Another karadis diary...

[anon90]

Firstly id like too thank everyone on this site for there input and contributions, you've inspired me to document my surgery stepping stones.

anyway...I’m an 18 year old who suffers from what you'd class as minor unilateral gyne (left sides bigger than the right ), im about 8 and half stone and im about 5 foot 6 and like most here ive had gyne since about 13ish and im fed up with it. After lurking on these forums for a while I learned about dr Karadis and have decided to go with him as my surgeon. i tried the NHS route but that got me nothing but bad memories ,so private was my only real option.

starting from now im going to write exactly what happens in  as much detail from when i made the call to Karadis to the weeks after the surgery. i hope other users find this helpful

Making the call

http://www.nipntuck.co.uk/contact.php

 The first step is usually the hardest part, but recently i worked up the courage to get in touch with karadis by phone. i was surprised when i rang Karadis' office as i was met by a automated recording telling me that all the call operators were busy.... it seems karadis is a very sought after guy  anyway after a very brief bit of music a pleasant call operator picked up the phone and asked how i could help her. i told her i had gynecomastia and i was looking to set up a consultation with the doctor. The woman patched me through to another operator who asked me for my name, address, post code and what day i would prefer to see karadis. she arranged a consultation for me this Wednesday and told me she would be sending me a letter of confirmation through the post. The conversation lasted about 10 minutes but i felt extremely relieved as soon as i put the phone down.

i received the letter today and it basically outline everything i knew. it tells me my appointment time, date and explains the £75 consultation fee etc it also mentions there are no parking facilities and gives you contact details if you need to change your appointment.

im worried about the upcoming consultation for a few reasons. mostly if you look at my height and weight im small and kinda light and there is a chance that in my current condition i might not be a suitable surgery candidate according to a BMI calculator im only just in the healthy weight category

money wise i know the surgery will cost about  £4100 but i should be okay my parents are very understanding and are helping to foot the bill. by myself over the last few months ive raised almost £3000.

if all goes to plan ill get to london (few hours by train) see karadis and see where it goes from there once again thanks to everyone who has contributed to this site.

ps ill try to upload some pics

[Wheeeee!]

Hi Anon, I'm also in seeing Dr. Karidis on Wednesday for the first consult. I'm on stage at 4:30 - might see you there. 

[WXYZ]

im worried about the upcoming consultation for a few reasons. mostly if you look at my height and weight im small and kinda light and there is a chance that in my current condition i might not be a suitable surgery candidate according to a BMI calculator im only just in the healthy weight category

Nothing to worry about the consultations. Dr. Karidis will make you feel at ease. I think in private healthcare, they really know how to make the patient feel comfortable (I've had a bad NHS experience). As for your weight, it should be OK and Dr. Karidis will ask you this during your consultation. I think the BMI thing is just an indicator because you have people of the same height and weight that my have less body fat/muscle mass but have bigger heavier bones and still be the same weight.

[Wheeeee!]

Hi Anon,

Hope you got on okay today at the consultation.

[anon90]

thanks wheeeeee i meant to reply sooner but 4got, dont know if you saw me or not i was the guy in the grey t-shirt n jeans .... anyway it was great, karadis was very understanding and im booked in on november the 11th how did it go for you?

[Wheeeee!]

Glad you got on well mate. For me it also went pretty good - I'm booked in on the 27th November.
You must have been a little bit before me as his secretary told me I'd just missed out on a space earlier in the month.

Still, 50 days and counting is not really that long to wait. Can't believe I'm finally doing something about it.

[anon90]

hey again guys ive been neglecting my diary so i decided to update it with whats happened so far, anyway i had my op on the 11th and a few days have passed.

the day of the op

the op day was the most surreal day i have ever had. i have never had any kind of surgery before, i hate going to hospitals and needles freak me out, but i was really calm and just let the staff do their jobs. i briefly met dr K who took a few pics i met the anethistist and i spoke to chantelle who was very comforting and understanding and after an hours wait i was all dressed up in a gown ,socks and slippers and i was lead to the anesthetic room before i knew it i was put under... i dont know if it was the drugs but i swear to god as i was falling to sleep the person in the room next to me was singing 'uptown girl'   

i woke up what felt like a second later with a compression  vest on and an IV in my hand i didnt feel any pain and i fell asleep a few minutes later as i was still drowsey. over the next few hours i had dinner (chicken soup ,bread, sandwiches crisps and fruit) and the nurses continuasly checked my blood pressure. the only problem i had were that whoever bandaged me up didnt think about the fact i needed to breathe as not only was i wearing the vest but my chest was wrapped up in a ridiculous amout of bandages. chantelle thankfully removed the bandages and sent me home when i was ready with all my meds.


