32 Yr Old Black Male, Gynecomastia with Abdominal and Flank Liposuction

My chest is finally starting to feel solid. I'm back in the gym and on the road to turning some of this atrophy back into solid mass. Still got a ways to go but figured I'd drop an update in.

Scars (red boxes in photos):

Knowing what I know now, you may want to buy some scar cream post haste. The moment the wounds (insertion points used by doctor) heal you want to start applying scar cream. Note that I am not saying apply them to the actual nipple - that healed just fine with no real discernible scarring. I waited almost 3 months after they had healed before I started asking myself if there was some way to make the wounds less apparent. So, I've now been using Moderna(sp?) scar cream for about 3 months and the scarring is starting to lighten. The armpit scar is a bit of a bear because it's a high friction point so the cream rubs off quick. All the same jump on this problem early rather than late.

Chest Feeling:

I have an odd bit of advice for making your chest feel normal more quickly. The answer I found was sex oddly enough. Find a woman that enjoys biting/sucking/etc. on the chest. While the sh*t was extremely painful a couple of days after I lost that tender unnerving feeling, and everything started to feel normal. Maybe it was the combination of light weight domestic violence to the chest intermingled with the sweet busting of a nut; but my chest showed rapid improvement after being assaulted during sex. It's all Bro-science but take it for what it's worth. Oh and DO NOT tell your lady friend to be delicate. I was screaming in pain in my mind, but I soldiered on!

That's all. My hats off to all my brothers on the no man-boob grind!

Part 3: Continued

Quick breakout of costs with everything being done:
Cost of Surgery Gyno+Lip of abs/flanks - $11,000
Round trip flight ATL to Austin - $344.50 (flew Delta Comfort+ thinking about condition after surgery)
Design Veronique Compression Vests V840 and V1640 - $291.87 this is a reduced price after using google for a 20% coupon code
Anti-Embolism Stocking – $20 amazon
Jock Straps (3x) - $21 amazon
Maxi pads – $12.35 amazon
100 MG Stool Softeners - $10.52
Neosporin – free, already had it
Prescription for hydrocodone - ~$28 bucks, 4 bucks with insurance
Cost of caretaker – free, sister

GRAND TOTAL: $11,704

Part 4: Pre Procedure Call/Meeting

Before this meeting I received an email detailing precautions and general information on what to do/bring 3 days before, 24 hrs. before, the evening before, midnight before, and the day of the surgery. The call with the Dr. Caridi’s staff goes through everything and gives you the opportunity to generally ask any lingering questions you have. Took maybe 15 minutes over the phone and done. During the discussion about post op gear, as with the email they do mention that a bag in the office can be purchased for a set amount (at the time of this review $420).

Part 5: Pre- Procedure

I showed up to the office for 9:00am. They were already back in surgery so it took some time before they came out to greet me. Once I was checked in, I was immediately taken back by Michelle and photographed. An aside: it’s a cruel world where you have to disrobe with man boobs in front of a complete hottie. I mean Holy [RS bleep]. You don’t believe? Go to their website (Westlake Plastic Surgery) and click the “Contact” tab. Michelle (at least I think it’s Michelle) is the goddess that is second from the left or at least that’s the one I’m talking about. Sorry I got sidetracked, but my god the man has a light weight harem in his practice. Where was I – yeah so you take the photos and then are moved to another room. I think of this room as the mood setting room. At this point the short stacked hottie gives you documents, and you start signing documents and initialing. (For reference under contact – short stack hottie would be 3rd from the left) The documents inform you of the risk, potential difficulties, blah blah blah. It’s all [RS bleep] you’re going to sign, so just f**king sign it. The only thing that is iffy is whether or not you want your man boob meat sent off for pathology (to check for cancer I think). If you decide to do so, they can either try to run it through your insurance (which will probably fail) or they can do it in house for something like $300 bucks. I chose not to have it sent because I didn’t care. This plus the fact that the hottie Michelle (ooohh to dream) told me that Dr. C will typically ask for an exam if he notices anything questionable. They hand you a cocktail of meds that are supposed to relax you (thank god).
After the paper work the goddess Michelle walked back in and gave me the ass-less gown, and robe to put on. They also advise that you go ahead and put on the anti-embolism stocking. I would suggest you do it before you even arrive because those things are a [RS bleep] to get on. Another side note, if Michelle had bent over at the counter I think I would have exploded, but I digress. Thank god for the meds.

