20 Years Old - Surgery with Karidis - 1st Sep 2012 (Recovering) - Photo Updates

[enom]

UPDATE - 1/9/12 - Surgery Complete, Post-Op Photo's on Page 3.

UPDATE 2 - 23/9/12 - 3 Weeks Post-Op on Page 6.

UPDATE 3 - 23/9/12 - 5 Weeks Post-Op on Page 6.

Introduction

Got a consultation booked with Karidis for Wednesday 25th of July.

My case of Gynecomastia is very minor compared to a lot of the cases on here but I have decided to have surgery as it has troubled me a great deal over the past couple of years. Furthermore, it has become more evident in the last year due to taking up weightlifting. I would define my case as 'puffy nipples'.

I'm back home from university up until the end of September and I was worried about not getting the surgery done in time before returning. Fortunately, they have allowed me to reserve a surgery date of September 1st.

My parents seem fairly supportive, they'll be driving me down from North Yorkshire, however, they keep questioning the fact if I really need the surgery.

I have a few slight worries about surgery, mostly the general anaesthetic and not waking up again! I've had GA before, but this was when I was very young so I have no memory of it.

I'll keep this topic updated with pictures and comments throughout my journey.

Before Pictures

Straight On
Only slightly visible in this case.



Top Down



Side View



Close Up Side View 1



Close Up Side View 2

[Brownie]

Hey enom!,

First off let me congratulate you on taking the plunge and booking the surgery! Im sure it must have been a very difficult decision. I've struggled for years trying to make the final decision. Finally did and now i have my surgery booked for august.

Looking at your photos your case is very similar to mine, very mild case of gyne (puffy nips). I've been working out for some time now and i know how frustrating it is to see your body get muscular and cut everywhere else only to have it ruined by dem bewbs :p.

I wouldnt worry too much about the GA, from what ive read and researched the risks are minimal, i mean think about it, if people kept not waking up after being under a GA would u think they'd still be using it in surgery? Im sure some of the more experienced member could back me up on this. keep us updated bro and good luck

[enom]

Hey enom!,

First off let me congratulate you on taking the plunge and booking the surgery! Im sure it must have been a very difficult decision. I've struggled for years trying to make the final decision. Finally did and now i have my surgery booked for august.

Looking at your photos your case is very similar to mine, very mild case of gyne (puffy nips). I've been working out for some time now and i know how frustrating it is to see your body get muscular and cut everywhere else only to have it ruined by dem bewbs :p.

I wouldnt worry too much about the GA, from what ive read and researched the risks are minimal, i mean think about it, if people kept not waking up after being under a GA would u think they'd still be using it in surgery? Im sure some of the more experienced member could back me up on this. keep us updated bro and good luck

Hi Brownie, happy that you have your surgery booked also! Big times ahead! What date do you have down for it? I might see if I can get an earlier Saturday surgery date on the day of my consultation.

On the gym front, I've found it highly frustrating at times due to the fact that whatever you do in the gym won't help Gynecomastia, and in my case and maybe yours also, it's made it worse because it's made it more visible. My original assumption for my puffy nipples was that I genetically stored more fat in those areas and it wouldn't be a problem when I would come to reducing my body fat percentage, but after doing some research it became clear this wasn't case.

The risks of GA do some minimal, and I keep telling myself that thousands of people have surgery every day with it. Also, don't know if there's any logic behind this, but maybe because I've had it administered before, no problems are likely to occur.

On another note, have you had your bloods checked yet?

[rasputin]

Great stuff for taking the plunge. Just to say, risk of death is 250,000 apparently - but if you care about those kind of odds then really you should never step in a car again

Complications only really arise from underlying problems that would get you anyway. Other issues can occur but non life-threatening. Good luck with the surgery!

[Brownie]

Hi again enom,

My consultation is booked for the 6th of august and my surgery's booked for the 9th of august (im actually flying in to the UK to get the surgery done with karidis).

Ive already had my blood tested and i've sent the results to the hospital; all seems well with that. All thats left is to fly in to the UK, have my consultation with the good doctor and hopefully move on to surgery.

