Surgery booked with Karidis 8th Nov

[Swarley]

Hi Micky,
Not bad thanks. Went for a short walk today. I had to walk slow because the compression garments make it difficult to take more than shallow breaths.
Going to go for another walk tomorrow and will try to build up the pace and distance over the next week.

Also, I think I have a bit of bruising developing in my hips & backside. I was warned to expect bruising in weird places after lypo to the abdomen, but it does restrict my movement a bit.

Here's how I'm using the socks - I got the idea from chopper's thread.

Sorry they're black socks so they don't show up to well against the black vest, but basically I cut some socks in half sideways across the ankle, folded each half sideways again, then tucked it into the vest over the seam under the arms. Seems to help.

[Swarley]

Day 7:

Sleeping much better, and generally feel slightly stronger each day. Range of movement also improving steadily.

Chest:
Very itchy.
Incisions under each arm have closed up (very small scab on each one), but the ones on each nipple haven't yet.
I think the plasters may have been holding the incision open, because I haven't changed the nipple plasters since day 2, and as soon as I took them off both nipples contracted and folded slightly around the incision. I've stuck new plasters on and will change those every day now until it closes up.
Also, left side is still more bruised & swollen than the right, but it's a significant improvement since day 2.

Flanks:
Still quite sore.
Then dent in my left side seems to be starting to fill out & even up a bit. I'm being very careful at the moment to make sure the compression belt doesn't dig in there.
I only have to wear the compression belt 24x7 for 10 days after surgery, then 8 hours a day for a further week. So another 3 days and I can take it off during the day - Looking forward to that!

Pics:

[Swarley]

Day 10:

I have to say I'm pretty chuffed with the results so far.
I'm really getting a kick out of walking around the shops and not worrying my moobs poking out through my shirt. If only it was a bit warmer and I could wear some t-shirts!

Chest:
Nipple incisions have finally closed up.
The itching has settled down a bit. It was getting quite distracting, and at times turned into hot & cold burning sensations in & around the nipples.
Still a little swollen, but it seems to be getting slightly better every day.

Flanks:
Still a bit bruised, and some swelling too. I think there is also some scar tissue appearing.
Sick and tired of the compression belt digging in, so I've been wearing it slightly looser each day.
As of tomorrow, I only have to wear the compression belt for 8 hours a day, so I might also start some gentle massaging tomorrow.

Pic:

[Swarley]

By the way, had a letter this weekend with some info - Karidis removed 57g of gland from my chest (29g from the left, 28g from the right).

He also took 150mls of fat from each side of my chest (300mls total), and 150mls from each flank (300mls total).

[Swarley]

Day 14:

So as of today I only have to wear the compression vest for 8 hours a day, and only 3 more days of wearing the belt 8 hours a day.
However, I'm feeling a bit swollen today, so I'm going to keep the vest on for a bit as I feel I need the support.

Chest:
Has swollen up a bit, and I can now see & feel hard lumpy bits which has got to be scar tissue. I took a photo which shows some of the lumps:


Flanks:
Definitley some scar tissue here as well, and I still have a dent in one side (2nd pic below), which I'm getting a bit worried about now.
I think the scar tissue is making this much worse, but I was hoping it would have filled out a bit by now. I've got my follow up with Karidis in about 4 weeks, so hopefully it will be okay by then (if not I might be looking at a revision).

Pics:

[Swarley]

Day 16:

Quick update - went to the gym yesterday (first time since the surgery).
It felt great to exercise again!
I was able to use the cross trainer, and do squats, crunches & leg raises. I tried rowing, but felt some tightness in my chest at each end of each stroke, so stopped that after a few mins.

I wore a Nike Pro compression shirt under my t-shirt to keep everything stable, and after my workout I was surprised to see that the front of the compression shirt was covered in sweat, apart from two big dry circles around my nipples.
Not sure what that's about, but I guess there's still quite a bit of healing to do.

Also, before I started my workout I hopped on the scales.
The day before surgery I went to the gym and the same scales said I was 90kg (14.1st) & 16% body fat.
Yesterday the scales said I was 84kg (13.2st) and 12% body fat.

