Dr Martin Vesely removed my infected mole without any pain, he was very gentle and professional. I felt very comfortable during the procedure. He is a fantastic doctor and a real gentleman. I highly recommend him to everyone.
I'm a 41 year old English man who has been diabetic since the age of 3. This has involved having insulin injections since 9th February 1977. For many years, my parents and I were told that the best place for me to inject was in my torso/abdomen area. The problem is, due to the fact that not enough research had been done in this area, the constant puncturing of skin and the use of artificial insulins caused a condition known as 'hyperlipotrophy'. This basically manifest as hard, fatty, scarred lumps under my skin. It essentially gave me a 'muffin top' on an otherwise well looked after body (competitive swimmer during my 10's and teens, and heavy gym user since). I was bought up on a diet of super-heroes and bodybuilders, so the inbuilt image of what a 'perfect man' should look like was very clearly defined. As such, I worked hard at the gym (I go twice a day during the working week) to keep myself fit and toned. My weight fluctuates a little (principally due to the fact that I go through bulking and cutting cycles), but these fluctuations never allow a significant amount of 'fat weight', and are usually more down to either building muscle (heavier) or stripping the fat down as low as I can go (11% is the lowest I've achieved - muffin top notwithstanding). The problem was, no matter how low my weight got, the hyperlipotrophy wouldn't go away. It caused me confidence issues, and I couldn't wear clothes that would suit the rest of my physique. I also was uncomfortable with taking my top off at the beach (on the rare occasion the opportunity arose in the UK!) I was also nervous and reticent to get naked in front of my past sexual partners and most recently my wife. In the end, when I'd tried everything (Cardio focus, cocoa butter, Thiumicase, ECA and other dreadful slimming drugs), I figured I'd had enough. I admitted to myself that no matter what I put my body through - no matter how tight and clean the diet, or how I abused myself with these slimming drugs etc, I was never going to overcome the disfigurement that had occurred due to the insulin injections. About this time, the injections stopped. Due to my excellent HBa1C's, yet irregular blood sugars and frequent hypos, I was given an insulin pump. The cannula for this device was only changed every 3 days, and could be worn attached to my buttock, meaning I could avoid my torso for good. I went online and started to look for surgeons. My initial plan was to get liposuction to suck the crap out from my abdominal area, thinking that the skin surrounding the hyperlipotrophy would return to its original shape due to my olive, supple skin. I looked for a surgeon who was obviously very invested in his career but wasn't a surgeon who's principal drive was to give people botox and nose-jobs. I found Mr Martin Vesely who is a consultant plastic surgeon and honorary lecturer at St George's hospital in London. He also works out of Woking Nuffield and Mt Alvernia hospital in Guildford - both of which were right near my home address. Martin's speciality was reconstructive surgery post cancer surgery, which gave me confidence in his focus on quality. He wasn't about creating fake 6-packs and giving skinny girls bigger boobs. :) I went for an initial consultation with him, and he was very pleasant and listened to the story I've written above. He examined my abdomen, then broke the bad news to me that in order to resolve the issues I had, liposuction would not work. What I needed was a full abdominoplasty to remove the excess skin and the underlying areas of fat which could not be removed in any other way. Whilst meeting with Martin was great, I left the surgery feeling quite down about the whole thing. As I understood it, undergoing liposuction would take about a week to get over. An abdominoplasty on the other hand, could take 6-8 weeks and would leave significant scarring. I'd asked Mr Vesely to get his secretary to send me a quote for the work. Even though this wasn't anything to do with 'bad health behaviour' on my part (always had to look after myself due to being diabetic), and was down to the consumption of drugs which were keeping me alive - it wasn't dangerous and as such was considered cosmetic. Due to this, the NHS would not cover the cost. I thought about pretty much nothing else for around a week. I discussed it a lot with my wife (who didn't really 'get' why I was so bothered by my waist), but in the end, I decided to go for it. I informed Mr Vesely via his secretary that '[I] would be in touch once I'd sorted the money for the procedure'. This took longer than I expected, but I contacted Sheila (Martin's secretary) in November to book my date. This ended up being 11th February 2015 - 2 days after my 38th anniversary of being diagnosed diabetic. Due to being diabetic, there was a lot of communication regarding how my diabetes would be managed, which was all covered very well. Despite being 6'5" tall, and a fairly 'butch' man, I was quite frightened on the day of the procedure. Martin had told me as much as he could about what to expect, but 'some soreness' are