FAO TurningACorner, re H Hamed

[turningacorner]

so how was it mate?
much to look forward too...?

[Albion71]

Hi mate - had to put it back a week cos something at work came up - I'm now seeing Mr Hamed this Friday at 3pm.

What about yourself - did you have your consultation?

[Albion71]

Had my consultation with Mr Hamed on Friday (7 September). He was very honest with me, but didn't really say what I wanted to hear.

Basically, his view was that my condition is "within the range of normality". I had trouble accepting this, as I've seen plenty of similar cases on this website and others that appear to have been successfully operated on. My pics are here (sorry about the large image sizes): http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,11004.0.html. Basically, puffy nipples and a bit of gyno.

My chief concern is the big dome shaped nipples, which do actually go flat if it's cold. Mr Hamed explained that the nipple works like a muscle (he may have said it is a muscle, can't quite recall). When it's tensed, it contracts, and lies flat. When it's relaxed, I get the dome effect.

He said he can remove the tissue below the nipple, but isn't sure if that's going to achieve the result I want. He said I could consider lipo, which would suck out the fat but not the supporting tissue, meaning the nipple might lie flatter anyway. Might.

Then he showed me a pic of a previous case similar to mine, which was a bit more encouraging. He removed a fair bit of tissue, and the nipple appeared to have shrunk to about two-thirds its usual diameter, and was flatter, though still a little convex.

Mr Hamed also pointed out that, post op, the nipple would not expand as much when relaxed because of the scar, and because some nerves would have been removed. Which made me think (later), why not simply snip through all the nerves?

I asked about the gland, and he said if it fell within the area of tissue he was targetting, it would come out. Not definite though. He didn't seem to think it too important and said he couldn't feel it when he examined me. He also said I should beware the "doughnut effect", which might occur after removing too much tissue.

When I asked what result he expected to get, he said sometimes he surprises himself, and the patient ends up 80%+ happy with the result, which would suit me. But it's hard to predict. If I was unhappy with the result, he would operate again for free, though I'd have to pay hospital fees.

I have to say Mr Hamed was very thorough throughout the consultation, which lasted one hour, and the fact that he was hesitant about operating rather than just grabbing my money made me trust him.

But it's left me in a real quandry. I could go ahead with Mr Hamed, but I'm starting to think I need a second opinion. The reports on Levick are glowing on here, and although it would be a hassle for me to get to, I'm thinking that may be the most sensible option.

[turningacorner]

bro if you've got alot of fat you've gotta get lipo too, hamed just does excision more than lipo, my chest is fairly muscular with slightly less fat and the gland was probably more obvious to him. He told me there was more gland in my chest than he actually thought after the op, which feels fucking great tbh, knowing that more gland has gone. He said my chest was in pretty good condition and he was more worried about taking too much, and making my chest as you put it donought, or concave and looking actually worse than it was before.

see levick, the reports are glowing and he will do lipo too for you.

Hamed is a great bloke, you can't knock him, he was honest with you and does'nt want to give you bad results, sorry you blew your 200 quid man that sucks.

This is just my opinion neways

what do you think you will do?


here for u bro

[conz]

Glad you're happy with my recommendation of Mr Hamed turningacorner,

I go to get the very last bits of blood drained from my chest tomorrow then I should be all done on the medical table. Hopefully I can post pics this week. 1month post-op

[Johnny Wishbone]

Albion - just checked your pics on the other post. You look virtually identical to me (even down to the hair!) this time last year. You do have some gland there but, like me, losing some of the adipose tissue to your chest/abdomen will a) make the overall contour (especially to the side) A LOT more respectable and b) let you/the doctors see exactly how much gland you have. The blatant give away is the puffed nipples in the early pic which look much more normal when cold/stimulated.  Trim down a little and get another opinion.

PS i'm not saying you're fat in any way, as I said they could be my pictures, and I know me!   

[Albion71]

Cheers for all your opinions. Think I will have to get another opinion, probably Levick. 200 quid was quite a bit to shell out, but I figure it's all important stuff I need to know.

Johnny Wishbone - who did you have surgery with, and what did you have done?

[Johnny Wishbone]

Dr Baranski, Poland October 06. Gland excision/lipo (and lipo to lovehandles/lower abdomen :cough:)

[WXYZ]

Guys, I'm thinking of going with Dr Hamed and would like to know how you got in contact with him. Did you phone him to set up a consultation or did your GP do it? I was offered the NHS surgery but was not happy with the surgeon as what he told me made me not want to have the surgery with him. My GP isn't too happy with my decision to go private, but from what I hear if you go private your GP doesn't even have to know. So can you please give Dr Hamed's contact details?