Coming to the gym dilemma that many of us face, you're absolutely right. Im currently at 11% body fat with some noticeable striations and cuts on my chest and throughout my body except for the nipple area, which stick out like scopes tryna spot enemy battleships!! it's so frustrating i know!! Hopefully all goes well and we can finally have some peace of mind. And another thing, its really important (atleast in my opinion) to have realistic expectations as well as to have a general sense of the recovery process from ur fellow brothers on this site; just so ur fully prepared and happy for your post-op experience.

goodluck m8

[enom]

Great stuff for taking the plunge. Just to say, risk of death is 250,000 apparently - but if you care about those kind of odds then really you should never step in a car again

Complications only really arise from underlying problems that would get you anyway. Other issues can occur but non life-threatening. Good luck with the surgery!

Them odds put my mind more at ease, thanks!

[enom]

Hi again enom,

My consultation is booked for the 6th of august and my surgery's booked for the 9th of august (im actually flying in to the UK to get the surgery done with karidis).

Ive already had my blood tested and i've sent the results to the hospital; all seems well with that. All thats left is to fly in to the UK, have my consultation with the good doctor and hopefully move on to surgery.

Coming to the gym dilemma that many of us face, you're absolutely right. Im currently at 11% body fat with some noticeable striations and cuts on my chest and throughout my body except for the nipple area, which stick out like scopes tryna spot enemy battleships!! it's so frustrating i know!! Hopefully all goes well and we can finally have some peace of mind. And another thing, its really important (atleast in my opinion) to have realistic expectations as well as to have a general sense of the recovery process from ur fellow brothers on this site; just so ur fully prepared and happy for your post-op experience.

goodluck m8

Oh I see, where are you flying from?

11% is a pretty good bodyfat percentage, I think I'm around the 14% mark at the moment.

On the blood front, how many vials of blood were taken for the test? I generally have a difficult time giving blood due to the effects after the test. I have to normally remain laid down for good half hour or I'm out like a light bulb.

I really don't know what to expect from the surgery.

Also, have you been advised to reduce the weightlifting prior to the surgery?

[rasputin]

I believe it's 3 vials of blood, but can't say I was looking too much (definitely 2 or 3 though). In terms of hitting the gym prior to surgery there's absolutely no advice against it; however I would probably give it a rest a few days before just incase any injury/swelling makes it difficult for the surgeon.

For what it's worth my expectations are heavily based on the aesthetics of my chest. But more importantly for me it's the freedom from surgery that I'm most excited about - I'm a confident guy, but when it comes to wearing thin t-shirts and hitting the beach I'm a complete wreck. I literally cannot wait to get that canula in my hand!

[enom]

I believe it's 3 vials of blood, but can't say I was looking too much (definitely 2 or 3 though). In terms of hitting the gym prior to surgery there's absolutely no advice against it; however I would probably give it a rest a few days before just incase any injury/swelling makes it difficult for the surgeon.

For what it's worth my expectations are heavily based on the aesthetics of my chest. But more importantly for me it's the freedom from surgery that I'm most excited about - I'm a confident guy, but when it comes to wearing thin t-shirts and hitting the beach I'm a complete wreck. I literally cannot wait to get that canula in my hand!

Thank you for letting me know on the blood front! I'm going to take a few days off prior to the blood tests as I have previously found that lifting heavy before them can effect the results quite a bit. Also a high fat diet tends to change things also.

I also in fact took you're advice from your thread and I have started writing down a list of questions for the consultation on Wednesday.

[enom]

Consultation

Hi Folks

Had consultation with Karidis yesterday and he came across very confident and reassuring. He asked the basic medical questions first and then went onto ask when I first noticed my gynecomastia. After we spoke a bit he asked if he could take a look and then went onto to confirme the problematic areas. After that he said "Yep, I can sort you out.". I then asked him a several questions regarding the surgery and that was it.

Afterwards I spoke to Nicola who went over costs and planned date for my surgery. She said a initial deposit of £1000 was required and said this could paid within in the next few days. I plan on paying this tomorrow. Total costs just come short of £4300.

[enom]

So I paid the deposit yesterday after taking a good 3 hours to pluck up the courage and phone up. Ever since then I have felt pretty depressed and I'm a little unsure on why. I'm pretty sure I've made the right choice.

By looking at this forum, Karidis seems to have a good record with gynecostmastia surgery, if I get results like chopper, TheTodd and Ad21 I'll be happy. Also my worries about general anesthetic have increased now that I have booked the surgery. I think this is because I've had a pretty unlucky year and I just feel that i'll be unlucky with the general anesthetic also.

