As they say, too much of a good thing is bad. The truth is that I let my activity on this site become competition to the rest of my life. I feel strongly that I should give back to the resource that helped me to rid myself of gyne, but not at the cost of trading one prison (gyne) for another (an addiction to a message board). It's for that reason that I've been avoiding getting involved in the discussions here for a couple of months. I've been reading the posts off and on though, and it seems that you guys have done alright without me anyway.
At this point, I'm not planning to leave the site, but I'll not be posting quite as much as before. I want to contribute as much as I can, but you won't be seeing me responding to every other thread as before. I don't know if any of you have experienced anything like this before, but when I was so involved with the site it seemed that I was even more hyperconscious of my chest than before I had the surgery. Since I've taken a little break I've become pretty comfortable with my chest and don't think about it much except for when I'm looking in the mirror. That's the way I want it.
That brings me to my surgery. My revision is a little over two months post op. I'm very satisfied with how my recovery is going. Most swelling is gone and I'm dealing with minor scars around the areola, but overall, I'm already feeling normal. I'm 42 years old and now look better in the chest than the vast majority of my peers. I feel like I'm getting a second chance at my younger years. I've also been going to the gym and losing fat, which is also feeding my confidence and energy level. I can say without a doubt that my two surgeries have been the best $4,400.00 I have ever spent. This whole thing has completely turned my life around in less than a year's time. It was July of last year when I stumbled on this site and discovered that I wasn't alone and that my condition had a name... That I could take control of what I previously though I was cursed for life with.
In the future I'll be posting some observations I've made during this experience ... Observations that are mine and may differ from yours, but may help people in dealing with some of their decision-making. I'll also post some "after" pictures sometime in the future. I was going to do that by now, but my weight loss and fitness program is going so well that I thought I would wait until I'm closer to my goal. You're gonna die (figuratively, of course
when you see the difference from the severe gyne I had before to the leaner, more normal-chested man I'm becoming.
Anyway, I didn't mean to make such a long post, but after so long I had a lot to say. I hope I haven't offended any of you by my absense of communication. I just needed a break and I hope you all understand.