Post op, in the depths of despair.

[woah_doublegyne]

First post here so I'll start with my pre-op situation.
I've had gyne since my very early teen years and am now in my mid twenties. It's a pretty bad case I feel since the lumps were very big making things very obvious while being skinny. I've weighed anything from around 160-210 pounds (6ft 1in) while having this problem and if anything being in the upper range makes it less obvious or look less out of place. Don't get me wrong, the problem is there for everyone to see whatever the weight.

So anyway, I had the op. The plastic surgeon is one with decades of experience, so I went with it though I had the feeling his experience with dealing with exactly this sort of thing was maybe not that much. He still seemed very confident in doing this. He made the curvy incision around the bottom of the nipples and removed gland that he said was the size of match boxes, pre-op he'd talked about lipo as well so I think that was done as well, need to ask him to be sure. I had drains on each side.
Now here I am closing in on 1 week post op and I don't think I've got results I'm satisfied with. He may have removed that gland but what I see in the mirror is shockingly similar to what I looked like pre-op. The swelling is definitely a part of it but I dispair at thinking this may still look the same. Only with bit neater, although probably scarred, nipples. Has anyone had similar results that then were good after swelling went down or what. Also, one side was bigger then the other and still is though it may also just be more swelling there then in the other one, only bruising is on that side.

The more decent side gives me some hope, though if it stays the same I'd say this is a failure. Then there's the bad side where I really despair, where I can describe it as ribs.. then 2 inches of moob sticking straight out. 

I'm going later this week to have stitches removed and I'll be talking to him about this then, I'd appreciate your input/suggestions/comments.

[Bobby - LAgyne]

i would say, one week is too soon to even think about how the final results will look like. i'm pretty sure he will tell you the same when you ask him.
i guess he had to work more on the bigger side, so it has more swelling.
just give it some time and get your fingers crossed.
do you mind posting some pre and post pics?

[George Pope, M.D.]

I agree with LAgyne.  One week is way to early to start judging the surgical result.  You're going to have swelling for a good 2 months.  Two questions:
1.  Did your surgeon put you in a compression garment?  That usually helps minimize postop swelling, and I have my patients wear a pretty snug compression vest day and night for 2 weeks.

2.  Did your surgeon instruct you to massage your chest?  I have my patients purchase an electric massager and start about one week postop, massaging the chest twice daily.

You need to bring this up with your plastic surgeon at your postop visit.  Discuss your concerns with him/her and maybe ask about massage, garments.

Dr. Pope, MD

[woah_doublegyne]

Thanks for the replies.
Only compression was from being wrapped while I had the drains for the first 3 days, after removing the drains there's been no compression.
No instructions to massage, I think I still feel too sore to massage it. When I went to get the drains removed I asked about swelling before even having seen the results, he said 2 months as well at least. Hoping that's all it is. I'll talk about these things next visit, thanks.

About pics, I didn't take any right before the op though I might have something old. Post-op, I'll think about it. Maybe when stitches are gone.

[OneLife]

Hi, if you are still unsure of your problem, just read a lot of other posts in this forum. You will realize that many people have faced the same post-op issue as you had, and you will find many saying that they looked great (after 1/2 months even in some cases, it took 4/5 months to see the actual results) compared to the initial days after surgery.

Be optimistic!

Take care.

[woah_doublegyne]

I'm indeed more optimistic now, the smaller side looks about fine even though it has swelling still. So I'm just being patient now, was and is to early to have any idea cause of swelling.