15 month pics pg 9 Levick

[orrible]

Going to try and keep a thread to update with pics once a month.

My surgery diary can be viewed:- http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=8;action=display;num=1131699313

I developed Gynecomastia in Feburary 2005 after taking some herbal tablets sold in Holland And Barrett designed to lower DHT. The benefits of doing this are for hairloss, prostate and colestral control. The gyno was noticeable after two weeks when i stopped taking the tablets, and just progressed from their.

I had surgery with Dr Levick on 9 November 2005.
150 cc fat & 15g gland Left Hand Side
100 cc fat & 15g gland Right Hand Side

These Photos were taken before the operation. The 1st two were taken by Mr Levick. I was sitting hunched on a bed for those ones.



















 

[orrible]

After i removed the bandages 8 days post op i was thrilled with the appearence of my chest. I didnt take any pics that day though, the first i managed to take were 10 days post op. By now my chest had filled in slightly more, but i was still very pleased with it.







IMGhttp://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c268/stonecoldgyno1/41bd5f6d.jpg[/IMG]

[orrible]

These were taken at 1 month. I think something isnt right. My chest seems to have changed alot since 10 days post op. I feel that their is still gland present. Unfortunately im still not able to wear my old fitted T-Shirts again, and havent regained the confidence i had before getting gyne.














This picture shows that my nipple raises from my skin, and makes me believe that their is still gland present.

[chestrockwell]

i dont think it will be gland m8!, im not calling you a liar and i may be wrong but it may just be scar tissue, because i have it behind my nipple and i find it hard to massage because it feels quite uncomfortable to do, i expect that the scar tissue will shrink over the next few months and you nipples will sink in to place, i can feel little nobbley lumps behind my nipple now that were not there 7 days post op, they just felt hollow after surgery and i can only asume its scar tissue, mr levick is very thorough when it comes to removing gland as i found out during my op!, i was all sewed back up and ready to go back to my room when he thought he have one last feel and he thought that he could feel a tiny bit of glad so he decided to open me back up and remove it!. its just a waiting game now m8

chris.

[uk2000]

yo stonecold, it looks good, but it doesnt look like from the angle shots that u are totally flat.  it looks like u have some gland still poking out, but its had to say, cos it could be scar tissue build up, causing that appearance.
continue massaging.  did u buy that roller??  i found that roller is brilliant, and though i still have lots of scar tissue, its helping to breaking it down better than my fingers would.
1 side of mine is super flat, but the other is not right, its poking out.

[orrible]

Thanks for the comments.

Chris, i hope that you are correct. Do you have any picture updates? Its hard to remain confident that it is scar tissue when it is shaped like gynecomastia.

Nargle, after the expense and trauma of surgery i was hoping for more than a minor improvement. I was told i would be totally flat so am naturally dissapointed at this stage, particulalry as i was considered a minor case.

UK2000, i did buy the roller. Had it two days so will let you know how i get on. Im not even sure my scar tissue is that bad, though i massage it 1-3 times per day as per Dr Levicks advice.

My big concern at the moment is that the patients pictures below, who helped me decide on Dr Levick. Their results looked great after surgery and great at every other update their after.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/doddygyne/album?.dir=2c5d

http://www.geocities.com/kuztardd/gynecomastia

People who have had similar issues to me post op seem to either still be complaning about them or seeking a revision.

Ive added some more pictures taken today which might show more clearly what im concerned about.

This picture i believe shows the gland. When flexing a non gynecomastia chest would sit flush to the skin.







This is a comparison shot

[phantom]

Hello stonecold

I have been reading your posts with great interest as I have my initial consultation with Mr Levick next Tuesday.

Just how well do you think he managed your expectations?  Did he give indication to best and worst case scenarios?

Please, don't think I am underestimating your concerns, but after studying your pictures, I think you have a very neatly defined chest.  Your chest pre-op is very different looking to mine.  My chest is mostly fatty, though I am not overweight.  I know it's all relative on how we feel about our chest.  I know that if my chest looked anything like yours post-op, I'd think it nothing short of a miracle.