My gyne is severe, one-sided and is mainly glandular with little fat, but does Hamed do gladular only and no lipo?  That seems odd, I'm sure most of us would need some lipo done.

[Albion71]

Hi. Go to my diary about my surgery with Karidis: http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=14397.0

I've done accounts of my consultations with Hamed, Levick and Karidis - and explained what I thought of each of them.

 

[Albion71]

Sorry, didn't fully answer your question.

Hamed does indeed do ONLY excision, which is why I ended up going to Karidis who does lipo as well.

I contacted him direct, didn't mention it to my GP. Here are his contact details: http://www.londonbridgehospital.com/LBH/consultant-det/mr-hisham-hamed/

[WXYZ]

Thanks for your reply Albion. I've been so busy so couldn't reply earlier. Do you know for what reason Hamed doesn't do lipo? It seems like he only does a partial job which seems rather unprofessional, which I find hard coming from him who has alot of experience. Do all men with gyne have some fat as well as gland or are there some men with just gland?  When I pinch my gyne it seems like only gland as the fat is minimal and seem like the same amount as on my pec on the other side (which is gyne free).

I have a question about the staff of Hamed and Karidis. Are any present during the consultation or do they walk in while you were being examined? I ask this question because when I had my NHS consultation a rather nosy nurse came into the room and didn't say anything but just looked the the procedure. This made me feel uncomfortable as I can't think of any reason why she was there as she was not assisting the doctor. She even said something to a fellow nurse earlier (which they had a little laugh about) when she saw me as the only man waiting in the breast clinic. I didn't like that attitude and hope that none of the staff of Karidis and Hamed is like this, especially if I'm paying money, like everyone else I'd like to be treated with some respect. I would prefer to be seen by just the consultant, not to have onlookers during the consultation.

Of course this is not my main concern, my main concern is choosing the better doctor who will do a proper job and not a partial job. I was wondering that because Dr Hamed is considerably cheaper than Karidis, is this because he does no lipo, or is there more things he doesn't do, like skin-excision, etc. Also what did Hamed and Karidis say about scarring? Will the scarring be severe/noticable?

[equium]

Hey

I'm a medical student and have just had a look at Mr Hamed's details.

Before I say my opinion, I just want to stress that is exactly all it is, I have not had a consultation with him etc. this is purely based on my knowledge of postgraduate training after completing a medical degree.

Ok, one important point, he is a breast surgeon, not a plastic/aesthetic surgeon. This clearly explains why he does not do lipo. If he's removing benign/malignant masses from breasts, removing excess gland would be a piece of cake (as masses that are unnatural and potentially cancerous have a much richer blood supply, so more bleeding for e.g. As glandular tissue is a normal tissue which both men and women naturally have, it is not as difficult to remove). He's not qualified to perform liposuction hence he does not do it. Now I know this might seem controversial but this sounds like a typical surgeon trying to maximise his income - he's not qualified to perform lipo but he is I am sure more than capable of removing masses like excess glandular tissue and he is capitalising on this my offering to treat gynecomastia.

Liposuction is important in avoiding concavity after removing the glandular tissue and I would certainly recommend karidis, levick or benito over Hamed based on my above opinion and having had surgery with Benito.

[Albion71]

I wouldn't be too damning of Mr Hamed. When I saw him, he was very frank in telling me he didn't think he could deliver the result I was looking for. He wasn't trying to rip me off at all.

Having said that, I'm currently wondering whether I should have gone with him as my results with Karidis have not been terribly satisfactory yet, and it looks to me like he's removed too much from under the left nipple - fat or gland I don't know.

In answer to your other questions:

There were no staff present when I was examined by Karidis, Hamed, or Levick. Hamed spent the longest examining me, but Karidis explained what surgery he would do better than the others.

Scarring is virtually non existent with Karidis. I can feel the scar tissue now (4 weeks post op) but the scar itself is barely visible at the bottom of the nipple. There is a slightly bigger scar with Hamed, under the nipple, I believe.

[WXYZ]

So since Hamed doesn't do lipo, maybe that's the reason he is considerably cheaper than the others? The thing is do all men with gyne need lipo? Also doesn't anyone else at London bridge hospital do the lipo, because it seems really odd that it's not part of the deal,  there's bound to be many men who need the lipo done. There was a guy on here 2 years back who was very happy with his result with Hamed, even described him as the best in London.

Albion, if it's not satisfactory then that's bad since you paid over £4000 for the op. Once you get that concave effect, how can you correct it?
My gyne is on one side only (the other side is totally gyne-free). Would I have to pay the full price or be charged a lower amount, since it's only half-the-job they will do?