Truman Customer Story Column
"I Want to Wear a Thin T-Shirt and Go Out"
On the morning of surgery, you can tell how nervous someone is just from their expression as they open the consulting-room door.
The person in today's story was like that. They wrote in the first line of their review that they were very nervous during the operation. But the sentence that followed read: it ended sooner than expected, and the pain was not enough to interfere with daily life, which was good.
Nervousness Makes Time LongerOur gynecomastia surgery is performed under sedation. While you are asleep, the operation finishes in about thirty minutes, and we give the results in the recovery room afterward.
Because it is done under sedation, many people cannot register how the time passed. So when we tell them how long it actually took, most are surprised. This person, too, felt it ended sooner than expected.
Pain requires a more careful answer. In this person's case it was not severe enough to interfere with daily life, but the degree of pain varies with the extent of excision and individual condition. The first 12 to 48 hours after surgery carry a risk of bleeding, so you spend them with additional compression over the garment; when you come in the next day, we check for bleeding and remove that extra compression. During that period you cannot do upper-body exercise, though light walking or lower-body squats are fine.
The Day They First Came InThis person wrote that when they first came to the clinic, it struck them as remarkable that they were received kindly and examined thoroughly.
Saying that kindness was remarkable can also be read as meaning that raising the subject of gynecomastia had never been easy before. There really are many who say the consulting room is the first place they have told anyone.
What They Saw First on Opening Their EyesAsked what moment stayed with them from the surgery, this person answered that it was seeing their own chest for the first time after it was over.
Gynecomastia surgery is treatment that removes glandular tissue. The moment when a problem carried for years — sometimes more than a decade — is confirmed with your own eyes comes in the recovery room. Many say that scene stays with them longer than the surgery itself.
For what they most wanted to do after surgery, this person said they wanted to wear thin T-shirts and light-colored clothes and go out.
Thin, light clothing shows the body's lines plainly. It means there were colors and thicknesses they had been avoiding. For those who got through summer after summer in dark colors, thick fabric, and layers, the first thing they usually do after surgery is clear out the closet.
The Words That Nothing Changes from Worrying AloneThe words this person left for others with the same concern were these: "Worrying alone changes nothing. Results come when you act."
That came out of what they experienced themselves, and whether surgery is needed differs from person to person. If you are facing the same concern, confirm your own condition at an examination first, and judge after that.
In the last box, they wished good health to the entire medical team. Having received that greeting, I hope in turn that they spend this summer with an easy mind.