So once I was all suited up in the gown, and some time had passed I was greeted by the anesthesiologist Dr. Wilson. Talk about intense eye contact. I think he might have been checking to see if I were like an addict or something. While the conversation never bared it out, his body language was such that it seemed like he was checking if there was any shadiness he needed to be aware of. If you’re a junkie you might want to check your shaky eyes at the door. He provides reassurances then next up is the big dog Dr. Caridi. Man that guy just gets it. Suffice it to say, that after discussing the difference between Atlanta and Texas strip clubs (ATL focuses on the ass and Texas on the breasts btw) and any other questions I had, he too told me to relax. My sister was actually impressed by how genuinely not full of sh*t he was. He was just a guy doing what he loved without all the fluff. He is not the most PC guy. I remember he came in and started talking about how few black people there were in Austin. I almost died laughing because you could see he couldn’t fathom how inappropriate the conversation was. I’m a very frank guy so I appreciated it, but I could just imagine a SJW hearing it and flipping out. He doesn’t give you that regular doctor crap. He was like “I’m going to cut those boobs off.” I was like “okay.” It was more technical than that but you get the gist. (Another mental pause for Michelle – [RS bleep] me she was hot).

After that you head to the operating room. At this point I was told by Michelle to take off my pants (naked) and leave them on the operating room floor. At this point my mind immediately went into fantasy land, but she told me to just get on the table. *sigh* At this point I am kind of panicking. I have a very real fear of needles, but that man Dr. Wilson. I would kiss him no-homo. The man got me talking, apparently used a numbing agent, and then I was out. He is a credit to his profession, a gentleman and a scholar.

Part 6: The Operation

WTF do I know, I was in la la land, completely out of it. I was told that afterwards I was one of the more tame post drug high people.

Part 7: Post Op

FOOOOOCCCCCCKKKKKKK. I’m one of those naturalist freaks which means I don’t take meds unless I absolutely have to. So I didn’t take any pain meds. How to describe the pain. I would put it at about an 8 out of 10. 8 is the pain at its worst when you’re actively moving. When you have time to be still and focus it moves down to something like a 5-6. If I had to quantify it, think of a throbbing headache, but instead of your head it’s like everywhere the doctor operated. An easier bit of imagery would be if you’ve ever had your ass whooped in a good fight before. It’s the way your body feels that first time the adrenaline wears off, before the bruising really sets in. I got pretty much zero sleep and was leaking pretty badly. Keep in mind that the leaking is a good thing. I wanted it to happen as much as possible, BUT, take precautions and put down towels. I did my damnest not to destroy the hotel sheets/mattress etc. I also recommend wearing thick black fabric. For me I went with black dicky work pants and a black zip sweater. This way even if you bleed through your compression vest it’s not noticeable and people at the airport won’t freak out. Just know the first 2 days pretty much suck.
The day after the surgery I went back for a follow up visit. I had an incident where I undid my compression vest while standing. Even though the instruction specifically said not to, I thought I was a badass. Well I blacked out. The post op instructions they provide tell you about it – it has to do with rapid shifts in blood pressure but I am an idiot sometimes. The upside is that the 10 or so seconds where I was blacked out was some of the sweetest sleep (i.e. only sleep) I got that night. Because the pain is only at 6-8’ish territory it’s not high enough to pass out from, but not low enough for you to sleep. The drugs of course would help this but I must hate myself.
After my checkup it was off to the airport, where TSA pretty much freaked out because my compression vest did kind of resemble a bomb vest. I approached security and told them what was what, but I had to go through a private screening. Do remember to remove the gel packs from your compression vest before they find them. They will flip the [RS bleep] out! Once they scan everything and chill, they are the most pleasant people in the world though having to lift my arms and them pat me down was painful … pricks. But, to be fair if they hadn’t done it, how safe would you feel really?

