Consultation with Karidis booked...

[Prolactinoma]

Hi all,

After waiting, due to illness, for three years I have now booked an appointment with Karidis for the 5th June in London. I cannot wait. I will hopefully target my operation for around Early-mid August.

I have a few questions to those who are on the other side of the operation:

How long till you were able to go to the gym and lift weights?

Could you have worn the compression vest under a work shirt without attracting too much attention?

Does working out prior to the operation make much difference i.e. if i work out and build muscle now will it show after the operation when my gyne is gone?

If any of you lift weights regularly - did you lose a lot of size and strength whilst waiting to return to the gym?

Thanks,

Prolactinoma

[thetodd]

im only two days post op but

1/ they said to me 3 weeks before weight training, they said basically when the incision points have healed i could go back it all depends on how well your body heals everyone heals differentley!

2/ NO CHANCE! this vest is extremeley tight and u will feel boiling just with the vest on. make sure u have 1/2 weeks booked off work you will just want to chill in bed! its pretty itchy aswell its a great releif taking it off for a shower daily

3/ i stopped going the gym completley in febuary and ive lost all of my tone (ive been busy with other things), but ive got great results and a very small amount of bruising. If i was you id slow down the training and hit it hard when your healed.

4/ 3/4 weeks off the gym isnt goin to do any major damage to your gym schedule, you will still have  base of muscle there. But your going to have a month of little exercise so make sure you eat really healthy this also will help the healing process

i eat a very very healthy diet, and if you look at my pics (a few posts down) ive got hardly any bruising (none visible to the eye tbh). Bare in mind its going to be very hot in august when your going to have your vest on so make sure youve got adaquate time off work! It will change your life mate its well worth it

EDIT: heres the exact vest they give you

http://www.surgicalsupportgarments.co.uk/product/yoga-model-~-male-gynecomastia-compression-vest_252.aspx

you get 2, mine were in black. They said for me two keep it on for 2 weeks but karidis sed a week so im going to just stick to a week!

Good Luck

[kingboob]

Eat plenty of protein post op so that your body maintains itself properly while you are healing an unable to train.   Lean red meats are good along with chicken, oily fish etc......getting a good balance will help you heal faster.

In my opinion you can probably go back to weights after 2 to 2.5 weeks, you may lose some strength or volume but it will come back after a couple of sessions....... you can probably do some light cardio (such as walking)  after 5 to 10 days, it depends how you react post op to be honest,  your body will tell you when you are good to go.

I will be 3 weeks post op tomorrow.....I have just been to the gym this morning and I was able to pretty much resume cardio exercise at a pre-op level, and do a couple of weights machines but with reduced weight and higher reps......................  I was also quite pleased because I have eaten an average of 600 calories a day MORE than I usually do since I came out of hospital, but my weight has actually gone down by 2lbs - so that shows you how many calories your body burns up when healing itself - although I did have quite a chunk of skin removed.


I also agree with the previous poster - the compression gear is very warm, wearing it under a shirt in summer time might be a bit hard work, although if you work outdoors or can sit near a window you would probably be ok.

Get in as good shape as you can before the operation, it can only help the surgeon and give you the best possible results.

[Prolactinoma]

Hi thanks for the comments. I am really looking forward to getting rid of the moobs - I have been waiting quite a while for this.

Thetodd - my case is pretty similar to how yours was so I too am hoping for the same results. Out of curiousity - have you areola shrunk post operatively?

[thetodd]

is your areola your nipple? They look more flat against my chest and less puffy, and they look like theyve shrunk in size strangley

You wont regret going with karidis! over the moon really nice bloke and great hospital staff