gyno surgery recovery log

[wolfman6328]

Hi to all gym rats out here on canadabodybuilding. I thought I would start a new thread about my gyno surgery experience because I find that not enough people have composed a clear description of their experiences for others. I will start with this message outlining broadly what has happened to me to date and gladly accept questions, and will try and keep updated over the next few weeks the healing process.

First of all, my gyno originally came from puberty. As long as I can remember, I had these little dime-sized hard lump under my nipples giving my chest a slightly wierd look in spite of being quite lean when I began bodybuilding. The problem is that later on, the gyno got much worse through my first cycle. I hadn't used anti-e's properly during a test cycle and got all the symptoms like really itchy and painful to the touch nipples. In the back of my mind this didin't really matter too much because I knew I would get the surgery done sometime soon anyway, and that happened yesterday.

I had surgery in the morning of Sept 1 in a upscale plastic surgery clinic in missisauga. I had visited and had consults in a lot of clinics and this guy was undoubtedly the best, using technniques which seemed to follow in line with world experts in the field like Dr. Bermant in Virginia (who treats a lot of top amateurs). Plus, I had a bunch of bodybuilders tell me the guy is really good, so the positive rep was really assuring.

Surgery was painless. General aneasthetic, totally knocked out cold (they used a giant horse syringe filled with propofol, through an IW lol). I was in recovery room for a bit, then a friend picked me up and I went on with my day. I have a tight bandage around my lower chest/upper abs as well as a tight compression vest that looks like some sort of sleeveless powerlifting shirt.

The doc cut out as much of the gland as possible and did some lipo aswell. The vaser lipo contributed to a slight burning sensation upon waking in recovery, but I pretty much felt no pain after the surgery...untill about 1 hour ago...which is why I am even bothering to write this. An hour ago I woke up with an extreme burning/tearing sensation in my pec/nipple area, especially the right one. First off, I must say that I hate using painkillers. I never even take aspirin/tylenol/ibuprofen, so I am pretty much flying on codeine when I was given a t3 2 years ago in emergency ward. This doc gave me percocets for post-surgery, and I was determined to NOT take any. So I took some tylenol around 8pm, and thought everyhting was cool till that extreme tearing pain at 12am, an hour ago. I took a perc (5mg oxycodone/325mg paracetamol) and now the pain has pretty much entirely subsided and I feel all warm inside lol.

Tommorow I have to remove the bandages and clean the area and vest before putting the vest back on. The vest has to be worn for 6 weeks straight, but it is not too conspicuous so I am not worried.

Anyway, if any of you out there have any questions, I will try to answer them tommorow when I log back in.

[gsxr750]

Do you mind sharing how much it cost? I know OHIP covers the removal of the glands but not the lipo. I was looking at Fielding in Toronto to do mine I think was his name, or Dr. Thoma in Hamilton..estimated around $1500 CAD.

Curious as well, one doc told me he would need to leave tubes in me for a few days to ensure proper drainage.. you didn't need that? Thanks for the log!

[tiramisu]

If you don't mind I'm sure some pictures as you heal would be really interesting.

[wolfman6328]

it cost me $5150 for the surgery (4900 before tax) and $150 for the meds. this is definitely steep in the general scheme of things, but like I said i saw a bunch of docs, like Dr. Kara in yorkville area in TO and they just didn't "get it." They didn't clearly understand AAS usage WRT the gyno and wanted me to go see an endo for some vague reason. Granted, you have to get a blood test before any such surgery and I got one, but referring me to an endo for some vague reason that the doc couldn't even explain to me is really f*d up (Dr Kara did this). Plus, the guy I went to (Dr. Lista) is known to treat a lot of bodybuilders, so he has more experience 'sculpting' a male physique than others. He was very upfront about AAS usage and looks like he works out quite abit himself (really ripped guy, decent sized forearms lol), as opposed to Dr. Kara who is a really small/scrawny Indian guy. You guys might laugh at this, but to me it was important that the doc show an understanding or appreciation for how a developped male chest ought to look like, and one clear sign is if the doc works out himself.

