Author Topic: Surgery with Mr Levick on 7th November  (Read 7151 times)

Offline Vesuvius

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Hey Simba, it doesn't sound dumb at all. Living with gyno is horrible and I felt exactly the same way - eg last time I will ever go to work with gyno, etc!

I've gone from a medium vest on the tightest to a small on the tightest! I'm also wearing the binder over the top and will do until Sunday eve. Then in the day at work it will just be my vest and I may put the binder on at night for a week or so until my swelling really subsides.

Offline Simba78

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Thanks Vesuvius.

Not really bothering to talk to my girlfriend about the op much during the run up to Thursday (and she's the only one who know's I'm having it) as just getting fed-up with her trying to be nice and keep saying "Still don't understand why you're having it done..". So this board and the conversations on it are a God send!

Did you think ahead to what you'd wear the morning after? I've read a few people saying they can't lift their arms above shoulder height afterwards? I usually wear hoodies, so not the easiest to slip on and off without raising your arms. I've bought a couple of new ones with zips, as I figured they'd be easier to get on?

Offline Simba78

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Just a quick question please, could anyone tell me when you're allowed to shower after the operation please? Is it before you go home (i.e. should I take shower things with me), or do you have to wait longer?

Thanks.

Offline Ricardo7

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No, no showers for a week afterwards.

Good luck

Offline Vesuvius

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Hey Simba, I had the op on a thurs and showered on the Tuesday after taking the binder off for the first time. Absolute best of luck for tomo, keep calm, don't worry and you will be absolutely fine :)

Offline Vesuvius

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Just seen your other post, I spent the afternoon and evening in hospital in just my boxers and binder. Then upon leaving wore jeans, a button up long sleeve shirt and zip up hoodie. If I'd raised my arms too high my cuts defo would have opened! I would suggest something similar and make sure you dress slowly!

You're in good hands as the staff at the priory are just fantastic!!

Offline Simba78

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Well all done and was pretty easy to be honest.

Got there early as was coming to Birmingham from Milton Keynes, so didn't want to risk being late. Arrived at 7:10am and was in the room by 7:30. Usual story going by what other people have said, nurse comes round to fill some forms out, catering people take your food orders, anaesthetist comes to introduce themselves, and lastly Mr Levick comes round.  Got suited up around 9:30 and walked round to theatre around 9:50am.

Mr Levick takes some photos, and then they put the canular in and you go sleep.

I wasn't nervous at all leading up to the operation  and thought I might be on the morning, but wasn't then either. Even lying there waiting to be put to sleep I was still calm. Think It was because I just wanted to be man boob free so much. Woke up in the recovery room with dry mouth and sore throat, but no chest pain whatsoever. Back to the room and in and out of sleep for a couple of hours afterwards.

The major problem for me is I currently have a burst disc in my spine, had it 6 weeks now. I can't lie down for too long or the pain in my leg is unbearable. By about 3:30pm I'd been lying down for 5.5 hours without moving. I was having a bit of trouble breathing as the chest compression thing is very tight. But more than anything my leg was excruciatingly painful from the sciatica. I had to get up every 5to 10 minutes to relieve my leg pain. I must stress though, this had nothing to do with the surgery I had - pain wise I mean. I was in no discomfort whatsoever in my chest.

Throughout the rest of the day I recovered from the anaesthetic as usual. Ate dinner. Watched tv most of the night. Slept around two hours from 2am to 5am - ie broken sleep over 3 hours. Then was up for The day. The sleep problem was my sciatica too, again, no chest pain.

Mr Levick came around to see me around 10am. Showed me the photos, went through what I could and couldn't do, and then I had a shower and left around 11am.

To anyone considering doing this, if you have the money, I would honestly say don't hesitate. The results look great already, and I can't get enough of standing sideways in tight tops and thin t-shirts and not having a chest that sticks out like a small chested girl - if that makes sense? I had the no drains version of the surgery, and I can honestly say I have had no pain whatsoever. From normal things. I've forgotten I've got limitations at the moment, so have stretched for something I shouldn't, or bent the wrong way, and you get a pang of mild discomfort, but honestly nothing to worry about at all. My girlfriend came with me, and stayed in the room overnight, and I would say that is a god send. I'd recommend anyone able to do this to do it. It made life a lot easier in the room than having to solely rely on the nurses for everything. Not that they weren't brilliant.  The whole thing was brilliant though. Great hospital, great service from all the nurses and catering staff etc., very friendly anaesthetist, and then Mr Levick. I can only echo what everyone else has said about him. One of the nicest men I've ever met. So caring and understanding about what you're going through, and as he's had it himself, knows exactly what life is like for people who suffer from this. There literally is nothing I can fault so far about the whole process.

Like I've said, I've had this back problem for 7 weeks now as still waiting for an MRI scan, and I would take going in for this operation every day over dealing with the sciatica pain and discomfort. It really is a painless  process, which is amazing when you see what they've done to you.

Sorry for going on, I'll stop now.