two words which without context don't really mean anything. I'd also not been under general anaesthetic since the age of 6. I was looked after by the hospital staff at Woking Nuffield and eventually taken down to surgery. My anaesthetist, Mark Kubli, was a very straightforward man, who, despite his apparent lack of much in the way of bedside manner, came across as the type of person who was detail oriented and would 'get things done' - basically, someone you could trust to do the right thing and get the best possible result. Mark had mentioned in a previous email to me that he expected me to be awake and fully aware of my surroundings within about 30 minutes of the end of surgery. Having been through a hiatus hernia with my wife, I found this expectation surprising, given it took her around 5 days to fully recover. But Mark wasn't wrong - he was *absolutely* on the money. I woke up around 30 mins post-surgery and other than having very numb hands (apparently due to the position my arms needed to be in during surgery), I was in control of all my faculties. I felt very little in the way of discomfort - my abdomen felt like I'd taken a hard, open handed slap to it - but the most noticeable sensation was numbness. It's worth pointing out at this point that I didn't have a 'full' tummy tuck - generally a full tummy tuck involves the tightening of the abdominal muscles post pregnancy and the like, but that really wasn't necessary with me - my abdominoplasty was simply the removal of the excess skin and the hyperlipotrophy. Anyway - the numbness was fine with me. The medical staff and Mr Vesely gave the opinion that this could be down to the local anaesthetic used alongside the general, and as such I was put on some fairly heavy, morphine based pain killers. I came out of surgery at around 6pm, and the procedure was about 3.5 hours (I think). The key problem I had immediately post surgery was sleeping. I was in very little pain - could get up and go to the bathroom unaided, for example - but I was SUPER wide awake. At about midnight, I turned my light off, then proceeded to lay in the darkness with my eyes closed for about 90 minutes. In the end, I gave up and called a nurse. She told me that sometimes intubation (the pipe in your mouth and throat to keep you breathing during surgery) stimulated the thyroid, causing insomnia. A quite unfortunate side effect after 3.5 hours of surgery and a wound from hip to hip! I took some more of the strong pain killers I'd be prescribed, as the nurse said they would make me drowsy. I then sat and watched a movie on my laptop until around 3am, after which I fell to sleep for around 2.5 hours. The next day was fine - Mr Vesely visited and examined my wound. From what I could see, it looked OK - not much in the way of surface blood, and everything looked tight. The first time you see your new tummy button is a weird thing, trust me. Being able to look down and having no part of my view from my pectorals to my groin obscured was also quite a revelation - a moment I'm unlikely to forget for quite some time. I remained in hospital that evening, taking antibiotics (due to being Type 1 diabetic) and 'lightweight' pain killers (paracetamol, mostly). As a side note - the food in the place was magnificent - restaurant quality! Martin arrived early on both mornings of my stay, and was very attentive. He has absolutely excellent bedside manner, and his motivations for surgery to make a person's body 'more harmonious' have - as far as I can see so far - made me very happy indeed. He called me the day after I left the hospital too, to make sure everything was OK. I have my follow-up appointment with him on Wednesday 18th February, and I'm quite excited to see what my wound looks like 7 days post-surgery. Either way, I'm sure it'll be a very pleasant experience - other than the removal of the sticky dressings on my pubic hair area (trust me - this felt worse than the surgery!) So - after that massive write up, would I recommend Martin Vesely as a plastic surgeon? Absolutely. I feel we live in a time where people are far more motivated by money than they are a 'calling' to their career path. Now we have 'jobs', not 'vocations'. Martin doesn't come across like that at all - he comes across as a very caring man who is invested in his patient's well-being, and seems to realise that a vast majority of people who turn up at his door are experiencing mental anguish because 'something about them isn't right'. The desire to help people to overcome this is very apparent, and it makes Martin both a very trustworthy and skilled surgeon. I genuinely cannot recommend him enough, and if it were ever the case that I needed further surgery, he would be the first person I'd want to contact. Standing now, 6 days post-op, in front of a mirror and seeing the outline of the abdominal muscles I'd worked so hard for - despite the swelling - feels almost like being born again. Whilst that may sound dramatic, it's like a 'reversion' - a return to what I should have been in the first place. Downsides to the surgery? Here they are - just so you know: 1) Removal of drains. This doesn't hurt, but feels *REALLY* weird. You can feel the tubes sliding out from between your skin and your peritoneum. It's almost like snakes under your skin... eugh. 