The money came out my own pocket, cash no less because I hate applying for loans (I am a 4th year engineering student and the bank doesn't seem to get that even though I already have lots of student-related debt, I will be making a clean 60-70k starting salary next year). I wanted this done badly as I had pretty ****in bad case (it looks like 1/3 or more of my chest is gone as this point) of gyno, but I will see how much I can claim through OHIP and deduct from taxes.

pics can def be arranged. the doc took before pics and will take after as well, but I doubt he will release them to me. I have some side chest pics showing the severity of the gyno and will post these in comparison to new pics in about a weeks time. For any of you that don't know, gyno surgery usually involves LOTS of swelling after the operation, so the results really start to show weeks after surgery and are complete months after. However, in my case I am pretty sure, so long as I don't get a bad swelling/fluid buildip that requires draining, the initial results will be seen in as little as a week and i will try and take a pic then as well as a month from then.

the only thing that really sucks is that you really have to stop training for a couple weeks (they say 4 weeks but if I feel good, I will try and restart leg training and arms in 2-3 weeks if i feel good, but mostly isolation). I have been dieting off cycle now (im sitting at 210, 5'7'' now while doing no carb dieting) and refuse to eat carbs or even have cheat meals since I am not training as it is. not being able to train for me is horrible as I am a fairly compulsive person and have not taken more than a 4 day break from training in over 3 years. needless to say, i feel like ass, but try to stay positive as i needed the surgery since I plan to compete in some regional show in the next 2 years.

[Knuckles28]

i had a similar operation when i was 16, never had to were a "vest" but i had the bandages on for awhile.. cost us nothing, i think it was covered back then, puberty related gyno. i was playing AAA midget at the time and the gyno made showering "difficult".
Dr was very good just off 17th ave sw Calgary. but it was 16 years ago too.

[LIVEHARD]

it cost me $5150 for the surgery (4900 before tax) and $150 for the meds. this is definitely steep in the general scheme of things, but like I said i saw a bunch of docs, like Dr. Kara in yorkville area in TO and they just didn't "get it." They didn't clearly understand AAS usage WRT the gyno and wanted me to go see an endo for some vague reason. Granted, you have to get a blood test before any such surgery and I got one, but referring me to an endo for some vague reason that the doc couldn't even explain to me is really f*d up (Dr Kara did this). Plus, the guy I went to (Dr. Lista) is known to treat a lot of bodybuilders, so he has more experience 'sculpting' a male physique than others. He was very upfront about AAS usage and looks like he works out quite abit himself (really ripped guy, decent sized forearms lol), as opposed to Dr. Kara who is a really small/scrawny Indian guy. You guys might laugh at this, but to me it was important that the doc show an understanding or appreciation for how a developped male chest ought to look like, and one clear sign is if the doc works out himself.

The money came out my own pocket, cash no less because I hate applying for loans (I am a 4th year engineering student and the bank doesn't seem to get that even though I already have lots of student-related debt, I will be making a clean 60-70k starting salary next year). I wanted this done badly as I had pretty ****in bad case (it looks like 1/3 or more of my chest is gone as this point) of gyno, but I will see how much I can claim through OHIP and deduct from taxes.

pics can def be arranged. the doc took before pics and will take after as well, but I doubt he will release them to me. I have some side chest pics showing the severity of the gyno and will post these in comparison to new pics in about a weeks time. For any of you that don't know, gyno surgery usually involves LOTS of swelling after the operation, so the results really start to show weeks after surgery and are complete months after. However, in my case I am pretty sure, so long as I don't get a bad swelling/fluid buildip that requires draining, the initial results will be seen in as little as a week and i will try and take a pic then as well as a month from then.

the only thing that really sucks is that you really have to stop training for a couple weeks (they say 4 weeks but if I feel good, I will try and restart leg training and arms in 2-3 weeks if i feel good, but mostly isolation). I have been dieting off cycle now (im sitting at 210, 5'7'' now while doing no carb dieting) and refuse to eat carbs or even have cheat meals since I am not training as it is. not being able to train for me is horrible as I am a fairly compulsive person and have not taken more than a 4 day break from training in over 3 years. needless to say, i feel like ass, but try to stay positive as i needed the surgery since I plan to compete in some regional show in the next 2 years.

Good luck

[Krozone]

Glad to hear it went well Bro!

had mine done here in Toronto (North York General) 5 years ago, cost me $0

Complained to my Family Doctor about how it was effecting my Job...Causing stress.. Sent me to the Breast clinic at North York General, met with them and the next thing I knew it was all over (A Few weeks later that is..).

Sure was glad to have it done. Gyno was not much, no need for a compression vest. Both nips were done. Scars are no longer visable (Unless you look VERY closly.)

You'll feel like a new man once it
s all healed!

KrO!

