KARIDIS SURGERY - NOVEMBER 2016 - PHOTOS AVAILABLE

[ParkedOutside]

How do you feel about having done the survey? And about going with Karidis?

Is the left side hematoma or just heavy bruising?

[Chief Brody]

How do you feel about having done the survey? And about going with Karidis?

Is the left side hematoma or just heavy bruising?

Having the surgery done is life changing mate, I cannot begin to explain how liberating it feels to be able to put on a t-shirt and not have to constantly pull it off your chest, twist nipples or stoop forward to mask the gyno. All these silly little things we do to hide the condition are now a thing of the past. I just wish I'd done this years ago in my 20's and not waited until I was a 40 year old man!

Karidis was the only man for me. He doesn't come cheap but you've only got to look at the success stories on here to see why he's so popular. I'm sitting here day 16 post op looking down at my chest and it's mind boggling to see just how much it's changed. If it wasn't for the last bit of bruising and a little bit of swelling you'd be hard pushed to see I've had anything done.

I don't believe the swelling is down to a hematoma, just excess fluid build up and bruising. It's improving by the day and I'm religiously wearing the compression vest 24/7 to keep things in check. Completely used to the vest now and another couple of weeks with it on is a small price to pay if it speeds up the recovery.

[Chief Brody]

I received my post operative summary by email yesterday:

700ml of fat aspirated. 34g total of fiberous tissue removed - 22g left and 12g right.

Left side almost double the right.

Trying to visualise just how big those masses of tissue are? I know it sounds a bit odd but this is the one thing I wish Karidis did - take a photo of the gland he's pulled out of your chest!

[ParkedOutside]

How do you feel about having done the survey? And about going with Karidis?

Is the left side hematoma or just heavy bruising?

Having the surgery done is life changing mate, I cannot begin to explain how liberating it feels to be able to put on a t-shirt and not have to constantly pull it off your chest, twist nipples or stoop forward to mask the gyno. All these silly little things we do to hide the condition are now a thing of the past. I just wish I'd done this years ago in my 20's and not waited until I was a 40 year old man!

Karidis was the only man for me. He doesn't come cheap but you've only got to look at the success stories on here to see why he's so popular. I'm sitting here day 16 post op looking down at my chest and it's mind boggling to see just how much it's changed. If it wasn't for the last bit of bruising and a little bit of swelling you'd be hard pushed to see I've had anything done.

I don't believe the swelling is down to a hematoma, just excess fluid build up and bruising. It's improving by the day and I'm religiously wearing the compression vest 24/7 to keep things in check. Completely used to the vest now and another couple of weeks with it on is a small price to pay if it speeds up the recovery.

Sorry that was meant to say surgery not survey obviously...

That's good to hear man. I'm yo-yoing about whether to do it or not. I'm very scared of what happens if it goes wrong as mine is mild.. and if something goes wrong then it'd be an absolute disaster.  But my issue is enough that I don't wear t-shirts and I can only go topless at the pool if I keep twisting them/jumping in cold water. Just quite a big decision to make. The money isn't even the problem either because if I'm doing it then I've got to go for the best. Argh!

[williamb]

I think having the surgery has been one of the best decisions I've made although still early days and not near the end result!

Took me a while to make the decision... i also didn't book the day I had the consultation (day after) as I wanted to be 100%! The whole thing is pretty scary before the actual op was a piece of cake!  For some reason I was more nervous walking into the hospital to have the consultation! I remember thinking to myself there would be know way I'd come back for the op if I'm this nervous just for a consultation! Buy I did it and am really happy I did!

Feels good to be able to wear any Tshirt I want! Very liberating!

Looking forward to getting my report through...

[ParkedOutside]

Yeah for me the biggest fear is if something goes wrong and post op I'm worse than pre op.. I don't know if I can cope with that haha. Spend over £5k and be in worse shape.

Is Karidis' % failure rate really 1?

This procedure does seem a lot more standard and therefore consistent than it did years ago when I looked into it so maybe I'm getting scared for no reason.

[Chief Brody]

If your case is 'mild' as you say, I think the odds of failure and ending up with an appearance worse than you've got now is extremely rare. Of all the threads about Karidis on here, I've only read one where somebody wasn't 100 percent satisfied with the end result and even then, they finally accepted the outcome and believed it was more psychological than physical.

Your gyno, however mild it may be, is obviously having an effect on your life and holding you back. Just bite the bullet and book a consultation. Going to chat about it face to face might be the reassurance you need. Worst case scenario you come away £150 lighter and opt not to have the surgery, but at least it will put your mind at rest.

[Chief Brody]

UPDATE - DAY 18 POST OP

Had the first gym session this morning since surgery - tricep and shoulder workout followed by 45 minutes cardio on the treadmill. I didn't go heavy but used moderate weights and it felt good to be back lifting again. My chest is still a little tight so I won't be targeting it for another couple of weeks. Going to do back and biceps tomorrow followed by legs on Wednesday.

I've got a small amount of scar tissue forming on both sides which I've started massaging with bio oil for 5 minutes in the morning and again in the evening. The swelling and bruising on the left hand side continues to ease and is improving as each day passes. I'm continuing to wear the compression vest 24/7 and have now modified it slightly - basically cut it in half so it's more like a bra. I reckon I've put on 3/4 of a stone since the operation due to inactivity and poor eating so the vest was really getting tight round the gut. Cleaning up my diet again as from today to focus on building muscle and fat loss.

Some progress pictures below:

[Chief Brody]

DAY 18 - LEFT SIDE VIEW

[Chief Brody]

DAY 18 - RIGHT SIDE VIEW

[Chief Brody]

DAY 18 - LEFT CLOSE UP

[Chief Brody]

DAY 18 - RIGHT CLOSE UP

[Chief Brody]

MODIFIED VEST

[williamb]

How long you keeping your vest on bud? It's really grating in me now! Think I'm getting some friction burns.... unless it's still pain from the op! I'm two weeks post op tomorrow so I'm switching to wearing 12 hours a day! You think I should keep it on 24 hours for longer? A lot of people have been advised to wear it for 4 weeks!

[Chief Brody]

How long you keeping your vest on bud? It's really grating in me now! Think I'm getting some friction burns.... unless it's still pain from the op! I'm two weeks post op tomorrow so I'm switching to wearing 12 hours a day! You think I should keep it on 24 hours for longer? A lot of people have been advised to wear it for 4 weeks!

I'm 3 weeks post op today and finally ditched the vest this morning. Still going to wear it at night for the next 2 weeks. I kept it on 24/7 for an extra week to make up for those first 6 days when they gave me the wrong sized vest. The XXL one wasn't offering much compression and I believe this contributed to the fluid build up on the left hand side.

I must say it feels kind of strange without the vest on. I'm getting some weird and wonderful sensations like occasional stabbing pains and stinging across the chest. It's not painful at all, just slightly odd. I have read lots of other posts on here from users who had the very same experience so I'm not concerned. All part of the recovery process I guess.

I think you will be absolutely fine removing your vest at the 14 day point. Karidis advises 2 weeks 24/7 followed by 2 weeks either day and night so you are doing it by the book mate.