Surgery with Levick 11/12/14 - Before/After op pics

[j86ui]

Yeh took everything, see the picture at the top of this thread, my chest was completely flat for the first 6 days then fluid built up, he does not seem concerned by it but if its still sat there by tge time hes back from Portugal i will probably ask him to drain as i know it is going to prolong getting back to the gym with it sat there

[skelly26259]

Yeah to tell you the truth I'm not to worried about the fluid in mine, I hope it will just settle in time. He took out my whole gland as well and thats the thing that concerns me, because when I lift up my arm and tense my chest a crater appears around the nipple. I emailed him about this and he said it was to do with swelling. He is one of the best in the game at this so that does reassure me all will come good.

[skelly26259]

Here is a picture from two days ago, see the fluid in the right pec.

[skelly26259]

Burger shot

[skelly26259]

Before

[j86ui]

I see what you mean, very similar to mine before, interesting as your left looked to have more gland pre op but its your right like mine with all the fluid. Ive been wearing the binder on top of the design veronique since day 7 but the fluid does not seem to be shifting yet, i do have some cratering and uneveness but i agree this is due to the overall swelling around the breast area.

[skelly26259]

If your worried about it mate go to the your GP and see what he/she thinks. I know you said you didn't want anyone draining the fluid but this is such an easy job for any Doctor or nurse. I think it will drain on it's own but if you get it drained I think it will speed up the recovery.  Keep me posted

[AchillesUK]

Sorry to hear about the complications. If you check my thread, I also had multiple episodes of fluid build up which required drainage, and I think this may have delayed my recovery too (I'm 6 months post op with still a fair amount of scar tissue). I did have the advantage that I lived only a 20mins drive away from Mr Levick, and at one point was having weekly draining.

I think he advised you to leave it due to the distance more than anything. He did actually tell me at one point its better to have the fluid drained as it can cause fluid build up.

I would agree with the fact that any GP should be able to do this. I would actually go down this route first, as people who have fluid build up unfortunately tend to have more than one episode. You dont want to be travelling multiple times across the country just to have fluid drained.

[j86ui]

Day 23

Just emailed Mr Levick a picture from today so thought I would update here too. The fluid on the left hand side seems to have largely disappeared, on the right however where there was more it is still there but not not wobbly but harder more like swelling.

The left hand side is looking good and I'm hoping the right will follow suit, I'm just concerned that I am currently not looking symmetrical, I have a distinct packet of something behind the right and you can see the shadow it casts in the picture.

Anyone have any ideas what this is and whether it is normal at this stage, I started massaging today for the first time as I'm thinking maybe scar tissue is setting in, more so behind the right?

[ha032742]

Chest looks so much better but agree the right side looks like it's lagging. I think it's possibly a combination of swelling/scar tissue and natural asymmetry of the chest muscles?

[j86ui]

Week 5

Today is 5 weeks since my operation. Not sure if things have improved since the last update, things largely look the same to me, in the latest picture the right still seems to be bigger than the left, the pictures was taken after 5 minutes of massage on each hence the oil.

The breast areas feel raised and hard and there is still a distinct ridge, I don't know if this is normal but Mr Levick does not seem concerned. My Lymphatic glands still seem very raised in my upper chest.

Not sure how I'm feeling so far, should I be concerned about the right side or will it settle in the coming weeks, I'm not sure.

I've finally ditched the binder and I'm wearing just an old compression vest and the design veronique compression vest on top, I think the binder has been responsible for the upper chest swelling.

Will post some side by side shots, before/after soon, any comments would be welcome.

[Big ste]

Just going to take time I'd just keep massaging  as much as ya can and try an keep ya vest on as much as ya can compression will help with any swelling

[j86ui]

Hi Big Ste, by vest do you mean the one with clips that we buy, or the binder? Am I right to no longer be wearing the binder?

Here's another picture, close range.

[Big ste]

Yer the one ya buy try putting some cold compression on ya for  a little while that's my plan anyway

[Bobby - LAgyne]

It looks good, J.  Congrats!  Remember, 5 weeks post op is still too early to judge on the final results.

---Bobby