Gauze & Tape under Arms

[Miggsy]

Just a quick question please - I am now 4 days post op with Mr Levick

So far I have cleaned and changed my dressings once since getting home. There was a little blood from my first night at home, but since then the dressing has been clean each day.

How often did other Levick patients clean and change their dressings? (Not the main bandages, just the gauze covering the drain holes and incision points).

Also, how long did you leave them on? i.e. did you take them off and go to just a normal plaster? Or take them off and go to nothing at all?

I am getting some pressure from bruising and swelling "bulging" over the top of my bandages by my armpits, and the gauze under my arms is also a pain

Oh, and the itching has started big time this afternoon - deep under my main bandages where I can't get to it 

Any suggestions on any of the above. Thanks.

[bfg2000]

Hi Miggsy
I never actually changed my dressings but removed them at day-2. I put a plaster over my right incision for another 2 days, bit nothing on the left. I only started to get itching at 5 day - day 6 was a pain and at day7 i was sooo glad to get the bandage off.

I too felt more swelling as the week went on so can only suggest that its normal.
BFG

[joe_mate2]

Hi Miggsy,

Hope everything is going ok with you at the moment.  I too am itching bit time! As far as changing the dressing I have only done this once so far.  Surpisinly am not smelling too bad either!!

I also am not sure if my nipples are still where they should be or if they are there at all!!! I'm sure they are though.  It was nice to talk to you at the hospital I hope you don't mind me mentioning this.

Just wondered if Mr Levick mentioned anything about massaging after the vest is on, he didn't say anything to me?!

Cheers.

Joe_mate.

[Miggsy]

Hi Joe_mate

Good to hear from you, and good to hear that all is going well. I've actually taken the gauze and plasters off now from my armpits as I found they were just getting in the way. So far no problems since doing that......

The nipples thing really is weird. I've seen films where people who lose limbs mention that the mind still feels like it is attached. I'm not saying what we have had done is anything on that scale, but I do regularly find myself thinking my nipples should be at a certain point on my chest, but in fact they can't be as they must be higher! It's odd, but I'm hoping it's good!

It was good to meet you at the hospital. The whole thing went so smoothly for me. Mr Levick, Dr Woods and all the team there were excellent. It suddenly hit me when I got home, that I had been focussing all my efforts, and mental preparation on the actual operation itself. In fact it went so well that it was a total anti-climax, and I got a bit down that I was now faced with 7 weeks of vests/bandages and maybe 10 further months of healing. I guess that's natural though.

Hope Wales was good - and that you put your feet up totally and got waited on hand and foot 

Mr Levick did tell me at my initial consultation that I should not even think about massaging until after my month check up with him. I'm aimimg to get back to see him and go from there. There are plenty of mentions of massaging in the excellent diary threads on this forum, but for me I won't be doing anything until another 3 to 4 weeks from now. Too tender still anyway!

Let me know how you are getting on, and also how Friday goes - would be great to hear what you think after the "unveiling"

Take it easy

Miggsy

[joe_mate2]

Hi Miggsy,

Yeah Wales was very nice and relaxing, I didn't do anything too strenuous and I think my girlfriend is enjoying doing everything for me! Although she keeps telling me it won't be forever!

I will post my 1 week post op results tomorrow, I realise there is still many months more to wait for the final result. gunna have a nice bath tomorrow aswell!
joe_mate.

[Time_to_fix_it]

Hello Gents,

It seems like there are several of Mr Levicks patients posting on here right now who have had their surgery in the last week or so.  I'm 4 months down the line and still hanging around this forum  so maybe I can help with a couple of the questions raised on this thread.

•   DRESSINGS.  My girlfriend (a nurse) changed the dressings on my incisions about 2 days after surgery.  I took them off completely at the end of the first week and put a band aid over them for another day or so.  They were puckered for a couple of weeks or so and then healed flat.  Four months down the line they are very thin red lines tucked under the armpit and for all purposes, invisible.
•   NIPPLE SENSATION.  Don’t worry about not feeling your nipples or even a large section of your upper chest, it’s normal.  It’s weird when you touch it and only your fingers feel the touch and not your chest.  It’s like touching someone else.  I found showering weird.  I felt the water running down over my face and shoulders, then nothing on my chest until it reached my stomach when I felt it again.  The feeling does come back over time.  For some it can be several months for the nipples to get sensation again; I was lucky I think as I got full sensation back all over my chest and nipples around the 2 month stage.
•   TWINGES.   You will probably get all sorts of tingles and twinges in your chest during the first few weeks.  Again it’s normal as the nerve endings sort themselves out and the feeling returns.
•   FLUID and SWELLING.  This comes and goes and can produce wobbly bits and even sloshing as you get up or change direction quickly.  Again this goes after a few days.
•   MASSAGING.  I was told not to massage until I saw Paul Levick at the 1 month check up.  At that consultation he gave me a quick lesson on what to do and how often to do it.  I'm still doing it 4 months later but it is really a great way to soften any scar tissue.