[wolfman6328]

So I took off the bandages as the doc said and threw the compression vest into the wash. I was anxieous about the results, but now that I have seen them I am happy. I gotta say, results are pretty much as good as I would have hoped. There is no excessive swelling, and I hope that this doesn't start. Maybe this is because the doc gave me antibiotics and arnica to take pre and post surgery. I will still wait a week though before first set of pics in order to make sure there is no future swelling in the next couple of days. Pain is not so bad this morning. Lower chest around the nipples definitely feals sore, but not like last night where the under-nipple areas felt like they were being ripped off. On this related note, I have no more need for these percocets, which is good riddance because although the perc took the pain completely away, it also gave me this wierd dizziness and made me fall into a weird deep sleep. In any case, although I am able to lift my hands slightly above my head, I can't really lift anything because it hurts whenever I flex/contract my chest - it was tough to even lift/pour laundry detergent into the wash.

[wolfman6328]

pain has really subsided. i can now lift my arms and even dare to hit a double bi pose. chest is looking better and better every day. there is still some swelling in the lower, outer chest areas, right above where there are two small hole-type scars, presumably where they stuck that lipo needle to clean up the estrogen-related fat buildup. nipple appearance is improving, prabably as the skin starts to relax on its own from the prior gyno-related stretching.
not taking any pain meds, not even tylenol. it seems like i am recovering rather quickly from this surgery, at least in comparison to other posts i've read about this surgery. this leads me to suspect that the surgeon did a good job, in that he removed the majority of gyno tissue while minimizing damage to underlying muscle fascia. i am recommending this surgeon.

the compression vest they gave me to wear is pretty f'n tight, but you get used to it. it is kind of like wearing a bullet proof vest. the doc def advised me against it, but i think i can probably hit the gym in as little as 1 week to do isolation exercises like side laterals, curls, kickbacks, leg extensions and leg curls. if any of you guys already have experience recovering from such surgery, i'd appreciate if you chimed in on whether this is in fact do-able. will post pics in a couple days.

[YYZgeddylee]

Fantastic thread wolfman,
thanks for sharing with us.
Looking fwd to the pictures.

YYZ

[Mr Ontario]

Keeping the vest on as long as you can is imperative to proper recovery...keeps the swelling down :)

[wolfman6328]

here are some "AFTER" pics i took. i took these at night and i don't have much lighting in my apartment, so the lighting in the photo isn't the greatest, but you can see the overall results. the most noticeably jarring thing is that i have some swelling (i know cuz it is tender to the touch) and possibly some extra fat in the lower, outer chest areas (under the nipple). I am pretty sure that this will get slightly better with time and continual use of the compression vest in the next month. plus, i am just at the beginning of a long-ass cut, so any lower chest fat should reduce and look better now that the solid gland is gone. what is wierd, though, is that i have almost no sensation around the nipple area. i would venture a guess that this is due to the inflammation of the area as well as a loss of nerves that may have been lodged in the gyno tissue. overall, again, i am happy with the results because, as you guys will see when i put up BEFORE pics, i had it pretty bad. it is so much of a relief to not think about it all the time, and i can't wait till i run my next cycle to build-up a decent looking chest rather than a chest with tits on top of it lol.

thanks for the positive response to the log so far and a thanks to mr. ontario for the advice on the compression vest - i need a bit of motivation to wear that tight crap under a shirt in hot, humid toronto weather lol. but i still pose the question to any of you that have gone through this, of just how detrimental it may be if i work out (not chest and not usual intensity of course, just isolation moves) within a two week time frame post-surgery? basically, i feel like i can easily flex, say my arms or delts, without any chest pain, so i am wondering if this means i am good for a light workout? to the best of my knowledge, i think the reason the docs tell you to not workout for so long is because increased blood flow in the area may interfere with capillary rebuilding in the area, but i am not sure and would appreciate a reply if anyone does.

[Mr Ontario]

Ya...you have your entire life to work....no rush....let everything heal properly. Seems you have the muscle there already....won't take much to get things back into routine when the time comes. :)

[readymade]

I knew this was 5 years ago, but did the fat or swelling below your nipple ever go away? I got same thing done six weeks ago and there is a noticible lump under each nipple (below peck muscle) that is tender to the touch. Hoping it goes away. Thanks!





Ya...you have your entire life to work....no rush....let everything heal properly. Seems you have the muscle there already....won't take much to get things back into routine when the time comes. :)