However, you are clearly still concerned.  For myself, what ever the outcome post-op, I intend not to raise any concerns for at least six months - if I have any.  Male breast reduction is a low-risk procedure, but it is highly traumatic on the skin.  As I am sure you have read, many guys say that the don't feel as if matters have 'normalised' for anything up to a year.

When do you reach the six month mark?  I hope you continue to make progress and things settle to your expectation.

PS  any tips for next Tuesday when I see Mr Levick?

Cheers.

PPS  I plan to post a full set of pics pre and post op four weeks post surgery which should be by the end of February.

[uk2000]

stonecold, that shot where u are tensing yr biceps is a good shot t o see if u have gland present. u seem to have a little bit left which is not giving u the appearance u want.
when u look at yr chest from side angles, are both sides looking flat, or do u have that poke on both of em.

like i said to people b4, after 4 weeks, wot yr chest looks like in size IS THE SIZE it will be.  after 4 weeks all that happens is that lumps and bumps even out, giving a better shape to the chest.  though dis does not reflect the overall size of the chest.

[orrible]

Phantom,

Mr Levick is a great guy and im sure you will find him very friendly. He told me that it could up to a year to heal. I dont really recall best and worse case scenarios however, but i was told i would have a flat chest both at the consultation and after the operation.

If you do decide to have the procedure then i am still sure you will be making a great decision. My operation was very easy. The staff were all fantastic and i couldnt have asked for more. It really was an A1 service.

"For myself, what ever the outcome post-op, I intend not to raise any concerns for at least six months - if I have any".

I understand that. I was hoping that by posting updates on a monthly basis with how i am feeling that i could benefit from others who've been their who might be able to help. Also for any other people yet to have the operation, at least they can look at my updates and see what to expect from month to month.

Maybe my problem is that i got to much to soon. When i removed my bandages i didnt expect my chest to look as good as it did. It was perfectly flat. Now watching it change for the worse is quite hard to deal with.

Regarding tips, not sure really. If you start a post here before your operation you will get loads im sure telling you what to wear, what to take, what to shave etc, to aid recovery. Tips for the consultation - write your questions down before you go so you remember to ask them. Its easy to forget. I took some photographs to show Dr levick my problem and illistrated over them to show what i hoped could be achieved.

UK2000,

Yeah the bicep shot without gynecomastia should show the skin flush to the chest not raised up. Thats why i am concerned i still have gland their. If true that my chest wont get smaller than it is now, then i will be very dissapointed, and will have to seek further surgery.

[phantom]

Thanks for the quick response and advice.  I will let you know how the consultation goes next week in my current thread 'The Journey Begins'.

[orrible]

Todays my work do for christmas. I was really looking forward to it and had been planning to wear one of my old t-shirts that i loved wearing this time last year. Unfortunately i still cant wear it as it still shows of my gynecomastia

Im feeling so fed up now. I had vowed to myself before having surgery that i didnt start the year with gynecomastia and therefore wouldnt end it with gynecomastia. I wont post any more pics until the 9th January when im 2 months out, but presently i see absolutley no improvement at all. I had asked for clothes vouchers for christmas as i was hoping to be able to buy some new t-shirts, but know now that they will end up just sitting in my draw.

Sorry for the negative post but i just needed somewhere to vent, as i cant really talk to anybody else about this. Just feeling really sad and depressed by it all today. :-/

[chestrockwell]

take a pic m8 with you in your shirt!, let me see if i can see what your talking about, my nipples are still swollen but i dont give a flying f*ck, i see people with worse looking chests than mine and they dont give a damn about it, my nips still show throu my traning vests but i dont care because i know i have no gyne no more so its not a problem, come on m8 get some pics up then il post some of me in my shirts and you can see that they're not as bad as mine

[webster]

Stonecold, keep ur pecker up m8!

If Mr L got U flat right after your op then I doubt U got much gland left  - he's good at that. What U have is likely scar tissue, typically from small heamatoma or seratoma were the gland was removed. This happened to me.

