Hello everyone, my name’s Jared and I’m 17 years old. I know that you have probably heard every version of men having Gynecomastia, but I would like to share mine as well. For as long as I could remember I have kept this a secret from everyone around me and I hope it helps me feel a little better if I can get this off my chest (No pun intended). A little info: my parents are divorced, and barely speak to each other.
I remember first noticing my gynecomastia since I was 8 years old, I noticed when I took gymnastics and wore tight spandex, and i didn’t look like everyone else. After the initial teasing from the other kids I quit gymnastics. In third grade I moved away from my home town, became depressed and got really heavy. This only made the breasts larger, and by the time I moved home I was very self conscious about my weight. So I took action. In 9th grade I went on a diet and thinned out to 142 lbs and grew to 5’6”. I thought by losing all this weigh most of the Gyne would vanish also, but I was wrong. Now, with my stomach flat, and the breasts still there they are more noticeable than ever, and it has only lowered my self esteem. I started to seclude myself in my room, only coming out to eat, go to the bathroom, and go to school. I rarely left to go outside, or make contact with my friends. My friends were always the best, they made me laugh, and have always been there for me, but even still I couldn’t get myself to stay in contact with them outside of school. While at school no one would ever suspect me to be suffering in silence, they treated me no differently than any other group of friends would. I’ve had girls confess their feelings for me, that I felt the same way about, but could never date them because I was afraid they would reject me as soon as my shirt was off, so I have never once had a girlfriend.
Last July I finally got to visit a Dr. with my dad to see if I was eligible for the surgery. After a series of tests he concluded I was eligible, and could have the surgery for a minimum of $10,000 - $20,000, but hopefully the insurance company could cover it. We accepted the price and went away feeling good that it was going to get taken care of eventually. It was then I found out my Father and Grandfather also had Gynecomastia. My dad had it removed when he was 20, and my granddad still lives with it today. It felt good to know he knew what I was going through, and I was not alone. But, as the time went on and we found out that the insurance company had denied our claims TWICE, I started feeling like I was the only one in the world suffering through this. The depression fell back into place, and the suicidal thoughts came back. I began to think about getting a knife and cutting them off, but have always restrained myself from doing any from of self harm. It was then that I was admitted into the hospital after I couldn’t shake the thoughts. We all hoped that mentioning the depression and self harm to the insurance company would reconsider the claim.... they didn’t.
After months of my depression growing worse my mother stepped in and took me to a new doctor that was a head surgeon a Uconn medical center. This man saw the other two claims, and told us that the last doctor stated everything wrong. In fact the surgery would have been $5,000 MAX and that my level of Gynecomastia was so severe that there should have been no reason for us to get denied.
Again my hopes were restored, and I thought that the surgery was back on track. Unfortunately as time dragged on, we got no reply from the insurance company, and no one in the family seemed to have the money at the time. My hopes were dashed AGAIN and now i feel that this is completely hopeless. There have been fights between my parents and me, and no one seems to remember that this whole thing was originally to make me feel, and look, better as a man. But, what I thought was supposed to be a simple process turned out to be nothing more than drama.
I guess my reason for joining this forum was to seek guidance from other people that may have gone through the same thing I am so I won't always have the feeling that I'm alone.
P.S. I will post my pictures hopefully later tonight so you have an idea to what the second doctor was talking about.
~Jared
Topic: Lost teen looking for guidance... (Read 7580 times)
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