Part 8: Five days after surgery

Wear your compression vest. It’s going to suck but do it. Your body seeks the path of least resistance. I hate man boobs enough to suffer and I can already see the results. I would say I didn’t feel human enough to even attempt to go to work until maybe day 4, and I have a desk job. I can’t imagine how much time would be needed if you do something physically intensive.

Part 9: One-Two week post Op

I would say the pain is pretty much gone in so much as it’s not a consideration every time I move. The thing that sucks is the armpit incisions because on one side the incision is irritated by the compression vest. The edge of the vest rest right on the incision. It’s taking it longer to heal and it hurts when it rides against it. I kept using the additional brown ace bandage (pictured above) as extra compression across the chest. In the morning and at night I would ice my chest.

Part 10: 6 weeks + post Op

There is still a disjointed feeling. My chest is still tender and not completely settled. Since the beginning of week six I’ve been using a rolling pin on my chest as instructed. It’s odd to describe. My chest is still tender and sensitive. I’m a pretty sturdy guy but if a 9 year old came up to me and punched me in the chest; I would immediately go into b*tch mode. I know I would be on the ground crying in the fetal position. Also, due to the nature of compression and the healing process you skin is and feels tight. What this means is that I have limited mobility when I try to stretch my arms above my head. So, in addition to rolling my chest 3 – 4 times a day I also do light stretching. I can feel progress being made in my range of motion but it’s a journey.

A bit more about rolling the chest. My chest will feel really hard. Reading suggest that there is still scar tissue. You essentially roll it to relax the tissue and aid some of it in being reabsorbed by the body. There is a mental cliff to it. Your chest will feel sensitive and it will initially be slightly painful but once you get done and you actively feel blood circulating; it’s almost orgasmic.

I think I’m going to end here for now. The road to recovery has been rough. I seriously don’t see how anyone would be back to work in 3-4 days. Granted, I had some lipo done, but even so my chest is still not back to 100% almost 6 weeks later. I could just be a [RS bleep] though. You might be able to handle it better.

Greetings,

I wanted to do a review that serves as a roadmap to my Gynecomastia experience with Dr. Caridi. Brace yourselves as I plan for this to be a very robust review. I want everyone to have a clear picture of me as a person as well as the actual procedure. To that end I am actually starting my review a full two months before the procedure.

Part 1: Who am I?

While I will preserve some degree of anonymity I want to paint a clearly picture of how I got to deciding to move with the procedure mentally speaking. I should start by saying I am a black male hailing from the bible belt by way of Louisiana. While my family was not poor, I know was aware that we weren’t exactly well off. I only mention this to emphasize that I knew at a very early age what a lack of money was. Fast forward to middle school and that is where I became aware that something wasn’t quite right. I had more [RS bleep] meat than most, but everything is kind of written off as puberty during that middle school to high school phase. It affected me even then as I vividly remember making mental life altering decisions about using one backpack strap or two. How do I hunch my shoulders and bend forward, so that my chest is bit less noticeable. This lead to very poor posture throughout my academic life. Me being chubby (say 10’ish pounds overweight) didn’t exactly help. Combine this with the fact that I’m an INTJ type and naturally introverted and you can imagine that I was no Casanova with the ladies. It pains me to say it but I’ve never like my physical image because of these [RS bleep]. It take hindsight and growth to recognize and admit that.

Life goes on you live, love, and grow. Like many a person I went to college utilizing student loans and joined the rat race that is work. The student loans bare mentioning because while I am logical my financial education was severely lacking. Suffice it to say I accumulated a lot of student loan debt that I very recently paid off.

I would say it was around 2008 when I discovered what gynecomastia was; however, with my priority on paying off student loans, it really was not an option. I elected to try working out and dieting and even when I achieved great results the [RS bleep], they would just sit there.

