Just about 30 hours left until I have my surgery. I can't wait for this to be all over with. I've had to suffer with this embarrassing condition for at least the last 10 years. With some free time on my hands (I told all my friends I was going away to visit my sister) I'd thought i would tell my story for those who are interested in hearing it, and also for myself.
I new something was different with my chest since about fifth grade, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I learned it had a name and was quite common. I still remember googling "large male breasts" and having gynecomastia pop-up in almost all of my search results. After reading a little about it, I was like,"I don't have that. It says I should have a rubbery disc underneath the nipple and I don't feel anything like that." So i chalked it up to just being overweight. Well, I dropped a lot of weight, but my chest still looked the same no matter what I did. What really convinced me that I had gyne was the photo section of the forum. I saw many guys with chests like mine, some worse, and surprisingly some that looked perfectly masculine to me. Between seeing those photos and reading story after story that sounded almost exactly like mine, I knew I was going to have to admit this problem to my parents and go through surgery.
The confession to my mom was very difficult to do but it had to be done. Both of my parents said they would help in any way that they could. That was a big relief right there. I can't tell you how much I regret not getting this problem fixed years ago but like I said, I just wouldn't let myself admit that I actually had gynecomastia. First I went to my family doctor. He said I definitely had gyne and that he knew a good surgeon to take care of it. He also took some blood to check my hormone (prolactin) levels. The results came back as normal and I made an appointment with the surgeon he recommended.
OK, for new people to the site or for those who are just about to take action against their gyne, let me tell you the mistakes I've made already: First, I wouldn't advise going to your normal family doctor. Go to an endocrinologist. There you'll get much more thorough testing to find out if it's something hormonal that's causing your problem. My doctor only tested my blood prolactin levels. I wish I had gone to an endocrinologist so I could be sure that my gyne won't come back, but we'll see. Also, the referral he gave me was to a GENERAL surgeon. Within the first minute of meeting this guy I knew I was going to have to go somewhere else. Everything he was telling me was opposite of what I've learned from frequenting this site. He was not going to do the typical lower areola incision with gland excision and lipo that I heard was the best method. He said he was going to make a big incision (frown or smile is what he called it) above or below the nipple and remove the excess tissue/fat that way. He said I would definitely have a scar. He said I wasn't going to wear a compression vest, just a compression bandage. I asked to see before and after pics, He said he didn't have any. I said I'm out of here. I left his office pretty discouraged but he did give me the business cards of two local plastic surgeons. I made an appointment to see the one PS who had the better looking business card and after meeting him I knew he was the right guy for me.
I would advise anyone considering having surgery not to go to a general surgeon. They might be cheaper (not sure of this) but PS have financing plans that seem pretty easy to pay back. I don't have a job (just got out of college and wanted this fixed before I start looking) and my parents have horrible credit, but they were still accepted for a loan for the procedure. It worked out to about $137 a month for the next five years, and this is with a pretty steep interest rate due to their bad credit. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but i do know that my PS fee is about 3500, anesthesia is around 400, and the OR is about 1100. So all told, about 5000 bucks. Not a bad price from what I read and for the area I live in (southeastern PA).
Here's some pre-op pics for anyone interested.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/rufis66/gynefront.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/rufis66/gynefr_2.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/rufis66/gyneleft_2.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/rufis66/gyneleft.jpgIf I turn out like any of the past patients my PS showed me pictures of I'm going to be extremely happy. I'll make sure to post my post-op pics. Thanks for reading. This site is awesome.
Topic: surgery real soon (Read 2806 times)
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