Truman Customer Story Column Surgery Date 2026-02-11
This Summer, a T-Shirt —
Without Hesitation
As summer approaches, the mood in our consultation room changes a little. The closer we get to the season of lighter clothing, the more people come in carrying the concern they had been putting off.
One patient who recently had surgery was the same. He hesitated for a long time under the weight of "a surgery you only do once in your life" — and once he finally decided, he laughed and said, "I should have looked into it sooner." Today, we would like to pass on the story he left in his review, to those still caught in the same hesitation.
01
What worried him most was the 'imagination' before the experience
What he worried about most were pain and side effects. But the real substance of that worry, he said, was less the surgery itself than the 'imagination' that had swelled in his head beforehand.
He wrote that as we walked him through the possible side effects and the recovery process one by one, that vague imagining gradually subsided and his mind grew much lighter. Fear that grows from not knowing settles back into place the moment you know precisely.
First Impression
"With an all-male staff, I felt at ease from the start"
02
"With an all-male staff, I felt at ease from the start"
The chest is not an area anyone finds easy to show. That is why so many feel the threshold of that first consultation is the highest hurdle of all.
He told us that "with the nursing staff and every employee being male, the consultation felt naturally comfortable." Every question he had was answered in detail and with kindness, so he could relax from the very beginning. This is exactly why Trueman Myeongdong keeps its all-male system. The harder a story is to bring up, the more the environment itself needs to put you at ease.
A Memory from Surgery
When I asked "did the surgery go well?" the answer was so easy to understand, it felt crystal clear
03
To the question "Did the surgery go well?", we gave a clear answer at the patient's level
The procedure combined sleep anesthesia with local anesthesia, yet what he remembered most vividly was the moment afterward when he asked, "Did the surgery go well?"
When the surgeon explained plainly, without difficult jargon, he said the answer felt crystal clear. Surgery does not end with technique. We believe our job continues right up to the moment the patient understands the result for himself and feels at ease.
04
"Everything my chest kept me from doing — now, all of it"
When we ask what patients most want to do after surgery, the answers are usually modest.
His answer was "to wear a T-shirt this summer, comfortably and without a single worry." All the small everyday things he had put off because of his chest — he wanted to reclaim them now, without hesitation.
When we asked what he would say to those facing the same concern, he acknowledged that every case is different and the decision isn't easy — but said he himself has no regrets. If it's a choice made after looking into it thoroughly, he said, you can certainly break free from the stress that comes back every summer. Hearing that he was satisfied with the entire process and the result, we were the ones who felt grateful.
To Those Facing the Same Concern
"If it's a choice you've looked into thoroughly, you can certainly break free from the stress
that comes back every summer."
Rather than waiting for the perfect timing, knowing your own condition accurately comes first.
Trueman Myeongdong will take that step with you.
— Dr. Shim Young-jin, Trueman Myeongdong —