In that case you'll see gradual improvement over the months. I read somewhere on this board of an analogy where someone walked into a lamp post and got a big lump on their head which took 18 months to go. Same with such post op scar tissue. See IT100's posts - reckons improvements still after 18 months.

But if you are not happy then you might have revision after 6 - 12 months. The longer U leave that decision the better, cos the better the revision will turn out.

I know what it feels like to not be completely happy after 2 or 3 months - U want it sorted RIGHT NOW ?

But you gotta wait it out. Try not to think about it over Xmas. Remember the worst thing is if you'd had too much tissue removed.

Good luck anyways. I'll let you know what happens with MY revision.

Laters. Webster.

[orrible]

Many thanks for the replies.

Chris, I will post a pic in the shirts in my next update. Would appreciate seeing your updates to see what stage you are at. I am trying not to take pics until a month has passed because I think if there is any changes it will be clearer to see then, and if I keep taking pics constantly then I wont be very objective about it.. Its great that you can wear training vests again. I simply would feel to self conscious to wear my old ones.  

“I see people with worse looking chests than mine and they dont give a d**n about it”

I assume that these people either don’t know they have gyne or have a better ability to deal with it than me. Also when I see these people they usually haven’t spent years in a gym working out, dieting and being body conscious and also haven’t spent £3655 on surgery to correct it.

Webster, thanks for the positive comments. Mr Levick did get me flat as a board after surgery, or at least that’s how it appeared when I removed my bandages on day 8. Im not sure if being compressed like that for 8 days might have given the illusion of a much flatter chest, however its just got bigger and more gyne like since.

How do you know if youv’e had a heomatoma or serotoma,Their was no evidence of anything untoward when I removed the bandages?  

When do you plan to have your revision and how many months post op will you be? I think I could wait six months but another 12 months of this would be a nightmare for me.

I am very sure that what I am experiencing is still gyne. The reason is that my nipples aren’t tight to my skin and still seem slack, and pointy. They also react to the room temperature as they always have, decreasing in size when it gets colder.

I would love to be wrong however and hope that in 6 months time I have the chest I had when the bandages were removed. I would prefer to be realistic though rather than hopeful.

[faust]

stonecold -- I think you should know that even 100% normal male chests are not always 100% flat.  I had truly one-sided gyne, so I have the unique perspective of someone who has in a way both had and not had gyne. It was confirmed independently by a GP, a general surgeon and my PS that the right side of my chest was/is totally normal, while my left side had a large glandular mass.  And trust me, my PS likely would have been more than happy to make some extra cash by operating on my right side if there had even been the slightest bit of gyne there.  

The nipple on the gyne-free side of my chest is not totally flat, in fact I'd even say it's not even quite as flat as yours is in your post-op pictures, but it looks (and more importantly, IS, even from a medical perspective) 100% normal.  Even when I flex my bicep as in the photo you took, it is not flush to the chest as you suggested a gyne-free chest should be.  There is natural variation in the shape of gyne-free male chests, and a normal chest is not necessarily defined by perfect flatness.  

I think your results look fantastic, without a doubt one of the best I've seen...you had a pretty minor case to begin with and it looks like your surgeon did a brilliant job.  I'm not sure what your surgeon did, but sometimes a bit of gland is left in to prevent nipple inversion.  While this may leave your chest slightly less than flat, it certainly does not take it out of the "normal" range.  Naturally, what is most important is how you feel about your chest, and of course a physical change (i.e. surgery) can go a long way towards improving these feelings. I honestly think that your surgeon has taken that path about as far as it can go, and that now it is up to you to get the rest of the way to being _mentally_ gyne free by reexamining your attitude towards your body.

All that said, do what you need to do to make yourself happy, and don't hesitate to go back to your PS with your concerns.  It really does take a fair amount of time for results to really settle down...I am at 7.5 mos. post op and my chest is still visibly changing, so don't lose hope.  Best of luck to you.

-f