after the op


its been a few days after the op now and iv had my share of bruising and discomfort. i got showered yesterday which was horrible and ive changed my bandaging. ive not taken any post op pics yet but my chest is only lightly bruised and its impossible to raise my arms as the lipo restricts my movements.

im starting to hate the compression vest already its quite snug and its hurting my shoulders due to my crap posture after years of gyne ,and since my family has the central heating on even when its not cold. the vest acts like a body warmer making me really tired.

anyway heres my pre op chest that i no longer have  ill post in a weeks time to show you how it looks.

[newlife]

nice to hear your story dude. I bet your results are ace. Let's have some pics soon.

[kingboob]

did he also remove your love hadles?

You really are an ar$ehole aren't you.....


Looks like you have (had!) really one sided gyne, I'm surprised the NHS would not help you out with that, especially as you are so slim  (the usual NHS excuses/get out clause is 'lose weight').

Best of luck with the recovery, it will take  a couple of weeks before the soreness goes away, but after that it gets pretty easy, you just need to have patience really.

[anon90]

lime. i just had surgery to get rid of my gynecomastia and im not in a great mood right now, the last thing i want to hear is someone mocking the way i look i suggest you keep comments like that to yourself and stop acting insensitive.

i wish the NHS would have helped, i would have saved alot of money but after going back and forth between doctors i was only offered psychological help...i feel confident that Dr karadis' work will look great thanks for the support guys ill keep the pics coming

[kingboob]

there are many many guys that also remove the love handles when they remove their gynaecomastia. and you didnt post a post-op pic, thats why i have done that question.
If a friends of yours says for example "why do not you buy a shampoo for your dandruff " does it mean he is mocking you? ....

learn to behave kingboob. hiding behind a computer and swearing at people is not the best way to enjoy your sunday. go get a life.

I have a life thanks very much, and I am not hiding behind anything, using the word I did  accurately describes your personality.

 This is not the first post of yours that has obviously been designed to mock/humiliate/insult the original poster. 

These guys are brave enough to upload pictures and write a diary of their experience of having surgery, which greatly helps others decide what to do, and is also very reassuring for people who have booked surgery but don't know what to expect, and all you can do is come along and make pointless, rude comments..........  attempting to ridicule the way somebody looks?

You are slowly morphing into bkross  .

[WXYZ]

anon90

Glad to hear it went well for you. I had my surgery with Karidis 2 weeks back and I had unilateral gyne that was bigger than yours. I was offered surgery on the NHS no problem, but wasn't to happy with the surgeon as he wasn't very experienced with gyne, although he was a good and honest surgeon. In the end he even advised me to look around some private surgeons and pick the one that I thought was right for me. If I didn't like any, I could go back and he'd do the job.

My surgery experience with Karidis is more or less the same as everyone else's. Surreal is the perfect word to describe it. It just seems weird that I even went through the surgery, it feels like it was a dream, it was all so quick. I can't even remember passing out, I just know I did. I remember having the anesthetic and my left arm feeling cold and being told to cough. The next thing I was waking up and was told that I could go back to sleep by a nurse or doc? Then was taken to my room where I did doze off. Oh yeah, I now know why everyone here has a laugh at those paper pants. When I first saw them I thought it looked like a shower cap or surgical cap, then I noticed the two other holes...oh so this is what they were talking about!

But if there is any such thing as a positive surgery experience that was it. I have no complaints, with him or his staff. I wish all surgery experience could be like that and I can now understand why people would go back to have "other work" done. Anyway the first 2 days were the hardest, especially getting used to that compression vest and that dry sore throat. When I first took off the vest and removed that padding, I though how the hell am I gonna survive wearing this day and night for 2 weeks? The thing was so tight it was squeezing the life out of me! It was like how I'd imagine wearing a corset would be like. But I got used to it and even went to a party a week later, where I actually forgot I was wearing it. But it made my stomach look bigger than ever before. I had some body fat around my waist, but this vest makes it look terrible. So as it's 2 weeks post-op, I'm out of it during the day and wear it at nights. Another thing is I'd advise others to shave the hairs around their nipples and underarm hair. I had to cut my underarm hair because the waterproof plasters wern't sticking well.