2) Getting up and down. VERY difficult, even now. Putting any strain on your abdominal wound makes the wound 'burn' - not a pleasant sensation. This morning I noticed a tiny blood spot on my left hand side dressing, which suggests that even with the extra care I've taken, I've actually disturbed the wound. I'm really not very happy about that at all... 3) Backache. Whilst you have to walk around, you also need to stoop to prevent the stretching of the wound. Prepare for having a sore lower back. Ouch. 4) Trouble sleeping. You have to stay in a very odd position while you're sleeping immediately post-op (and I believe for about 14 days after). This is head and shoulders elevated, on your back, with your knees up to prevent strain on your torso and prevent DVT. If (like me) you're used to sleeping on your side, this is actually a bit of a nightmare. Oh how I wish I could have some triazepam! 5) Swelling. I take care of the way that I look, and generally dress for my physique. Obviously it's advisable to wear loose clothing after the surgery, but at the moment, I couldn't get into my normal clothes even if I wanted to! My thighs are enormous, as is the area directly above my penis. The area below my breast bone is also swollen, but not to the same degree as the rest. Swelling is liquid retention, and of course, this is effected by gravity - hence my 'thunder thighs'. 6) Bruising. I haven't actually got a lot of bruising, to be fair - the reason I'm mentioning it is the location. As I mentioned above, swelling (and hence bruising) are affected by gravity, and so in the case of this kind of surgery, the bruising appears lower than the actual surgical area. Considering that an abdominoplasty is around the belly-button and bikini line (note: I have never worn a bikini!), the bruising is below this. You can probably guess where. Safe to say that it looks like Gonzo from 'The Muppets' is living in my pants, which is slightly unnerving, but of infinite amusement to my wife. 7) Daytime TV. Oh the humanity! :( Overall, I'm approaching the end of a journey which started 38 years ago, and I'm so pleased. I'm really happy that despite the fact that people thought I was some kind of vain poseur, I stuck to my objectives and got everything sorted in an intelligent and well researched manner. To take some credit for myself, I feel I made perfect decisions in choice of surgeon/anaesthetist, location and facility. Knowing then what I know now, I'd do it all over again without issue. Updated on 18 Feb 2015: I was told when I left hospital that I shouldn't disturb the dressing on my wound until my follow-up appointment with Mr Vesely. Wanting this to go as smoothly as possible, I stuck to that exactly. As such, today was the big day. Almost 'the unveiling' so to speak. I've had no real dramas with my wound at all - it's not painful, it hasn't been weeping etc. The biggest issue from a comfort point of view was coughing or sneezing which were genuinely unpleasant and felt almost like I was being 'branded' across my stomach. Safe to say my diligence paid off. When Mr Vesely took the dressings off my wound, it was tight and tiny; quite literally a black line from one side of my stomach to the other. Even my 'new' belly button looked OK (this is a weak point for abdominoplasties). I was very pleased indeed. As ever, Mr Vesely took good care of me, answering all my questions and ensuring everything was going to plan, and was very complimentary on the way my wound was healing (oddest sentence I've ever written, I expect!) From a 'living with the wound' perspective, it seems that as long as you're careful with coughing and sneezing, they shouldn't cause your wound too much trouble. I've found that as the days go by, I am noticing the wound less and less - I have to concentrate when I get up to ensure that I do it 'in the way it puts no pressure on it'. My post-op antibiotics ran out today, and as I was using the schedule of antibiotics to take my pain killers (which I considered to be prophylactic), I stopped taking them too. It's been about 13 hours (at the time of writing) since I took any pain medication, and I feel fine. :) Mr Vesely told me that assuming the wound is still in good shape when I go for my next checkup, my dressings can come off. Being a man who is very risk-averse, and understanding that I'll still need to wear the compression garment for another month to 6 weeks after that, I think I might refresh the dressings next week and keep them in place for *another* week post that time. Comedy downsides today? Changing the dressing means pulling (VERY) sticky plastic from your pubic hair. Possibly the most painful experience of my life to date - and I've just had an abdominoplasty!! My god, that hurt. Related to this - if you're a bloke and you're getting an abdominoplasty, get ready to have to embrace your feminine side a little. Because us blokes are a bit happier to keep the hairy bits hairy, just think about the 'map of hair' on your body. If you're a non hirsute bloke, you're likely to have hair in your public region, which has a 'trail' up to your belly button, and possibly a bit beyond that before reaching your pectorals. Now, bear in mind that you're going to lose a big ol' chunk of that area, and the remaining skin is going to be stretched