Thanks a lot to everyone who was helping me out beforehand, especially Vesuvius.

Offline gamepad00

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Hi guys, I had my surgery with Dr Levick on the 6th. Just wondering how you are get on? I'm finding the chest binder bearable just about, sleeping is a pain though! I had a sneak peek at my new chest earlier today and looking okay, slight yellowish bruising and my left nipple seems to be lower than the right and slightly indented but hopefully this will correct itself with time.

Hope the healing goes well for you!

Offline Simba78

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Glad it's going well mate. Chest wise pain is fine, sleeping on my back is a problem but not too bad given I was expecting far worse.

I haven't looked at mine properly yet. Took the support off to shower today, and just looking down and not seeing my usual body made me feel weird, don't know if anyone else has had that? But can't bring myself to look at it fully in the mirror yet.

Still loving it everytime I see myself side profile though. I'm not fat by any means, but it's the first time in my life my stomach sticks out further than my chest :)

Offline gamepad00

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I still haven't had a shower yet, Levick was some what vague when explaining when to shower. Is it okay to 4 days post op as long as you keep the incisions as dry as possible? I feel the same way in regards to how strange it is seeing a flat chest, it looks like I've never benched pressed before! My nipples are slightly asymmetric also but I hope after I have healed properly and started going to the gym again it will sort it self out. Keep in touch Simba, let me know how you are getting on.

Happy healing

Offline Simba78

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Will do gamepad.

I had a shower the next day (Friday) and Saturday, but just stomach down. Then today I sat in the bath and did everywhere with a sponge. So didn't submerge my chest in water but got the area wet.

Felt a lot better afterwards.

I was told I could shower if I wanted too. The incisions are healing well, so think as long as I don't soak them I'll be fine.

Also, Me Levick told me I could sleep however I liked, on my side or front etc. didn't fancy that the first night and got no sleep. But slept on my front last night with a pillow under my chest for extra cushioning and was fine. So much easier for me to sleep like that.

Offline Simba78

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Hi All.

Just thought I'd update you and ask for some feedback too please. I'm 12 days post op now, and feeling pretty good. No pain, getting on fine with the compression vest (so glad I did this in winter as opposed to summer, as would have been sweating my watsits off!), bruising is coming down nicely.

Could I just ask some advice though please? My right hand side looks fine, a little bit of swelling, but even if it stayed like that I'd be relatively happy. The left however has more swelling in it, and looks like a little boob now. I can feel the liquid squishing around. Am I right in thinking that this will go away on it's own, or do I need to be getting it drained?

Also, as a general question to anyone 6+ months post op, straight after the operation (next day) my chest was perfectly flat, and has now grown a little with the swelling. Long term, does it go back to how it looked after surgery - i.e. as flat as that, or was that not an accurate long term picture? If it will turn out to be like that, then I don't mind about the swelling now, and am happy to wait for it all to sort itself out. But I don't want the left hand side in particular, to stay looking like it does, as still wouldn't be able to wear the t-shirts I want to be able to.

Thanks.

Offline sjwsjw

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The body will obsorb a reasonable amount of fluid that is present. You may or may not need it draining but normally only if it's really bad I think. What you think might be fluid could also just be excess swelling. It's normal for each side to be effected and so heal slightly differently to the other. Long term both sides will settle down.

As for the flatness of the chest, right after the op you will be like iron board flat  :P the chest area will naturally 'spring back' into a chest shape. Males still have a shape to their chest so it won't stay unnaturally flat.

As for the vest I grew quite attached to mine in the end and it was odd wearing shirts without it at first. Keep your mind on the long term and enjoy the improvements as they happen. It's not a quick fix and you still need to get your head around the physical changes. Takes time but it's good mate, you're on the way :)

Offline Simba78

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Thanks for taking the time to reply, sjwsjw.

Just needed to hear something like that I reckon, thanks a lot.

Still can't get used to seeing myself side on in the mirror and no man boobs. Although I'm now thinking "what if it's only the compression vest giving me a half decent shape, and I'll be back to square one when I stop wearing it". Guess I'm finding it hard to accept it might all have worked okay, when I've lived with not being able to wear anything that fits properly for the last 20 off years, for fear of looking like I've got boobs..

Offline sjwsjw

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The mental part for me was as big as the physical part to me. People often look past what their heads still see. We've been living with a larger chest then we feel comfortable in for many years in most cases.

I often found myself subconsciously covering my chest from time to time even as much as 6 months after the surgery. We are bound to worry more then people that have always had a 'normal' flat chest because it's been enough of an issue for us to have surgery to change. I'm far from a cosmetic surgery guy but I needed it for my head as much as anything else.

I'm 25 and had the surgery basically 12 months ago (10 days short) and my posture has slowly improved as my head has come to realise I can be comfortable standing tall. People think I've had a growth spurt   :D I can feel how much taller I stand but even that took months after surgery to happen.

The days soon tick by once life gets back into routine.


 

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