Good luck to you all with your healing.  It’s a long road with all sorts of ups and downs, but well worth it.  Having a normal chest is something none of us will ever take for granted again.

[joe_mate2]

Hi TTF,

thanks for the tips.  My girlfriend will be taking my bandages off tomorrow and I was wondering if you had any hints/tips for this process?

I've heard alot of people talking about soaking in the bath first then cutting down the middle.  Also some people have used special wipes to the remaining glue.

cheers.

joe_mate

[Time_to_fix_it]

Hi Joe_mate2,

I read up on this (and practically everything else) before I had my surgery.  At that time there were at least a half a dozen threads from other Paul Levicks patients describing their surgery etc and included taking the bandages off.  So when the time came to take mine off I had hopefully learnt a little from those that went before me.

Rather than repeat myself, have a look at my diary in the diary section.  http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7195.0.html.  It pretty well describes what happened to me from the start to the present day.  If you trawl back through a year or so there are other diaries from other patients as well.

To summarise though:

1.   Take a deep breath and prepare yourself for absolutely anything.  You might have an instantly amazing chest or you might have an absolute mess.  Different patients have had different experiences when the bandages come off.
2.   Cut up the centre of the bandages (i.e. the centre of your chest) so that you can fold the sides back and have a look at your chest for the first time.
3.   Don’t panic if it doesn’t look great (mine didn’t, but it does now).  Don’t dance around the house waving your arms about if it does look great (you’ll probably do yourself a mischief).
4.   What I did then was to run a bath and soak in it before trying to pull the plasters off.  I lay in there for about 20 minutes or more making sure the bandages were well soaked.  While I was still in the bath I started teasing the sticky plaster off my skin a little at a time.  It was a bit like stripping wallpaper off a wall .. making sure you keep applying water to the edge.  That worked for me so that by the time I got out of the bath I had all the stuff off and all my skin still intact.  There were a few patches of adhesive stuck to my skin but adhesive remover, (Boots sell it) sorted that out.  I tried as best as I could not to get the incision points wet but by the end of the first week they were closed up anyhow.

Good luck.

[joe_mate2]

Yeah I've read most of your diary and a few others too, they are very helpful.  I will try the bath soak idea and purchase some adhesive remover tomorrow.  I will try and post the "Reveil" results tomorrow! I'm quite excitied now! 

[Miggsy]

Thanks again TTFI - good advice all round (once again).

I'm a little nervous about what awaits me under the bandages. I'm ready to get the bandages off as they are starting to get itchy and I could do with a good 7 hour sleep tomorrow night, but it will be interesting to see what is under there.

I've been following your diary on a day by day comparison with my own experiences, and we're pretty similar - my fluid noises and gurglings have now stopped (except for one "bubbly" one earlier), so it seems to be going along at the same speed.

Good luck tomorrow Joe_mate, let us know how you get on. Are you going to wait until after the time of the op to get the full 7 days in, or will you be whipping them off in the morning?

[joe_mate2]

As soon as I wake up! the itching is driving me crazy and I have to be honest I have'nt washed properly for the whole week so am jumping the bath ASAP!!

[joe_mate2]

hey guys,

I have now taken my bandages off after a long soak in the bath, I gradullay pulled them away.  I am very pleased with the result although I understand these are not the final results.  Increase and decrease of the swelling will change that in the future but fingers crossed!   These are my pre-op photos:

[joe_mate2]

and these are my post op photos!

[Miggsy]

Hi Joe_mate

Wow - Looking good - excellent initial results. That's cheered me up a lot with my own unveiling this afternoon. Glad the plasters came off and left your skin on. I think you bruised a lot less than me, but then I have always bruised easily.

Do you have any pre-op shots from the front on, so as to compare with the post-op ones?

You must be delighted! Nice one

Miggsy

[Time_to_fix_it]

Hello Joe_mate2,

Not bad at all .. in fact pretty damn good actually. 

You look a lot better than I did when I took mine off.  I had ridges, hollows, a creased nipple, a haematoma about the size of a plum and about 3 times as many bruises as you.  So far so good.  Excellent result. 

Take it easy now and all the best,

TTFI