I've been massaging my chest & flanks with bio oil 3 times a day, and it does seem to be helping - some of the lumpy bits of scar tissue seem less lumpy after each time, and overall the swelling seems to be steadily going down.

I have some hard, non-lumpy bits which I think are a combination of scar tissue & swelling. They're long lines leading in from a couple of the incisions, so I assume they're the path of the cannula. Massage doesn't seem to be having much affect on these bits yet, so I'm being very gentle when massaging these areas. I reckon it's probably best to let the swelling go down before trying firmer massage.

Driving is okay, but a bit uncomfortable. The sides of the seat touching my flanks feels weird, and at times I feel some tightness in my chest when I move my arms to turn a corner etc.
Also, if I go over any bumps or pot holes, the slight bounce makes my chest ache a bit - it's a similar sensation to pressing on a bruise - not really painful, just uncomfortable. 

[Swarley]

Day 22:

Feeling pretty good. Range of movement is 98% back to normal, generally feeling more comfortable. I even managed to sleep on my side last night.
I've been out shopping for new clothes, which has been brilliant!

Chest:
Has puffed / filled out a bit - more so on the right side than the left.
This means the nipples aren't quite level, but apart from that, from a few meters away I think it looks pretty much normal now, and I haven't had any strange looks in the changing rooms at the gym.

Flanks:
Right side looks normal now.
Left side still has the big dent. I don't think it's filling out, so I've stopped the gentle massage and I'm getting tough with it now. Will see if this helps to even it out at all.

Pics:

[Bikkembergs]

Supoib reults Swarley. I could iron my clothes on that physique 

[Swarley]

Thanks.

Day 33.
I have been having an awesome time. I splashed out and bought my self a load of new clothes - no more wearing baggy shirts & jumpers 2 sizes too big!
The reactions I've been getting from girls around the office has been great - a few have made a weird cooing sort of noise at me, a sort of "ooooh" sound.

Also last week I was having a few drinks in a bar in london with a few guys from work, and 2 nice looking girls came over, asked politely if they could borrow me for a minute, and took me over to their table where they, and their 6 equally attractive friends basically molested me for about 20 minutes. I didn't mind that at all!

Chest:
I can feel it's still a little swollen - more so on the right hand side.
There's a big lump of scar tissue on the left hand side, which has been getting bigger every day. Massage seems to flatten & spread it out, rather than break it up.
Nipples have also been looking weird for a few days - a bit like a small pair of deflated footballs. I hope this means that the aereolas are shrinking down to a more normal size (included a pic below which I think shows what I mean).

Flanks:
Right side seems fine. I'd say 98% of sensation is back, and no lumps of scar tissue seem to have formed. However it feels like things haven't quite smoothed out under the skin yet, so I'm still massaging it.

Left side still has the big dent in it, but it does seem to be filling / smoothing out now, and feels better after every massage session. Sensation in & around the dent is back to about 20%.
I did a bit of research online and apparently dents like this are quite common in abdominal lypo, and are often not the surgeons fault.
You have to wait until it is fully healed before you'll know if it needs correction or not.

Pics:

[Swarley]

6 weeks post op.
I had my follow up consultation with Karidis yesterday, which went really well. I can tell he's happy with the results.
I asked him about how firmly I should be massaging, and he decided to get hands on and show me.
Turns out I was being way too gentle, because he basically dug his fingers in, gripped a lump of scar tissue and started squeezing it. All this time I've just been rubbing the lumps of scar tissue with the tips of my fingers.

Similarly, for the dent in my side, which he said is caused by scar tissue pulling the skin in, he said I have to use prolonged pressure to squeeze the scar tissue - basically grab the dent from the top and bottom, making the middle of the dent push out, then squeeze as hard as you can.

Also, in the last week or so my chest feels like it's swollen a bit more. Karidis reckons I'm 20 - 25% swollen, so I can expect it to look much flatter once the swelling goes down, which should happen gradually over the next 4 months.

Here's some pics:




Also, some of you might be interested to know that the downwards escalator at St Johns Wood tube station is still closed, and the sign said the escalator works won't finish until mid February.
So, to get down to the platforms, you will have to use the stairs (which are quite steep, and there are no lifts in the station).
Anyone having surgery in January planning to take the tube to get home, I'd suggest you might want to consider having someone to help you get down the stairs, or maybe get a taxi instead.

