A Review That Arrived Only After Several Months

Two things worried this person while they were deciding on surgery. One was the financial burden, the other was pain. These are also the two I hear most often in the consultation room from people about to undergo gynecomastia surgery.

Looking back, they wrote that "it all worked itself out as I followed the doctors' guidance." Rather than anything special we did, I believe what mattered most was that they already knew what to check before surgery and in what order recovery would proceed afterward. A considerable part of worry comes from a lack of information.

Asked about their impression of the clinic on the first visit, this person wrote only three words: kind, unfamiliar, nervous.

Short, but I think accurate. A great many people who come to a clinic for gynecomastia open the door carrying all three at once. Many have thought about it alone for a long time before coming, and for many the consultation room is the first place they have said any of it out loud to another person.

I cannot claim that we can take the unfamiliarity and the nervousness away. What I try not to forget is that these are people who have to listen to explanations while in that state. That is why we go over the same ground more than once — so that it is all right not to understand everything the first time.

When I asked what moment stayed with them from the surgery, this person answered, "the ease of falling asleep and waking up to find it done."

Gynecomastia surgery is performed under sedation. From the patient's point of view, there is a gap between the moment they close their eyes in the operating room and the moment they open them in recovery. I do not think that gap is a bad thing. It means the memory of the surgery itself does not stay with them as a separate burden.

This person also mentioned the kind manner of the nursing team leader and how quickly their messages were answered. The surgery itself takes a day, but the time on either side of it is mostly filled with consultations, examinations, and correspondence. How that time is managed determines a great deal of what the patient actually experiences.

Asked what they most wanted to do after surgery, this person said they wanted to do chest workouts to their heart's content. It was probably something they had wanted to do but kept putting off because it was on their mind. That said, when to resume exercise differs with each person's recovery, so it is best to check your condition at follow-up visits and increase gradually.

To others facing the same concern, they left the words: "The doctors take care of the rest." I am grateful for the assessment, but it reflects this person's own experience, and physical condition and recovery differ from person to person. Whether surgery is needed, and if so which approach fits, is something to decide after confirming your own condition through an examination.

What pleased me most was the line saying they were still satisfied several months on. Not an impression from right after surgery, but an assessment made once enough time had passed. I will keep watching the rest of the course so that the assessment holds.