After almost nine years of being in “pay off student loan debt,” mode I knew it was time to do something for myself. Even at this point I wasn’t set on plastic surgery. You have to understand that I classified plastic surgery in the same category as something like therapy for depression. It’s not something to really consider because I’ve got too much real life s**t to handle. I’m in survival mode. Plastic surgery is for people with well above my financial station in life. (An aside: I’m not knocking people who suffer from depression) The thing was that my mental self (strong and confident) did not align with my physical and it was throwing off my mojo. While you’re laying pipe to an attractive young lady, why in the hell am I thinking about what she thinks about my chest? Seriously that was the worst for me. You’re enjoying the experience of a woman and during one of your strokes you notice your chest bouncing and you realize that you might have more bounce than the female you’re with. I don’t know what kind of mental whatever you classify that as but it messing with my mind no matter how much reassurance was provided.

Part 2: Journey to Caridi and Westlake Plastic Surgery

I begin my gynecomastia exploration. Being in Atlanta, there are A LOT of plastic surgeons; however, their websites don’t really inspire confidence. This combined with the fact that many seem to think of gynecomastia as a secondary or tertiary procedure, left me discoursed. By secondary procedure, I mean to suggest that their site tends to focus on female breast procedures. There are not many before and after pictures to aid in forming an real option about possible outcomes. It very much walked away from their sites with the feeling that to them it was just a bit of lipo, bit of a snip, and you’re done. Is that necessarily the truth? No. If I’m going to bite the bullet and go through with this – it damn well better be done right. So I keep up the google search and start watching YouTube videos as well. This is what I appreciate about the digital age. It allows you to actually see actual procedures. My research lead to me concluding that short of going to India for this procedure, I would have this procedure done by one of three doctors. 1. Dr. Lebowitz (Huntington, NY) 2. Dr. Robert Caridi (Austin, Texas) 3. Dr. Mordcai Blau (White Plains, NY) I know what you’re thinking. Why is Blau on this list? He has no real youtube presence at all. True! But, he has a huge presence in body building forums and gynecomastia forums in general.

Anyway it was YouTube more than anything that started making me comfortable with the idea of Caridi as my choice. I forget how it happened, but somehow I became aware of a webinar that Caridi was holding. It was a yelp video where he explained a lot of the common questions people have. This was invaluable to me because I got to see this doctor in real time. It’s one thing to watch a video, but seeing him, assessing his body language, and the passion with which he speaks about his craft – that is what sold me. I shot off an email with photos (included here) for a free consultation, and that is how the ball started rolling.

Part 3: The Projected Costs

After sending off my photos for a consultation I received a response back stating that Caridi thinks I am an excellent candidate for the operation and the cost would be *drumroll* $5,500 bucks. Very reasonable. I know that each case is different so that’s not a flat rate, but I was pleased all the same. I made the necessary deposit ($500 bucks), and went about reserving my spot. Though the procedure itself costs 5500, since I am coming from out of state (GA – TX), that is another cost to consider. Tack on to that expenditure that you also have to have someone with you to watch over you for the procedure. This means that you might have to pay for flights for two people. While I know everyone has their methods for procuring air travel tickets I found the average cost of a decent flight tickets (i.e. direct flight no lay overs) to be about 130’ish to 170’sih; meaning you have to be ready to pay around 300 bucks for a flight. Then you have to add on a hotel for at least 3 days and 2 nights which comes out to a reasonable 200’ish. This does not include a rental car, but there is an option for Uber/Lyft and Westlake Plastic Surgery is maybe 15 or 20 minutes away from Austin airport.

However, for me the story doesn’t end there. The more money I have saved for the operation the more of a YOLO mood I get into. I start to think, why not add lipo of abdominals and flanks. I send off more photos and am told the additional lipo would add on an additional 5500 bring my total to 11 grand.
Here is my thinking. I’m in pretty good shape. 225 – 230 being my hover weight. I sit at about 18 – 19% body fat. What I found about about fat cells is that they never really go away. Seriously google it. The best you can hope for is that they shrivel up like empty husks. Once you overindulge triggering the need for the body to create fat cells you’re stuff with them. Yes, you can burn off the excess fat saved within the cell but the cell itself doesn’t really ever go away. This goes back to that me being chubby thing. I figure why not hit the reset button. I’m eating healthier now. I’m already getting the chest done. So why not. BAM, sign me up.

Part 4: Pre Procedure Call/Meeting

This is not scheduled until the 23rd of November. Will update after

Part 5: The Procedure

Part 6: Post Op