KARIDIS SURGERY - MAY 2017 - PHOTOS

[Jalyxander]

So I've been ghosting this forum for the past 2 years after suffering with Gyno since I can remember. Was always ignored at by my parents telling me I was body dysmorphic and being told by doctors that I just needed to lose weight and to get counselling.

Granted I was a 15 stone kid in 36 inch trousers, so I dieted like crazy and adulthood had its way with me and I lost a lot of weight. The problem never went away, yet my new found weight loss pushed it to the back of my mind for awhile. I was 19 at the time, I'm now 24 and it's been a constant psychological issue for me because I think about it everyday.

Seeing posts from the likes of Sawyer and ChiefBrody gave me the final push of courage to book the consultant with Karidis after years of thinking about it.

The consultation was great, it was short but sweet, I heard everything I wanted to hear and it was such a relieving feeling being told that it was gyno after always knowing myself that it was but being told by the NHS otherwise.

I've uploaded a few photos of my gyno, I know it's not as severe as some peoples cases but as always it looks worse in the flesh and is very noticeable even under clothing.

I'm booked into surgery tomorrow morning, so wish me luck! Not feeling nervous yet, just can't wait to get this taken out of me! Will keep you posted, photos etc.

Any questions, send them my way.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for sharing this problem with me and finally pushing me to get it resolved!

[Mr Man]

Go for it mate! It's the best decision I ever made and it has absolutely changed my life for the better. You will be fine tomorrow and the feeling you'll get afterwards knowing that you finally did it will be liberating! Good luck and all the best...

[Life's too short]

Good stuff, let us know how it goes.

I'm booked in with him 22/6 but kind of regretting not booking sooner as had my consultation on 8th May. I wanted to give myself a month and a half of solid gym training to get my bodyfat down, which I've kind of done to an extent but now I cannot wait and just want to get it done and on with recovery! 

I know what you mean about psychological issues, it is a deeply held psychological thing. It's so built into me that I almost can't tell it's there. Like when I'm walking up or down stairs or walking across the office and I pass somebody i always make eye contact to make sure they're not looking at my chest. Since realizing I need to correct this, surgically I've realized how much a burden it has been on  my life!

I still remember specific moments in my teens and early 20's when people noticed them, usually by playfully touching me in the chest. One night when I was 21 I was in a club with friends and a female housemate playfully touched my chest and noticed my breasts. She made a huge circus out of them, grabbed them and told everybody I had breasts, she didn't intend harm she was just a f'n idiot in general - it's still a psychological scar today at 26.

Would appreciate as much detail as possible after, and photos too! 

[Jalyxander]

Life's too short, so had the surgery yesterday and it went swimmingly, you're really in professional hands! I arrived at 8:30am which the surgery was scheduled for, I did have to wait around for an hour and half, in that time I spoke to a few nurses and had to sign a few consent forms and was given contact numbers if there was ever an emergency while I'm back home. Dr. Karidis came in to see how I was doing and to take a few photos of my pre-op chest and reassured me again that the procedure is simple and he will make my chest exactly how I want.

You're taken in to see the anaesthetist who was really funny, cracked a few jokes and made me feel at ease, they'll start asking you about what you do for a living while attaching a cannula to your arm, the anaesthetic will start to make you feel a bit drunk and they place an oxygen mask over you for breathing and boom! Next thing you know, you're being wheeled into the recovery room and the surgery is complete. I had a very vivid dream of becoming a famous DJ and I'm pretty sure I was rambling at the doctors before realising where I was, hope you have fun with that.

It will ache after the surgery, nothing crazy but I'll compare it to the day after a heavy chest workout at the gym. They did give me a lot of morphine but it had no effect on me which is a shame, because I hear thats the best bit, seems I'm hard to knockout! They will attach a cold pack around your chest which just fills with ice cold liquid to help with the swelling and the pain in your chest (I'll iterate again how bearable the pain is, it's more of an aching.)

You'll be taken back to your own private hospital room with a TV and private bathroom, and you'll be served food and drink once they feel you are not nauseous and ready to eat. They will frequently visit your room to check your blood pressure and heart rate every half an hour. I was there for 4 hours after my surgery before I released, managed to catch up on the new Twin Peaks series during that time so it went by pretty quickly.

One of Karidis' patient consultant nurses will come in near the end of your stay and give you all the post care equipment you need to take home with you; Arnica tablets (which are a homeopathic tablet that helps relieve the bruising) which you have to take 5 times daily, Codydramol (which are a painkiller) which have to be taken every 4-6 hours and no more than 8 pills a day, along with a Lactulose (the painkillers can cause constipation so this liquid just relives those symptons) which is meant to be drank twice a day. After 5 days of these tablets the dosages go down. You will be provided with a cover to lay on your bed incase you ooze from the incisions (mine has had very little oozing) and most importantly you will be given 2 compressions vests which you must wear for 24 hours a day for 2 weeks (you can remove these when you shower), and then the 2 weeks following that you will have to wear regularly.
One thing that struck me that a lot of people complained about him not doing, is Dr. Karidis himself actually came to visit me after my surgery, shook my hand, told me the procedure went perfectly with no complications and that he looked forward to seeing me at my six week review meeting. It was a nice touch and made me feel more confident about everything.