As for the results, I'm so glad the gyne is gone , but my nipples look indented and I have the concave effect at the moment which I heard should clear up. There is hard lumpy stuff on my left chest, around the pecs but not under my nipple which is flat. I hope the hard lumpy stuff is just the swelling any not gyne, because it's much harder than the gyne ever was. How long is this gonna take to clear up?

[anon90]

As for the results, I'm so glad the gyne is gone , but my nipples look indented and I have the concave effect at the moment which I heard should clear up. There is hard lumpy stuff on my left chest, around the pecs but not under my nipple which is flat. I hope the hard lumpy stuff is just the swelling any not gyne, because it's much harder than the gyne ever was. How long is this gonna take to clear up?

im in exactly the same boat as you  WXYZ as i too am at the two week stage, at the minute ive still got hard tissue around my chest and my left side has a slight indent which im trying to not freak out over. massaging the chest area over the last three days has really helped the healing process and i think my indent is very slowly going away

but apart from that its all good news. my bruses have gone, my nips have shrunk and healed and i feel fit enough to start going back to the gym.

it also looks like we had a similar karadis experiance aswell surreal is definatelythe best word you could describe it as. i too wish id shaved my underarm hair before surgery as taking the lipo plasters off hurt like hell  i also remember siting in a london pub after the op drinking cold water and ice in an attempt to get rid off that sore throat the  only difference was the paper pants i never even got a glimpse of them lol

i say give it a month or two for it to fully settle down and then enjoy the new chest

ill post some new pics when i find my camera

[WXYZ]

As for the results, I'm so glad the gyne is gone , but my nipples look indented and I have the concave effect at the moment which I heard should clear up. There is hard lumpy stuff on my left chest, around the pecs but not under my nipple which is flat. I hope the hard lumpy stuff is just the swelling any not gyne, because it's much harder than the gyne ever was. How long is this gonna take to clear up?

im in exactly the same boat as you  WXYZ as i too am at the two week stage, at the minute ive still got hard tissue around my chest and my left side has a slight indent which im trying to not freak out over. massaging the chest area over the last three days has really helped the healing process and i think my indent is very slowly going away

but apart from that its all good news. my bruses have gone, my nips have shrunk and healed and i feel fit enough to start going back to the gym.

it also looks like we had a similar karadis experiance aswell surreal is definatelythe best word you could describe it as. i too wish id shaved my underarm hair before surgery as taking the lipo plasters off hurt like hell  i also remember siting in a london pub after the op drinking cold water and ice in an attempt to get rid off that sore throat the  only difference was the paper pants i never even got a glimpse of them lol

Well at least you shaved your chest. I had to cut the hair around by nipples and the first time removing those plasters was no fun at all!

They didn't give you the paper pants? According to other diaries, everyone else who went in the past got them, it's something they do for private  surgery, unless they need to operate around the genital region or butt.  They sort of looked like loose knickers for women, but I think they are meant to be unisex. But another guy on these boards complained about the hospital being "piss-poor" as they gave him a patient gown with no ties at the back, as if they had been torn out. I mean in a private hospital like that, you really shouldn't have low standards like running out or proper patient gowns. It's unprofessional and not even the NHS (in my area) are that bad. I dunno but when I pay 4K for private surgery, I would want to be treated the same and given the same stuff that everyone else had got. If anything wasn't up to standard, I'd be pissed. Actually come to think of it, I had to ask for those stockings and the paper pants, because when I went in the room, they wern't there - just the gown, robe and slippers, the nurse had to fetch the rest. But now I know the reason was to measure my calf to find the right stocking to fit. There wasn't many staff around in my area in the morning, so wondering if they were short-staffed? The nurse told me for day-cases there isn't much staff around. Well as long as the surgery went well, that's the main thing. My main concern was for the op to go well and for the results to be great. Looking at the impressive before-after pics Karidis showed me of past patients, I knew I found the right surgeon. The staff were good too.

However I'm worried about the swelling on the left side. Is it swelling or gyne? It feels harder that the gyne was, I just hope it isn't gyne, because I heard something about if too much gyne is left, it can grow back. It looks like I have pecs on one side. Oh yeah, for the first day you take the compression vest off, it looks like they bounce back! But I think that is just a natural effect of being under the compression vest for so long. Hopefully it's just the swelling, which looks like it'll take months to go.

You feel fit enough to go back to the gym? :-\I can go out and do certain stuff, I just can't be too adventurous at the moment. I'm gonna wait another week before I exercise, cos I need to get rid of that belly-fat.