First of all, welcome to the forum and congrats on your 1st post! This forum has helped me a lot to learn about gynecomastia and made me 'consultation ready'. And thank you for the nice words on my results. Things are still improving and I'm excited to see the final results in a few months!
Dr Delgado is amazing and I'm sure your results will be great. And I'm sure you have done your homework and went for surgery as an educated consumer and you probably paid him more than what others were asking. But what matters is the final result!
Oh, I paid a premium - probably double what I could have paid - for Delgado, and including the flanks it was pretty steep. But, perhaps the most important lesson I took from my research into this surgery was the consequences of getting it wrong. We're not talking about a haircut here, I'm literally putting my life into this person's hands and authorizing him to permanently alter my body. I read too many horror stories from people who took out loans or drained their savings only to find themselves with a new set of headaches. I literally trembled when I saw the amount printed on that cashier's check to pay for my procedure, but the peace of mind going into surgery and now the relief that - so far, at least - everything is going even better than I imagined is worth every penny.
This is very intimate issue and I chose not to tell anybody, not even my brother or the closest friends, unless they must know. And the only person must know, as of now, was my wife. Nobody else knows and quite frankly it's none of anybody's business. I'm sharing my experience here so others would know that there's hope and treatment. When I went back to work, I got a few 'evaluating' looks from head to toe from my colleagues, for the obvious reason and few comments asking if I have lost weight recently!!
My plan was to keep it a secret, and I almost pulled it off, but I kind of ended up in a situation where I would have had to lie about my whereabouts to my closest friend so I spilled it. It actually felt really good to get it off my ... er, you know. Still, I don't have plans to bring it up with friends - I mean, the whole point is to move beyond constantly thinking about my chest - but I'm no longer consumed with shame over it.
I really hated to lie to my work, but the alternative would be to bring up intimate issues that I just do not find appropriate for that setting. My workplace is relatively small with colleagues I've known for years, and I'm normally pretty open about my life, so dismissing questions about my absence with "it's personal" would have just raised eyebrows. so, reluctantly, I went with the hernia surgery excuse, which has worked pretty well. My friend eased my conscience by suggesting that the lie is really to protect
them from awkwardness.
My gyne wasn't particularly severe and I've been wearing compression undershirts and strategic clothing for a while now. I've also been losing weight anyway, so any change in appearance shouldn't be too shocking. In a way, I welcome the post-op swelling around my waist because it should gradually decrease as if I'm just dieting.
Contrary to my initial disbelieving, endermologie worked amazingly. I saw a huge improvement the day after the first treatment. The lady who does this told me some plastic surgeons swear by it and others still don't believe in it. So keep that in mind when talking to Dr Delgado. It cost a few hundred bucks for a few sessions, but I'm glad I did it.
May I ask you Sid, to share a few pre and post op pics if you feel comfortable? Also, how long did your surgery take (both being under and the actual part)?
Good luck with your recovery and talk to you again!
---Bobby
Yeah, I emailed the patient coordinator about the endermologie and she said it wasn't necessary and my swelling should go down on its own in 10-14 days. Not sure if this only applies to my case or if Delgado is in the skeptic camp. Still, I don't mind holding on to $500.
As for pics, sure. I still need to get copies of the official pics the doc took during my pre-op visit, but I'll try to put something up soon.