My photos 9 days post surgery

[allatonce]

Hi guys,

This board really made my decision to have surgery so much easier. I believe it made my adjustment to surgery and my choice of Doctor so much easier, and smoother. I originally approached a Doctor who I was not at all comfortable with in the Toronto area and almost gave up. When I found this site, I found Dr. Fielding's name a lot, and heard good things about him. I also read through everyone's experiences so had a really clear idea of what to expect. All of this has helped so much in this process.

The surgery with Dr. Fielding was as good as I could have expected. I knew exactly what to expect, and within an hour of waking felt pretty fine. There was never any real pain, some minor discomfort, but I've had just as much from a hard day at the gym. There has been minimal swelling so far, and almost everything is going as well as I could hope. I have a small concern about my right nipple. The left one already seems almost completely back to normal. It goes erect in the shower and everything. The right doesn't yet. It also seems to have a crease in it, and I seem to feel scar tissue behind it. I will soon have to start massaging I think. I will discuss this with Dr Fielding in my post-op next week (it was supposed to be this week but I cancelled it because I had an interview).

Since this board was so invaluable to me, I felt I need to give back. I don't have any pre-op pics yet, but maybe if I find some I will come back and put them online. And these are the earliest post-op I took. But I think it is still useful.

http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x421/cdn_guy_4/

Just for reference, my gyno case was not a severe one but still affected me. The doctor said he took 150cc of fat from each side and showed me the size of the gland by making a circle with his thumb and index finger, seemed about the diameter of a golf ball.

If anyone has any questions let me know, and I just want to take a moment to thank this site for all the help it gave me.

[JamesDawson]

Looks great dude and welcome to the other side

9 days is way to early to check, the common saying on these forums is wait 6 months. Just eat healthy, rest, don't stretch and give your body time to heal.

[allatonce]

Just to update things are getting really better. Recovery has been a lot easier than expected. Everything is normal except for not being able to work out (which kinda throws my whole life off track). In general I'm happy though. Saw Dr Fielding today and he seemed happy with the progress too. My scars are pretty much no longer visible at 2 weeks post op, still have a small crease in my right nipple but I think that's from scar tissue forming underneath which should go away soon. I'm excited to see the final result once all swelling has gone down and everything is recovered 100%.

[Raider Fan]

How cool that the need and value of this site was reflected in your post.  It's awesome to think how this site really is a help to so many around the world.  Thanks for letting everyone know how appreciative you are, and glad to hear your surgery went well. 

Welcome to gyne.org, allatonce.  Keep us updated on your progress.

[allatonce]

Yes it did. Happy to talk to anyone who has questions. To give you guys an idea my build was fairly lean and athletic already, hit the gym regularly. I used to be big and lost all the weight, but never could get it off my chest. Both gland and some fat that didn't seem to really come off there very well.

[oldspice]

how soon were u able to book the surgery from ur first appointment? is he booked for months or does he have space? how much did he charge u? and lastly how bad was the "no shower for one week"? thanks

[allatonce]

It was going to be a couple months but I managed to get a cancellation for right about the exact date I want, just a couple weeks after my consult. I paid 2460 with taxes in, which seemed a bit high, but was worth it for me. The no shower bothered me a lot less than I thought. But I still washed my face, brushed my teeth, and have a  detachable showerhead so could shower the bottom half fine, and then sponge bath other parts if I want to. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

[oldspice]

awesome, thanks. were u out completely for the surgery? did u have someone sign u out? reason i ask is because i will be doing this pretty discreetly, dont want anyone knowing. can i sign myself out even if i am not driving? or will i have to spend the night?.  also, how obvious is the vest/dressings/wrappings under a shirt? lastly, you think this is something i can hide from people for the first week or so, or will it be obvious i had something done? i will be around family/friends obviously, as most people are. thanks man.

[Island Guy]

allatonce, great results and great price too!

oldspice, most are completely knocked out (general anesthesia) and in my experience, they will not let you go by yourself afterwards. I had sponge type pads under the binder for the first 3 days which adds a little bulk to the binder. Still was easy to hide with a bulky shirt. Once those pads came out , it is very easy to hide under most shirts. All depends on the type of garment you're given. As long as your wearing a shirt friends/family probably won't notice anything other than you not moving comfortably. If that happens, just have an excuse ready, like I fell off a ladder and hit my chest, or something else.   

[allatonce]

I have to say, I would recommend telling someone close to you if possible. It helps a lot. I ended up telling my mom, who told my dad, and they were both a lot more understanding than I thought they would be. Probably helped that I wasn't asking them to pay for it hehe.

I have to say I didn't feel the pads that I had on for the first week were that easy to hide, but probably because I was so self conscious of them. I went through airport security with them on and only a button up shirt and nothing was said or anything. Now is a pretty good time of year because you can wear a sweater.

I think not hiding it from everyone will help. You will not be as mobile as for, won't be able to reach up to grab things from the top shelf for  the first few days, etc. I just moved back home, and if I had refused to do things like help chop and carry the firewood and other chores without a good reason, would have caused fights. Since they knew I was injured I didn't have to explain myself why I couldn't do these things. Something to think about.

If telling anyone is COMPLETELY out of the question, and not just about embarrassment, then you could try and do it without telling anyone, but it might just be more complicated. And they say they will not let you out of the hospital unaccompanied.

[oldspice]

Thanks for the reply again, yeah it's out of the question mainly because friends and family worry a lot when they hear the word surgery. I was thinking I stay overnight in the hospital then stay another night in a hotel. Hopefully a couple nights will be enough to recover just a little bit, then head home. I can sign myself out the next day, can I not? Thanks again for the replies.