Post-op UPDATE (+PICS) Surgery booked, but extremely apprehensive...

[Dlink]

Looks good aside from the slight nipple depression.

Did he remove gland as well as fat?

Perhaps if a small amount of gland was left on the underside of the nipple, it would prevent the nipple from depressing?

That is very disturbing how you woke up in the operating room, that should not have happen.

Did you ever figure out what happen? Did they stop the drugs too quickly or something? At least it was at the end after you were put back together.

Thanks.

[yoobro]

He did remove both gland and fat, and he did leave a bit of gland behind. You have to understand, at this point in my recovery, things are changing constantly. I might wake up one morning with my nipple being sunken in and folded, and then that evening it looks uniform and smooth. It's just a product of the healing process.

I was a case where there was not much gland directly beneath the nipple... more like a ring of gland that kind of pushed out and stretched the outside edge of the areola. Like a volcano, if you will. That area around the nipple is now a bit hard and swollen and tender, so the mild cratering makes sense. When this swelling and hard tissue subsides, I imagine the cratering effect will too. The other guy I got in contact with from this forum (who used Dr. Lo) had the same kind of cratering early on... it went away and his results are phenomenal.

I asked Dr. Lo at a recent visit about waking up in the OR, and he said that it's supposed to happen like that. I think perhaps the difference is that I was conscious, as in, I formed a memory of it. Of course, once the surgery is finished, they are going to take you off the drugs and bring you back to reality, which happens in the OR. The fact that I was conscious for a few brief seconds at this point is really no big deal. I probably just metabolized the drugs quicker than most.

[Dlink]

He did remove both gland and fat, and he did leave a bit of gland behind. You have to understand, at this point in my recovery, things are changing constantly. I might wake up one morning with my nipple being sunken in and folded, and then that evening it looks uniform and smooth. It's just a product of the healing process.

I was a case where there was not much gland directly beneath the nipple... more like a ring of gland that kind of pushed out and stretched the outside edge of the areola. Like a volcano, if you will. That area around the nipple is now a bit hard and swollen and tender, so the mild cratering makes sense. When this swelling and hard tissue subsides, I imagine the cratering effect will too. The other guy I got in contact with from this forum (who used Dr. Lo) had the same kind of cratering early on... it went away and his results are phenomenal.

I asked Dr. Lo at a recent visit about waking up in the OR, and he said that it's supposed to happen like that. I think perhaps the difference is that I was conscious, as in, I formed a memory of it. Of course, once the surgery is finished, they are going to take you off the drugs and bring you back to reality, which happens in the OR. The fact that I was conscious for a few brief seconds at this point is really no big deal. I probably just metabolized the drugs quicker than most.

Do you mean that most people wake up in the surgery room after surgery but simple don't remember it at that point?
I had a orthopedics surgery and I don't remember ever being in an operating room. I remember being kind of drowsy falling asleep for about a second then they were moving the bed to what I assumed to the operating room but the nurse told me that it was over and I was entering the recovery room.

In any event, I would like to see how your results turn out. I don't see much of a scar. Did he do both the liposuction and gland removal both from the same incision around the areola?

That is pretty cool if he did. I have found very few surgeons who can do that.

Do you know if he uses drains for all cases or just some cases?  I like his minimal scarring methods assuming the cratering effect goes away when healed however not crazy about the drains.

Thanks.

[yoobro]

I'm no doctor, but obviously once you're taken off the anesthetics in the OR, those drugs are metabolized and you slowly return to a conscious state. I guess it would depend on your definition of "awake." This memory feels like a foggy dream. The surgery was over and I was being wrapped up, and as I was coming out of my medically induced coma I guess I just became conscious early on and tried to something stupid like stand up. The nurse anesthesiologist actually kind of warned me about this... apparently young men like to get a bit crazy when they become conscious following surgery. When I was going under the nurse anesthesiologist said she wanted me to focus on how her voice sounds and listen to her instructions, but I think that my heavily intoxicated post-op self had other ideas!

The liposuction scars are up around my armpits, usually covered by my arms and really nothing to worry about. They just look like little blemishes right now and will only get better with time.

I'll try to keep this thread updated with my results. With regards to the cratering, keep in mind how my results looked immediately post-op, before swelling set in (see the last page). That's likely how the final result will be (I'm hoping), and I think my chest looks pretty damn good in that pic.

[yoobro]

To answer your other question, Dr. Lo always uses drains. I'm not qualified to comment on whether this is necessary or not (I know Dr. Jacobs prefers not to).

I will mention that I emptied probably close to 40 mL of fluid from each of my drains over the course of 3 days. Where would this fluid have gone had the drains not been there? I don't know. Firm compression alone wasn't enough to eliminate all that fluid build up. I'm glad that stuff didn't have to hang around in my chest.

I get that the drains look intimidating, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. That was just more time that I got to take my wonderful narcotics and lay around on the couch and watch movies! Once the drains were out, the pain was pretty much gone and in hindsight it was no big deal.

None of these things are really that consequential in the long run... if you want your gynecomastia gone bad enough, and I certainly did, these are all things you just deal with. The drains, the soreness, the slow healing process, the scars, the slight imperfections that are just a part of getting this surgery... you just have to be ready to face this stuff. Now, over 2 weeks out, I'm so glad that these daunting issues didn't stop me from getting the surgery. It was all fine and easily manageable.