My photos are too big to upload at the moment, but once I get this compression vest off for the first time to take a clear picture of the current results I will upload some before and after photos for you.

The sneak peek I got after the surgery blew me away, I've never looked down and seen a flat chest before, can't describe the feeling but I just felt a wave of insecurities just go away. I know the recovery journey will take long but I already can see this was the best decision I could've made!

Good luck to everyone who's booked in with Karidis, will keep updated on my recovery!

[Life's too short]

Nice! Appreciate the info and hope recovery goes well! Absolutely buzzing for June 22nd! 

What's the compression vest like in this heat? Can you go out? I'm quite a sweaty person generally so this is actually one of my biggest concerns about the whole thing. I'll be working from home for the week after surgery - potentially 2 weeks if I really need to. But might be a bit depressing being at home all day for such a long time.

[Jalyxander]

Compression vest is very tight, they advised me not to expose myself to too much sun and recommended that if I had to be outside that I stay in the shade. I know what you mean about it being depressing though, everyone I know is out drinking beers in the sun while I'm sat on my sofa watching TV.

Sleeping hasn't been too bad, I have been waking up here and there throughout the night but I've had no oozing from the incisions or waking up on my side, so all good for now.

Just had my first shower and about to change the dressings, wasn't entirely sure how fully wet I could get so just avoided fully soaking my chest.

Pains gone down, the compression vest mainly just pushes down on the bruising which can be a pain, but so far so good!

[Jalyxander]

The previous photo I attached was the day after surgery before my first shower, I'm 4 days post-op now and the bruising still is painful and my upper body movement fairly limited but it's much yellower and seems to be on its way out.

My chest is looking a little too flat/hollow at the minute but I've been reassured that it will fill out over time, but it's crazy (in a good way) seeing my body shape change dramatically when I put a t shirt on.

I know this is gonna be a long journey to recovery and until I get the full results I want, but so far so good, and the days are going by pretty quickly at the moment. Just not ready to get back to work yet, had to call for an extra few days off than I'd originally planned.

[Stevew87]

Thanks for the update! Did you have drain chubes after your OP? I saw a video of someone having those and it looked pretty nasty having 10 inches of chubes taken out of your chest. I'm assuming he went to Poland.

[Jalyxander]

Hi Steve,

No drain tubes after the operation. When I woke up everything had been done and I had wound dressings already over all the incisions. All I had still attached to me was a cannula in my arm. I believe the procedure Karidis does compared to that in other places, especially outside of the U.K is very different and a lot more effective with less chance of problems. (Don't hold me to this though as I have researched anyone else other than Karidis thoroughly.)
Karidis uses tiny incisions under your nipples to remove the glands, and then uses liposuction with pin prick incisions by your armpits to extract the remaining fat.

I've had no fluid leaking from any of my wounds either since my operation and it seems to be healing as scheduled. My left nipple is slightly creased in but I know that will resolve itself over time, I am only 7 days post op after all. It's just the bruising under the compression vest now that is causing me discomfort.

Are you looking at getting this done Steve?

I know it can work out at half the price but I would not recommend going overseas for this operation. Dr. Karidis may seem overpriced and expensive but there is a reason for it, he really is the best surgeon to see for this procedure, as well as being covered by him for any emergencies post surgery (not that any should arise). This forum alone will give you that answer!

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. I will post more photos of my chest in a few weeks when there is a noticeable change.

[Stevew87]

Yeah I'm 99% set on getting this done. There are a few surgeons in the UK who offer a price ranging around £4k who do seem to be 'experts'. They also use the same method as kardis with the not opening up the outer areola. I mean 4k was pushing my budget not too long ago. 5.5k? The thing is I'm not the one paying for it... my parents will be. I'm off to uni this coming September so i can't really be working and saving enough to pay for it. The annoying thing is kardis's consultation is also £150... add another £150 of another surgeon i was thinking of seeing in Birmingham. Poland op will cost £2000 including travel etc... a lot of celebs go there for surgery... ah it is hard you know. 
I think kardis is so popular on this forum because the UK thread probably started off with only people commenting on their OP from him... so others see it has a green light to go get it with him. It doesn't guarantee he is better with some of the other gyno surgeons. But what should i go by little to nothing online from 'centre for surgery' or kardis.. i really hate this... if it was my own money i would just go with kardis. 
What makes this even more difficult for me is i have had surgery which costed my parents 9k 2-3 years ago. That operation was different though... i won't go into detail but it wasn't just a cosmetic thing... 

[Stevew87]

I really should speak to my mum about it. She may be like... get the best surgeon you can we don't mind the price. Or are you sure it is even that bad? It is a lot of money. It sucks because i don't think those who have it will see it as that hard to deal with but i do get the odd look down at my chest... and i'm not muscly so i know what it means. I also don't like the look myself and it has stopped me from going to the gym. It kills motivation knowing that the more i grow my chest the more it will stick out.

[LAL4Life]

How much was the surgery in total? Thanks