The clinic doorway was the hardest part

The man in today's story was one of them.

Afraid of the visit itself

On top of the embarrassment about his chest, this patient was carrying the burden of cost and pain. So the time he spent hesitating to come to the clinic was longer than the time he spent considering the surgery.

Once he had crossed that threshold, what he remembers is a comfortable consultation and the aftercare that followed the operation. At a first visit, the very first thing we do is not to explain the surgery. It is to let the patient know that this is not a place to feel ashamed.

Until a guarded mind loosens

He told us he was quite withdrawn when he first came in. And yet he wrote that the way I and the staff treated him put him at ease.

Most men who come in with gynecomastia have never spoken about it to anyone. The clinic ends up being the first place they can say it out loud. That first conversation has to feel comfortable, or nothing after it can follow.

"I closed my eyes and when I opened them the surgery was done"

That was his answer when I asked what he remembered of the operation.

Something he had feared for years passed just like that. After surgery, he said he wanted to try wearing a thin T-shirt. Perhaps the summer where he no longer has to hide behind thick clothing had already begun on the day he first crossed the clinic threshold.

On the time lost to hesitation

Asked what he would say to men with the same concern, he answered, "Don't think about it too long — come in soon."

This came out of his own experience, and whether to have surgery is something to decide after confirming your own condition through an examination. A visit and a consultation are not a decision, though. They are only a way of finding out. If you have been standing at that threshold for years, I would suggest starting there.

On the last question, he wrote that he was satisfied. TRUEMAN Incheon exists for that one line.

- Dr. Kim Sang-kyu, TRUEMAN Incheon -