NHS: Before, 11 days and 4 week updates

[downloaderuk]

Hi there,

I underwent surgery on my gynecomastia 2 weeks ago and you can see the results of my surgery.

Stats:
Height: 5'10
Weight: 70KG
Age: 22

I has surgery on the NHS at Chelsea and Westminister hospital, and the surgery was performed by a Dr Ion, who is a plastic surgeon. It has taken about a year from my first consultation with my GP to get to the surgery stage, and this involved having my hormone levels tested, my liver ultra-scanned, pre-surgery consulations and one visit when I was supposed to have surgery but couldn't as their machine was broken.

Dr Ion decided to do an ultrasound assisted liposuction to remove the fat (he removed around 300 from each side) and said that he would remove the gland if he thought it was necessary. In the event he decied to remove the gland for better results.

Before








After:






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As you can see there is a noticible improvement in flatness. I measured my chest at 38 inches before surgery and 12 days after at 36 inches. When I realised this I promptly order a smaller compression vest!

My clothes all seem a bit big and baggy now, as I used to wear loose clothing to make the effect of the gyne less noticible. When I wear more fitting clothes, my chest now looks wider, and I am really pleased with that result. The rest of my upper body also looks more in proportion now that my chest is smaller.

The scarring is not noticible unless you look for it, but that maybe due to my skin colour. Also I have not noticed any bruising.

The bottom part of my chest, below the nipple, is, however, rock hard. This was at its worst two days ago and has calmed down a little bit since then. I suspect this might be fluid or scar tissue, but I am not sure.

The area is a lot less tender than before, although the incisions under the arms for the lipo are still hurting and the range of motion of my arms is quite restricted. I still can't lift my hands above my head.

I am really missing exercising right now, but I was told not to go back to the gym until atleast 6 weeks after surgery.

Oh, and a warning to anyone who is going to have surgery - for 5 days after my bandages were removed my chest itched like a b*tch! Even itching it would not give me any relief - it was probably the worst part of this experience so far.

Look forward to hearing any feedback from people who have had surgery and also those who have not.

Thanks.

[ineedhelp]

wow man. that looks realy good. hope you are pleased aswell. the nhs have done a great job.

[phantom]

Hello downloader UK

I think your results after such a short time after surgery are nothing less than stunning!  You look 'normalised' already.  Where did you get your surgery, how long did you have to wait and who was your surgeon?

[downloaderuk]

Hello downloader UK

I think your results after such a short time after surgery are nothing less than stunning!  You look 'normalised' already.  Where did you get your surgery, how long did you have to wait and who was your surgeon?

Hi Phantom,

I got my surgery done on the NHS at Chelsea and Westminister hospital and my surgeon was a Dr Lucian Ion. I first told my GP about it in late June last year, he gave me loads of blood test, and then I went to see the endochronologist in about November. He took even more blood out of me (I hate blood tests!) and that showed up some high levels of something or the other, so they sent me to someone else to get my liver checked outm which happened in Feb or March.

I think my first consultation was with Dr Ion's assistant, but they couldn't do much until the results of my liver test came through. I think I then had another meeting with Dr Ion himself on the 20th April, after the liver results came through. He then booked me for surgery on July 14th, although he did offer me earlier dates in June that I could not make due to exam commitments.

Overall it took me just over a year from first telling the GP to getting surgery.

It took about 3 from seeing Dr Ion to getting surgery, although this would have been around 1.5/2 months if I could have made the dates.

Although it took, all in all, a year there were a few reasons for delays that applied to me but not to other people:

*Delay of 1 month for exam commitments
*Delay of 2 weeks due to the surgical machine breaking down
*Delay of around 3 months due to repeated blood tests due to liver (I think it is called Gilbert's syndrome)
*Delay of around 1 month due to doctors taking holidays and rescheduling appointments

So for other people it might take a lot less than a year, I guess it all depends on circumstances beyond our control.

Dr Ion

I was very happy with Dr Ion's work. One of my close friends also had gyno and he had surgery on the NHS with Dr Ion in February. As he was happy with the results, I insisted that my endochronologist refer me to him rather than any surgeon that was not involved with plastic surgery.

I believe that Dr Ion does do private work. Another member on the board has had surgery with him and wasn't happy with the results. Dr Ion told me that he used to do "normal" lypo before, but more recently had started to do ultrasound assisted lypo. I don't know the difference, except that he said results were better with the ultrasound assisted lypo.

I hope this helps. If anyone has question I am happy to answer them.

downloaderuk

[uk2000]

hey congrats, thats not a bad result at all.
lucia ion is a plastic surgeon and does private work, ive read about him b4.  he gets alot of negative reviews from wot i read on him about his work.  but wit u, he seems to have dun a good job.

[Almeda24]

Looking at your pics has given me hope for the NHS route. I have an appointment on the 1st sept with a surgeon for a consultation, but was considering not going and just forking out the £4000 for Dr Levick as I was told by my GP that the surgeon would likely be dealing with women who have breast cancer and I dont really want to sit in that waiting room getting funny looks! also I am not too confident in the nhs' ability but your pics have given me hope.

