Gland and
150ml of fat from one side, and
50 Grams of gland on the other side with
150ml of fat
. I would of loved to of seen those monsters.
Also from Karidis' writing we weren't to sure if he had removed
1.25 litres of fat from each side of the flanks or as a total, but either way I'm pleased.
I then went wee which they ask you to do before they can let you leave, they gave me my extra vest, tramadol, co-drydamol, anti biotics, and arnica tablets, I asked for an extra stomach bandage seeing as the one I was wearing was rather bloody, some extra matts incase I oozed more when I got home and got a whole load of them Opsite Waterproof plasters.
I was on my way home by 4pm, got back on the tube felt fine, indoors by 4:30, I was walking slower than normal, cooked a steak with some salad, watched a bit of x-factor, topped up on the tablets, and bed by 9, Sleeping on my back slightly elevated is fine, the first night I woke up three times, more so due to the dry throat and needing water.
Day 2The vest was tight in the morning and I felt a lot of pressure on my sternum, however this was bearable and after taking the co-drydamol and the rest of the tablets and after moving around a bit I felt fine, I had a multivitamin and some breakfast, at 11am I took the bandages, vest and the stomach wrap off which took a good hour, also took off the plasters on the wounds, gave them a wipe with some anti bacterial soap and water, let them dry and applied the waterproof Opsite Dressing which are great, the first time you see your chest it is weird but good feeling, I had some indentation from where the padding was but this was minor and to be fair I this expected due to the amount of fat and gland I had removed.
I had a shower avoiding getting the dressings wet and felt fine all day, took some tramadol at night as the nurse said this would knock you out at night if you want a better sleep, there are side affects such as dizziness and nausea which I never experienced, the discomfort I would say for the day would be 3/10.
Day 3Today is Day 3 and as I write this and I'm feeling great so happy with the results, discomfort is a low 2/10, i'm going to watch a bit of TV today, browse the net and have a shower around 4.
And i'll let you guys know how I feel later and throughout this whole process. Hopefully it can help others planning on getting the surgery soon.
All the best,
P.S Scroll down for pics.
Dom