Truman Customer Story Column
It's Good to Be Able to Walk with My Back Straight
Among those with gynecomastia, many have a habit, settled into the body, of rolling the shoulders inward and bending the back as they walk.
It is an old, unconscious posture meant to hide the outline of the chest even a little. Sometimes I can guess just from the way a patient walks into the exam room. Today's story is from a patient who wrote that this posture changed after surgery.
A Concern That Began with Worry About Side Effects
Before surgery, what he worried about most was side effects.
After the surgery, he wrote that he was glad the side effects he had feared did not appear. In his case recovery went smoothly, but the course differs with the individual's condition. So we explain in advance the things that can happen before surgery, and afterward we check the progress on a set schedule. What removes worry is not words but confirmation.
"The anesthesia was done well, so I have no memory of it."
When asked what moment stayed with him during surgery, he answered this:
"The anesthesia was done well, so I have no memory of it."
Having no memory of a surgery is a good sign. Had it been time spent in tension and pain, it would have stayed with him in one way or another. To fall asleep in a comfortable state and wake to find the surgery over. That is why we put care into managing the anesthesia and the surgical process.
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The Moment a Bent Back Straightens
The sentence I lingered over longest in this review is this one:
"It's good to be able to walk with my back straight."
What the surgery changed was the chest, but what actually changed was the posture. When there is nothing to hide, the reason to stoop disappears too. It is easy to judge the result of gynecomastia surgery only by the shape of the chest in a photo, but I believe that the patient's changed gait and shoulders are the true result of this surgery.
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A Cheerful Close, and a Word of Caution
For those with the same concern, he left a short answer that he strongly recommends it. Setting aside my gratitude, I add that a recommendation is, above all, his own experience. Whether to have surgery is something to decide after confirming your own condition through an examination.
And in the last box of the questionnaire, this was written:
"I wish you great prosperity!"
I read it with a smile, but I will take it to heart. For a clinic to do well means, in the end, that more people walk out with their backs straight.
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- Dr. Kim Seok-won, TRUEMAN Gangnam -
