Revision surgery -- for the second time.

[frodo]

It’s taken me a long time to finally sit down and write this out. I’ve decided to keep this brief so that anyone who reads this can understand my basic position – but if you have any questions or want any more details please feel free to ask me.

I am planning to go in for revision surgery, for the second time.

For context – I live in India and am 32. I developed gynecomastia when I was around 13 or 14 years of age. Puberty, basically. The kind of gynecomastia that is glandular, not just fat deposits. Left side much more prominent than the right, but puffy nipples both sides. It took me a long time to understand what it was – this site, in fact, was a great help to me back in 2006-2007.

That was when I made the decision to finally go for surgery. The doctor, a plastic surgeon from Mumbai, used the method by which they cut around the nipple, remove the gland, and suck out excess fat. After the surgery, however, it was apparent that the breast shape still existed. Even when swelling subsided, the breast shape was still prominent. The doctor, however, said it was "fine" now.

I found out much later that the doctor had not even followed basic procedures like drawing the contours with a felt pen.

I consulted another doctor, also in Mumbai, a few months later, attached to a hospital, who agreed that not enough was taken out. He did the surgery around 6 months after the first surgery, assuring me he would go do the felt pen contouring.

He didn’t. He arrived at the day of the surgery, and when I asked him why I hadn’t been marked, he handed me a marker and asked me to do it myself. I did the best I could – I mean, come on, I’m no medical man, he seemed fine with the result, and we went into surgery.

You can guess the rest. I woke for the second time, immediately realising, even through the compression garment, that I still had a breast. What followed was the same denial on the doctor’s side, assuring me it was in my head. It clearly was not – close friends that I confide in agreed that it still appeared breastlike.

Despite trying my best to be brief, I have still gone on much longer than I expected, and I thank you for reading this far. It brings us to the present – it’s now 2012, and I have finally got over my disillusionment with the whole process to try again. But I really would like this to be the last time.

I have already consulted a doctor, and it is partly from him that I realised that patients are always supposed to be marked on the skin’s contours with a marker for a doctor to operate successfully. This would mean my previous two surgeons made a gross oversight. There are also some other issues with the results of the previous surgeries -- "tethering", etc.

I have consulted with this new doctor twice already. I wish to get this over with as soon as possible. I’ll share my discussions with the new doctor in my next post – for now I would be happy to clarify anything about what I have already covered that might help. I respect the opinions of people on this board, and would be grateful for any suggestions you could give me.

Thanks for reading this far. I found this community an incredible help back in 2006, and it’s only because of past negative experiences that I have not posted this sooner.

SHORT VERSION: had two gyne surgeries, still have breast shape. consulting with new doctor, have some questions i would like to share about that. in the meantime, here to clarify anything about the story so far that I may have missed. Jaded that I have to go through this again, but happy I have you wonderful people to share it with.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Good luck, frodo.  Hopefully, the third time is the charm!

Dr Jacobs