[phantom]

Almeda24

Unfortunately, the whole 'which surgeon' and 'NHS V's private' is a giant minefield.  One good NHS experience has very, very little baring on how good the NHS is with any other case and the same can be said for private.

All you can do is to do as much research as possible and make decisions that hopefully give you the best possible result in the shortest reasonable time.  I think that is why most (myself included) go the Levick route.  You have a good idea of what you are going to get and you can pretty much get it as soon as you want.  Yes, the main drawback is money.  But for me, £4k over a lifetime is not much.  You are paying for an exceptionally experienced and skilled surgeon that has a huge caseload for gynaecomastia.  Even this is NOT a guarantee to the result you may expect, but as I say, it generally does cut down on both risk and time.

[downloaderuk]

To be honest I think I might have been too hasty when I went for the NHS option, but I was under the impression that if I got a plastic sergeon then everything would be okay. I have now heard that Dr Ion has done good and bad ops in the past, and I am very grateful that I got a good one, atleast it looks good so far.

To anyone who is thinking about taking the NHS option, I just want to say that I my experience was good, but I can only speak for the results of Dr Ion at Chelsea and Westminister hospital, and having surgery elsewhere may bring different results.

[Almeda24]

Almeda24

Unfortunately, the whole 'which surgeon' and 'NHS V's private' is a giant minefield.  One good NHS experience has very, very little baring on how good the NHS is with any other case and the same can be said for private.

All you can do is to do as much research as possible and make decisions that hopefully give you the best possible result in the shortest reasonable time.  I think that is why most (myself included) go the Levick route.  You have a good idea of what you are going to get and you can pretty much get it as soon as you want.  Yes, the main drawback is money.  But for me, £4k over a lifetime is not much.  You are paying for an exceptionally experienced and skilled surgeon that has a huge caseload for gynaecomastia.  Even this is NOT a guarantee to the result you may expect, but as I say, it generally does cut down on both risk and time.

Completely agree with everything you've said, I am more inclined to pay the money and go with Levick who by these boards impressions is the uk's top surgeon for this. But those pics above give me some hope from the nhs, i was considering not even going to the appointment and instead waiting to get the cash for Dr Levick, but after seeing the above I will go and talk to the surgeon and see what his experience is and what his thoughts are on it. But I am still inclined to go for Levick because I am filled with confidence from these boards on how good he is, that 1yr "warranty" is also an insurance. I want it done asap but unfortunately right now with other expenses £4000 isnt accesible asap.

[ChestMan]

Downloader Uk- do you have any updates? new pics? I am not going to bother with NHS route, however I may contact Dr iIon privately.

[downloaderuk]

Downloader Uk- do you have any updates? new pics? I am not going to bother with NHS route, however I may contact Dr iIon privately.

I will try and get some more pics up tommorow.

[downloaderuk]

Update - 4 weeks

Pics

Front



Right



Left



Chest

It has now been 4 weeks since my surgery and I thought I will give a quick update. My chest is still at the same size, maybe a little bit bigger. My chest is still quite hard, especially underneath the area of the incisions, but the hardness has decreased.

My nipple concerns can be found here:

http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=31;action=display;num=1156517133

Essentially one nipple is returning to normal, while the other is still "stuck" inside, it never comes out I am wondering if this is a permenant result.

Range of motion

My range of motion has improved. I can now put T-shirts on without too much trouble, and I don't have to contort my body into a strange postion just to get the T-shirt over my head.

However, I still can't lift my arms very high above my head - how long will this last? How long will it take to get back full range of motion?

Pain

The general pain has gone and so has the itchiness. However, at times I over stretch my chest area and then it hurts, normally for the rest of the day. This is annoying and I hope I am not putting back my recovery time.

Vest

I have bought 2 vests, one small and one medium. I wear the small vest all the time, except for 20 minutes each day for taking a shower. I only wear the medium vest when washing the small vest. I think I will start wearing under armour after the 6 week aniversary.

Weight/Fat/Exercise

I have put on about 2kgs since the surgery, which is mainly as a result of eating too much when stuck and home and not being able to exercie.

This is especially evident on my "love handles", which have grown quite a bit, so much so that I am getting comments from my family members. It is made worse, as the fat around my stomach is pushed out further by the vest, which only compresses the top half of my torso. It like a reverse corset.

I have walking alot, on average an hour a day, sometimes upto 4.5 hours a day. This is no substitute for real exercise, and it shows. I feel I am loosing muscle, but what can I do?

Any questions, feel free to ask

[need_breast_helpUK]

I'm umming and arring about NHS and Private, Levick and Ion.  Just how good is Levick and can anyone show me some pics of before and after...? Reason being my gyne is quite severe and I also have hard breast tissue as well as fatty...

[abbsynth]

I'd also like to know - as Its very confusing choosing a surgeon. Levick seems good, though no-one is perfect (he's had some bother re. an acuusation of misconduct - http://www.birmingham101.com/101news2004feb4.htm )

So now I'm even more confused...!

[phantom]

abbsynth

I think it is important (once again) to point out that the complaint against Mr Levick was NOT upheld by the GMC and the woman that made the complaint, in short, was a complete nutcase with a number of psychological issues.  I hate the way mud sticks sometimes.