Happy Christmas guys!

[NeedToLoseWeight]

Wow mate.. that's one of the best results I've seen on here, you must be chuffed.

I'll actually be doing the exact same thing as you, with the gyno and the flanks done at the same time. How much did everything, including the bloods, etc. cost? I currently have £4k saved up and if I follow the plan should have around £5.3k by the summer or I might just dip into my overdraft of £1k, which will be interest free for a year, and borrow about £300 and get the surgery sooner tbh. What do you suggest?

I'll be keeping an eye on your progress mate, gl.

[Swarley]

Thanks Dude.

The quotes I was given after my consultation back in October were:
Chest reduction: £2825 + hospital fee of £1483 (total = £4308)
Chest + Flanks: £3625 + hospital fee of £1658 (total = £5283)

Although from another thread, I think Karidis may have dropped his fee a little since then.

The consultation fee is £75, which is a donation to the hospice (I wrote a cheque on the day, they give you a donation envelope and a letter which explains what the hospice charity is all about & what the write on the cheque etc).

I got the blood tests done there too - Karidis' secretary took me back to the reception desk and told them I needed a blood test, filled out a form for me saying what needed doing, then all I had to do was pay for the tests. I think it was £137, which I was able to put on my debit card.

I think you can avoid that cost and have the blood test done at your GP (plenty of threads here where other guys have done that).

I chose to have it done there & then, and I had to wait all of 2 minutes before my name was called and I was taken into a little room off the reception area to have my blood taken.

Best of luck!

[NeedToLoseWeight]

Yeah I'm gonna my blood tests done there as well, I don't really like my GP and it's just too much of a headache for that bit of money. Hm, so I need around £5.5k in total for the surgery then. Should be manageable.

Did you come home alone after your surgery? I'm planning on commuting from Birmingham and back on the same day is that a sensible idea?

Also mate do you have some before and after pictures of your flanks? if possible, even before the weight loss would be great

[Swarley]

My sister drove me to & from the hospital on the day of my surgery - she had to go to work in between, so she dropped me off around 9, and picked me up around 5pm.

I was taken down for surgery about 11am. Not sure exactly what time I woke up, but at about 2.30pm the nurse said she was happy for me leave.

So I had to wait a few hours for my sister to pick me up. I did consider leaving early and making my own way home via tube & train. For me, it would have taken about an hour and a half to get home (10min walk to tube station, 20min tube ride, 40min train ride, 10min walk home from station).

I felt perfectly capable of doing that, but it was raining so I decided to chill in my room and wait for my sister. For what it's worth, it ended up taking an hour and a half to get home in the car thanks to rush hour traffic.

So I reckon commuting from Birmingham should be doable - Check out MickyDub's thread - he & I had surgery on the same day, and he commuted down from the northwest on his own.

They do say that you should have someone with you for 24 hours after surgery. Not sure if that's just in case you have a kind of delayed reaction to the anesthetic, or if just to generally help you because you might feel a bit dopey.

When I came round from the anesthetic, it felt exactly like first thing in the morning after a really big night out on the beers - that feeling where you're hungover, but at the same time still a bit drunk.

That feeling faded gradually over the next several hours. I wouldn't have wanted to drive, but felt fine walking around etc.
I cooked dinner for me & my sister when we got home, and only needed her help with 2 things:
- Putting on my seatbelt in the car
- Cutting off the surgical tape that had been stuck onto my armpit hair (shave your armpits with clippers to void this!).

Also mate do you have some before and after pictures of your flanks? if possible, even before the weight loss would be great

I'll try and post some soon - I took some before photos of the flanks, but haven't done any after ones yet.
I've had a bit of a dent in my left hand side flank which is caused by swelling & scar tissue, so I've been waiting for that to settle down & smooth out before taking pics.
Will be interesting to see it now, because I'm not totally convinced there's much difference in shape.

[chopper]

Summer 2012 is coming Swarley and you will be all healed up by then and ready to enjoy it to the full.

Result looks good mate, just hang in there and be positive over the next few weeks as they are the bumpy ones