Truman Customer Story Column
Just an Ordinary T-Shirt,
Like Everyone Else
Before deciding on surgery, most people weigh two things.
Cost, and outcome. When you are spending a significant amount of money, you wonder whether the result will match it. A patient who recently had gynecomastia surgery with us spent a long time on exactly that question. Today, borrowing his story, I would like to write a few lines for those weighing the same things.
Before Surgery
A Decision Made Carefully
What worried him most before surgery was the price, and how well the surgery would turn out.
So he did not rush. He looked carefully for a place he could trust, compared his options thoroughly, and only then made his decision. Now that the surgery is behind him, he told us he is very satisfied with the result.
Not a decision the clinic makes for you, but one you make after understanding it fully and accepting it for yourself. Decisions made that way tend to leave no regret.
At the Clinic
“It Was Easier Because the Staff Were All Men”
When I asked what stayed with him about the clinic, he began, unexpectedly, not with the surgery but with the people.
“The clinic staff were all men, which put me at ease, and the kindness was as good as ever.”
Chest concerns are hard to bring up with anyone. Many patients struggle to find the words even in the consultation room. That is why we have male staff accompany patients from consultation through to guidance. There are certain things that are simply easier to say to another man.
Surgery Day
The Moment of Anesthesia, and First-Time Nerves
As the moment that stayed with him during surgery, he chose the moment of the anesthesia.
He was nervous, calling it the part he feared most, yet he also found it a strange and interesting experience. Sedation, once you have actually been through it, often remains a rather matter-of-fact memory. Some patients tell me, laughing, that the nerves before falling asleep were the hardest part of the whole procedure.
After Surgery
Walking With His Shoulders Back
What he most wanted to do after surgery was genuinely modest.
“Just wear a short-sleeved T-shirt and walk with my shoulders back.”
It is not a grand wish. An everyday thing that means nothing to most people had simply been a task he had put off for years. He added that he is very satisfied now.
For those facing the same concern, he left this thought: if the stress is constant, it may be better not to put it off. That said, this was this patient’s outcome; results and recovery vary from person to person. Whether surgery is necessary, and when it is best done, can be determined after a consultation.
In the final box, what he wrote was a single line: “Thank you.” For those few words, we are the ones who are grateful. I hope he spends this summer with his shoulders back.
— Dr. Yoo Seok-seon, TRUEMAN Gangnam —