back into place. The result? A 'scar defined edge' to your public hair, and all kinds of oddness around your belly button due to the relocation of hair. This isn't something you generally think about when you're considering this kind of procedure, but unless you're going to stay 'well groomed' post op (which I will commit to once I've healed), you may be in for a bit of a surprise... :) So there you have it. I'll update this review/blog in a few days, and possibly post some more pictures, but I guess the next big update will be this time next week - 14 days post-op. :) Updated on 23 Feb 2015: I'm now 13 days post-op and in the most part everything has been going OK. Plenty of support where I needed it from Mr Vesely, so still 100% happy with that side of things. The problem is my progress. I took my binder off (as I do every morning) to have a wash on Sunday morning only to see the area directly above my belly button wobbling around like a water-bed. This was at 12 days post surgery. Mr Vesely has warned be about the likelihood of soroma's, but again, warnings from anyone never actually quite prepare you for seeing that kind of thing. I spoke to Mr Vesely about it, and he said it wasn't a problem, and we would examine it during my next routine visit on Wednesday this week. Other side effects which have bothered me a bit - 1) Due to the fact you have to stoop to prevent putting pressure on your wound, I have a somewhat sore lower back. 2) I'm getting quite a few headaches - not that bad, just a lot more frequent than I'm used to. 3) I'm getting quite severe heartburn - although I expect this is more to do with the tightness of the binder than anything else. I'm also still having quite a bit of trouble sleeping. I expect this is down to my inability to move around as 'swiftly' as I could pre-op, so I've just got to soldier on. Nightmare, though, as I'm feeling pretty washed out because of that. :( So - it seems my hope for Wolverine-esque healing skills didn't quite pan out, which is a shame. I'll update once again after I've been to see Mr Vesely for my next checkup. :) Updated on 25 Feb 2015: Please make it stop!!! That is all. Actually, no. I'm off to see Mr Vesely again today. The seroma hasn't improved, despite my best efforts to walk around with a hot water bottle attached to me all the time. I don't know what my opinion is about this - Mr Vesely has told me it's better not to drain it, but I have to think that having the liquid separate my skin from my perineum can't be a good thing for speed of healing... Will update when I'm back. But O.M.G. the itching. THE ITCHING!!! :( Updated on 25 Feb 2015: My checkup with Dr Vesely was at 4.30 this afternoon, and as I expected, due to the size of the seroma, he decided to drain it. Thankfully I'm still fairly numb around my stomach, so there was a little discomfort, but no 'pain' as such. What was startling was the fact that Mr Vesely managed to evacuate over 300ml of bloody fluid from the area it had been collecting. He was as reassuring and friendly as ever, and other than the minor 'shock' of having to have the fluid drained, everything was fine. :) So - back to my previous slinky self - and now without dressings on the wound! The wound itself is healing VERY well, and as such, I now just have to look after it with some moisturiser. Yay! Nice, straight line which will do for me. :D Updated on 26 Feb 2015: Despite the minor irritation of the seroma (which despite drainage, still remains in part), I'm very happy with the progress of my surgery to date. As I mentioned yesterday, Mr Vesely advised me to leave the dressings of the main wound now, and to just moisturise it after showering. As with all the other instructions given to me, I'm following this to the letter. I thought at this point, it might be worth showing you a photo of the wound, so it's attached. Whilst it'd be difficult to be 'happy' with any wound (it's an injury, right?) I'm very happy with the way mine looks. There's no sign of keloid scarring (which was a concern as I'm diabetic), and everything looks tidy and neat. Obviously a little scary and frankenstein-esque, but I've never seen an abdominoplasty scar that doesn't! :) I showered as normal this morning, and it was lovely to be able to have a little itch, and rub all of the areas I couldn't get to before. :) It's quite unnerving that I have such a large area of my skin surface that is more or less devoid of any sensation. Despite this being normal for the procedure, having only a 'one way' touch sensation (feeling it with your finger, but not your torso skin), is pretty weird to say the least. As I understand it, it can take quite a while for this sensation to return, so if you're about to undergo the same surgery, be aware of that. Other than that, not much else to report. I'm getting a bit sick of wearing the binder round my waist, despite having to wear it for another month at least, but I guess these are the things you commit to when you undertake such a procedure. Service from Mr Vesely as good as ever - seriously, if you're in the UK (and within reasonable travelling distance - you NEED to be able to get to your surgeon!), you could do a lot worse than Mr Vesely for your surgery - he's been absolutely faultless. Until next time, plastic surgery fans! :)
