Gynecomastia, Tummy Tuck with Lipo to Flanks - Forme Clinic, Prague

Hi everyone, thought I would write my first review and share my experience of before, during and now currently after. At this moment in time I am 5 weeks 2 days post op.

Why an op: Ok so I was always a heavy since the age of 8, brought up with a poor diet and continued that thru my teens and into my 20's. In Feb 2011 at 32 years of age I reached my peak weight of 21stone 12lbs and decided enough was enough, I have kids and a beautiful wife and I was eating/drinking/smoking myself into an early grave. So Feb 12 2011 I decided I was stopping it all and going to lose weight. Over the next 9 months of 2011 I lost 8st 9lbs and maintained that until my op in March 2015. I am now a fitness freak cycling, running, I have done a half marathon and aiming to do a full marathon next year. With all the weight loss I was left with loose skin and moobs so I thought I worked hard to get the weight off so lets go the full hog and get it removed.

Choosing a clinic:
I researched various UK clinics (i live in the UK) and EU clinics and was drawn to Czech republic. Its a country that I had visited many times and also my sister in law is from Czech Republic so I had an upper hand with the language barrier. My sister in law always bragged about the healthcare in Czech so after many months researching, calling and visiting I opted for Forme Clinic. I selected a TT, Gynecomastia and lipo to flanks, set the date, paid the deposit and that was it.

Opertaion Day: At The usual pre-op consultation then prepped for surgery. I was in surgery for 5 hours and in the clinic for 3 nights. Staff were great, i was made to feel right at ease. It was easier as I was accompiaed by my sister in law so i had my own translator although the staffs english is good. After surgery the surgeon came in to see me later that day, he came in the following the day also and spent some time discussing the op. The food was amazing. I really enjoyed my time in the clinic. Pain, being honest I didn't have a huge amount of pain from any of my body, yeah day 1 was bad but after that the pain was manageable. Getting comfy was difficult !!

After leaving the clinic I took the offer of the apartments above the clinic (at a reduced rate) and it was a great idea. Apartments are very nice, I had a balcony and a full roof terrace, great when you cant walk that much but still get fresh air with a seat ! I stayed there for a further 10 days. Day 9 was a final consultation with Dr Vasek, dressings changed and all good to go.

Recovery: Ok this is the difficult bit and something that I did not prepare for at all. I thought, ok 6 weeks and I'm done, back to cycling , running and work !!!! One word SEROMA. So yes I developed serom fluid in my abdomen. I am quote a paranoid person and love GOOGLE. After seeing this waterbed effect I googled what was going on and it led me to believe I had a seroma, so a video and pics was sent to my PS in prague. The following day my PS advised I had serom fluid and I had 2 options. It aspirated or a redon drain fitted. With being back in the UK I approached the NHS but I was sent packing. I approached a PS and was sent packing so back to Prague I went, ultrasound and 1 litre of fluid was aspirated and a drain installed for 2 days. After that a scelsring agent put in to make my flap sticky. I was there for a further 7 days, every day back at the cliinc for wound care and check up then left last week.

So I'm 5 weeks 2 days and still paranoid that a seroma returns. I have sewlling as most do, I have good days and bad days physically and mentally but staying positive can be a struggle at times.

One thing I would love to know is how do you distinguish swelling after tummy tuck. After the fluid aspiration my abdomen totally changed and now I seem to have fat (jelly belly) at my abdomen, its not a water bed effect just seems a bit fatty.

I will now keep updating and hope this helps someone.

If you were to ask would I do it again then yes, in Prague = Yes, at forme cliinc = Yes.

The only downside is post-op care and you need to factor in getting back to Prague if there are any issues but at least Forme cliinc are there to help :)

Ok so now as the title says I'm 6 weeks 3 days post op. this week has been challenging, not only with being slightly paranoid about seroma & healing but things like will I ever get back to normal, how long will it be before I can run again and yesterday was, SWELL HELL I believe they call it ???? It all started when I decided to go for a nice walk, 3 miles, slow paced, the weather was nice and did warm up, got home and boom, my belly was large and relatively hard. The whole day it stayed that way. Woke up this morning and it was a lot better, 2 hours into my day then boom, belly goes again and has stayed like that all day, wasn't even really doing anything. I was so unprepared for the post op side but I am getting there. I read that swelling hangs on for months and up to a year which is a little frightening. Luckly I'm not back at work yet and I have decided to take another 6 weeks off, hopefully by that time I will be on the right track (and mind frame). Not much difference in my pictures this week, I actually look a little rounder due to the swell hell. My scar is looking not too bad, 2 wounds that are being looked after by my NHS nurse (she is fab). So that's my update for this week.

Ok so I thought i would add in a pic of me at my heaviest, I was 310lbs in this picture, i look at it now and I am totally disgusted, its amazing though because at that time in my life I thought i looked fine, the same things go round your head, "i've always been big, too late now to change my habbits, i dont think i would suit being thinner, its in your genes", this is what i always said untill.......................... one day I woke up and siad enough is enough, i deserve to live a long life and so does my amazing wife and beautifull children so I began excercising and eating properly. 7 months later i was at 13st 10lbs and I stayed there +/- 5lbs for 2 years up until my op. My weight did fluciate when I was on holiday etc, someties it would increase by 14lbs / 20lbs but within 2 weeks I would be + 6lbs maybe, i have to admit when I go on holiday I go to enjoy myself. My post op latest pic (3days ago) and I am weighing in at 14st 2lbs. for the 4 weeks after surgery my diet wasnt the best so I am know back on to my normal eating habbits so expect my weight to get back to 13st 10lbs where I was very happy. The surgery for me was about tidying up the flab and getting rid of my man boobs which has been achieved. I though I might have been that little bit slimmer but being honest i think i will just look the same. I am very very happy with smaller man boobs though, if anything this was always my main concern, dont get me wrong I could of lived with them.