Asked about the moment before or after surgery that stayed with him, he wrote this.
I do not say that to just anyone. It is something I say once I have assessed the condition and the plan has become clear. It was not empty reassurance but a statement resting on a diagnosis, which is probably why it reached him.
As for pain, he wrote that in his case it was less severe than expected. But since the degree of pain and the course of recovery differ from person to person, I explain this before surgery exactly as it is, neither minimized nor inflated.
Wanting to work out without minding anyone's eyes
Asked what he wanted to do after surgery, he chose exercise. Exercise without worrying about how others look at him.
Which likely means there were times he agonized over what to wear at the gym, or hesitated in front of certain machines. Exercise is something you do for your body in the first place; if you feel diminished even there, that is the real weight gynecomastia leaves on a life.
"You'll think it was a choice you don't regret"
Asked what he would say to men facing the same concern, he wrote this.
"Once you've had the surgery, I think you'll consider it a choice you don't regret."
This is, of course, a statement from a man who has already had the surgery. Whether surgery is needed, and whether now is the right time, is something to judge after confirming your own condition through an examination.
Finally, asked what he would like from the clinic, he wrote, "Nothing. It was great." For us, that reads as an assignment: meet the next patient in the same spirit.