Also is anyone able to tell if liver enzyme levels are checked in the blood tests? I had a test about 1 month ago and I had a < 50% elevation in ALP levels. Even though I put this down to a fatty meal before the test and also heavy weightlifting session, I'm not a doctor so I want to be sure my livers ok before surgery.

[Brownie]

ENOM!!! CALM DOWN BRO!! U WILL BE FINE!!!

^^ sorry for the ALL CAPS but i thought u needed it :p. listen enom, im not gna sugar coat it, cuz i think every1 must be prepared fully for anything and everything that is to come post-op. but let me tell you this, u went so far as to get a consult with one of the most experienced gyne surgeons in the country and have managed to book a surgery, that says that your condition had such an influence on your life that you did all that fully aware of any HIGHLY UNLIKELY complications. Now, ofcourse any worries are natural and you'd have to be a robot not to have any so noone is gna blame you for that but i say meehhh! ur half way there already, just go with it!!

we're all here for each other bro,  i know how difficult it must be even talking about it with another soul, im lucky enuf to have a brother a year younger with the same condition so we talk bout it all the time. Post your worries and concerns, your brothers on this site will do there best to comfort you and guide you through the process regardless the outcome.

[enom]

ENOM!!! CALM DOWN BRO!! U WILL BE FINE!!!

^^ sorry for the ALL CAPS but i thought u needed it :p. listen enom, im not gna sugar coat it, cuz i think every1 must be prepared fully for anything and everything that is to come post-op. but let me tell you this, u went so far as to get a consult with one of the most experienced gyne surgeons in the country and have managed to book a surgery, that says that your condition had such an influence on your life that you did all that fully aware of any HIGHLY UNLIKELY complications. Now, ofcourse any worries are natural and you'd have to be a robot not to have any so noone is gna blame you for that but i say meehhh! ur half way there already, just go with it!!

we're all here for each other bro,  i know how difficult it must be even talking about it with another soul, im lucky enuf to have a brother a year younger with the same condition so we talk bout it all the time. Post your worries and concerns, your brothers on this site will do there best to comfort you and guide you through the process regardless the outcome.

I agree, caps were necessary :p

It's like one minute I'm really glad I've booked the surgery, then the next I'm like "OH MY GOD, COSMETIC SURGERY, WHAT AM I THINKING".

Surgery is 5 weeks today, going to be one hell of a long wait. I also can't decide if to cut down my weight a little bit before the surgery.

[thetodd]

Your just feeling apprehension before the op, everyone has it leading up to it and on the day it wont even feel real when i think back its just bizarre! Most people get pseudo illnesses a few days before the op, on most people surgery diaries you'll see "ive got the flu, will they still operate" the truth is that in most cases it is indeed pseudo and completley forged out of stress and worrying. And even if you had the flu, theyd operate infact you'd have to be pretty much falling apart for them not to.

The blood tests are very basic, you'll pass with flying colours i have no doubt ive never to this day heard of anyone failing them. Dont believe those body builder types chopper and AD21 they bang out a few hundred situps before their pics

But yeah, you'll be fine take some pictures just so you can look at the difference recovery is a horrible time and chopper+ad21 will tell you how important pictures are. We all had problems with scar tissue and what not and its good just to look back at the pre op pics and see the improvement!

[enom]

Your just feeling apprehension before the op, everyone has it leading up to it and on the day it wont even feel real when i think back its just bizarre! Most people get pseudo illnesses a few days before the op, on most people surgery diaries you'll see "ive got the flu, will they still operate" the truth is that in most cases it is indeed pseudo and completley forged out of stress and worrying. And even if you had the flu, theyd operate infact you'd have to be pretty much falling apart for them not to.

The blood tests are very basic, you'll pass with flying colours i have no doubt ive never to this day heard of anyone failing them. Dont believe those body builder types chopper and AD21 they bang out a few hundred situps before their pics

But yeah, you'll be fine take some pictures just so you can look at the difference recovery is a horrible time and chopper+ad21 will tell you how important pictures are. We all had problems with scar tissue and what not and its good just to look back at the pre op pics and see the improvement!

Thanks for the input thetodd!

Got a doctors appointment booked for next Wednesday (8th of August), hope that's early enough for the bloods as I will have to schedule an appointment for a following day as they stop taking bloods at the time of my appointment with the doctor.

My worries on the anesthetic front have calmed down, but I'm getting more and more worried that the gyno is getting worse. Is there any blood test which can check for this? The last thing I want to do is go through the surgery then find it coming back again.