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.