Alright Fellas,
As I'm writing this, I am one day post surgery and I've just got home. I have been on and off this forum for almost 8 years and been dealing with gynecomastia since I was around 13. I'm now 27. Its a mild case, especially in comparision to some of the guys that have posted on here before, but it has restricted my life to no end. I was teased by friends, and even worse it was pointed out in passing by people I hardly new, especially when wearing t-shirts and on holidays.
But anyway, enough of the sob story. We all know how it feels and what it comes with, but I know when it was me browsing through the 100s of posts on here, all I wanted was details of the process and the result, so lets get to it!
I have three holidays booked this year, so I thought darn this im getting it done! I booked my consultation with
Dr. Karidis for the 24th Janurary at 11:30am, and as I live in Birmingham booked a Virgin train down there to Euston Train station. I caught a couple of Tubes to St Johns Wood, and then from there the Hospital/practice is a 5 minute walk at most. The consultation is exactly as everyone else has said on here, short but sweet. He asked me to take off my shirt, tense my chest, and he had a little feel.
'I can sort that, no problem'. Brilliant. He says everything you want to hear, and tells you how many procedures hes done and how regurally he does them. As I mentioned, my case is fairly mild which I've found is difficult when trying to find similar cases, so I asked him if he could show me any cases he had dealt with. He flicked open a folder on his computer and said 'I have 1000s of photos here, it could take a while' at which point I just said forget it, I was already convinced.
The one thing I think is really important to mention here, which I didn't know before the consultation, is he has started used a new technique after the surgery is complete, to reduce the risk of hematoma. He told me that the chance of it happening is very low (around 7% of all cases), but because he performs so many surgerys he wanted this down to 0%. This new technique designed to reduce this involves a series of stitches being woven across the entire chest, essentially sewing the entire skin of the chest to the fat/muscle under neath. This made me feel a little uneasy, especially as he has only just started doing this. If I'm honest, this was the part of the consultation which felt the most like a sales pitch, as if he was trying to convince me about it. He did however say it was up to me if this was done, and who am I to tell him whats best! Its also important to mention these stitches stay in for around 24 hours, so an extra night stay/ visit the next day is required.
After the consultation you're taken to an advisor to go over pricing and booking the surgery. It was £1300 for the deposit for the Surgery, and another £252 for bloods and MRSA tests to be done at the hospital on the same day, which took around 45 minutes. I deided to get the bloods out the way, save the hassle of doing it at home.
The surgery was booked for 20th February, to arrive at 7:30AM, and the Total cost was going to be £4055 for Karidis fee, £1483 for the hospital fee, £252 for bloods and MRSA.
So, the day comes and I get on the train to my hotel the night before, ready for the big day! (I stayed at The New Inn hotel, which cost me around £200 for two nights. It was a nice enough room, but noisy because its a pub, so had football and music on until at least 11pm, but was a 10 minute walk to the hospital). I've got to say I was shitting my pants at this point! I got to the hospital at 7:20 and had a few forms to sign before being taken to my room. The room is nice with a tv and an ensuite, where you'll find your gown, socks, slippers and sexy see through underwear. The nurse comes in, asks you loads of questions about your health etc and tells you how your day is going to go. Then the anaesthetist comes in to introduce himself and asks you the exact same questions. Finally Karidis himself walks in and takes some quick photos, and marks you up. Again at this point im so nervous im ready to shed a few tears if im honest, but Karidis has a confidence that settled me almost instantly. 'You're nervous? Well obviously, but this won't take us long to sort out those pointy nipples'.
I then sat around in the room for about an hour and a half watching the winter olympics and filling in the form for the food you wanted after the procedure, before another nurse came in and led me down to the room where the general anaesthetic would be administered at around 9:30am. I've never had a surgery before, and at this point I was losing my head. But the Anaesthetist talks you through it, tells you that you're going to feel drowsy and then..
I'm awake. Its 11:20 with a couple of lovley nurses next to me, giving me water and making small talk. You wake up with a machine next to you, which is pumping cold water across your chest. I had a little head ache, but I felt as though I'd had a nice sleep. My throat hurt, but other than that I felt fine, around a 4-5 pain on my chest. As others have mentioned, it felt like a bit more than a heavy chest workout session. You're then wheeled back to your room, where they tell you the cold machine will be left on for the next 5 hours, so it's a case of waiting around. This was the worst part for me, waiting around sat upright in the bed. I have a bad back sometimes and it was playing up being sat in an awkward psoition. The cold machine had a few issues so the nurses were in and out of the room trying to sort it, and other nurses would regularly come to take your blood pressure, probably very 30 minutes. During this time, I was still feeling a bit crap due to the GA, drowsy and with a head ache. I need to stress that I had MEGA dry mouth, so when the food came it was like eating ghandis flip flops. Make sure you take a few bottles of something nice to drink and maybe some hall soothers or something!
At around 3:30 the cold machine was taken off of me, and one of Karidis' nurses came into see me. She gave me my compression vests, pain killers, and applied some more dressings as i'd leaked a little. The compression vest is tight, as it has to be, but it chafes under your armpits near the incisions made for liposuction. I've found putting tissue or some dressings under here helps massivley! She then said she would see me the next day at 11:30 for the stitches to be removed. I left the hospital around 4:00pm.
I walked back to the hotel with relative ease. I haven't mentioned it yet but my girlfriend has been with me through all of this so far. I'd definitley reccomend having someone with you, even if just for support.
Anyway that brings me to today. Had a rubbish night sleep because you're told to sleep slightly upright on your back, which is so uncomfortable to me, and the pain was slightly more at around 5-6 out of 10. The pain killers work pretty quickly, but apparently can make you constipated, so get some laxatives like senakot. We went for some breakfast befoe getting to the hospital at around 11:15, where Karidis Nurse was waiting to take out the stitches. BIG TIP - shave your chest! I shaved mine the night before the surgery, but even so when she took off the dressings it clings to eveything, and you are tendor anyway! The stitches come out with ease and you barely feel a thing, maybe like a needle poking you a little.
Well thats it! I'm sat at home now, chilling with a cuppa tea. Feels so sureal, not sure it has sunk in at all. All I'd say at this point is im glad I've gone through with it, just so theres no more wondering what It could be like or if I really have to keep living with this. I know theres a big journey ahead now, I mean I'm only a day into recovery, but hopefully by posting this it will help anyone else on here, and equally myself get through the coming weeks.
Photos incoming!
Topic: SUGERY DONE! Karidis - 20/02/18 - New Technique - pre/post op pics (Read 5235 times)
Similar Topics
