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Trueman Customer Story Column

The patient who remembers being told not to worry too much

Author : Dr. Min-soo KimJuly 23, 2026 at 11:22 AM 17
Truman Customer Story Column

The patient who remembers being told not to worry too much

Everyone facing surgery worries about something different. Some think first of pain; others start calculating recovery time.

Doctor Consulting Korean Client 2 K 202607301135

For the patient who left this feedback, the worry was shape. What if the surgery goes wrong and my chest ends up looking stranger than before? It is a worry I hear often in the exam room, and one that is rarely spoken aloud outside it. Let me follow his answers to see how that worry unwound.

 

The fear that the shape would end up wrong

This is one of the reasons gynecomastia surgery is hard to commit to. My chest already bothers me — what if surgery makes it look even more unnatural?

I think that is a natural concern. Gynecomastia surgery does not end with removing tissue; the remaining contour has to be planned along with it. So in consultation I explain step by step what the condition is and what the process involves. Vague fear usually grows in places where there is no information.

 

Walking into the clinic for the first time

He wrote that on his first visit the staff were kind and the atmosphere of the clinic was good.

We know that simply opening the door of a clinic over a concern about one's chest takes real courage. That is why we pay attention to the route from reception to consultation to examination, so there is no uncomfortable moment along the way. If someone arrives carrying worry and relaxes a little from the first breath of air, that is already half the work done.

 

A single remark in the exam room

Asked about the moment before or after surgery that stayed with him, he wrote this.

"I think what I remember is when the doctor told me not to worry too much."

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.

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Dr. Min-soo Kim
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Min-soo Kim
Gangnam Branch · Thoracic Surgeon · Master of Medicine
# Trend-Aware Body Design# Patient Communication First# Tailored to Your Needs
Key Background
  • · Board Certified Thoracic Surgeon / M.S. in Medicine
  • · M.D., Pusan National University School of Medicine
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"Body design with a contemporary eye — surgery led by a full understanding of what the patient wants"
"A result is complete when the medical team's skill and the patient's wishes meet. With a trend-aware eye I read precisely the line each patient has in mind, and through careful communication at every stage I bring about the change they are most satisfied with."
  • · Thoracic Surgery Residency, Samsung Medical Center
  • · Thoracic Surgery Fellowship, Samsung Medical Center
  • · Former Professor of Thoracic Surgery, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital
  • · Member, The Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
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