Truman Customer Story Column
"You Played Music, and It Was Nice"
We play music in the operating room. It is not something we started for any special reason; we have simply done it that way for a long time. It is rarer than you might think for a patient to write about it in a review.
The person I am introducing today wrote about it in the box asking about their impression on first coming to the clinic: "You played music, and it was nice."
The Time Before Falling AsleepBecause surgery is performed under sedation, the part patients remember is up until just before they fall asleep. Those few minutes are, for most people, the most tense. Hearing music and hearing only the sound of machines make those few minutes feel different.
I enter the operating room after the anesthesia has taken effect. That is why the atmosphere created by the people beside the patient until then matters.
"I Slept, Woke Up, and..."When I asked about a memorable moment during surgery, they wrote: "I slept and woke up and the surgery was over, so I don't remember."
The surgery itself is finished in about thirty minutes, and the explanation of the result is given in the recovery room after the surgery is finished. So what remains in the patient's memory is roughly the moment just before falling asleep and the moment of hearing the explanation in the recovery room.
The Worry About AftercareWhat this person wrote as their biggest worry before surgery was aftercare following surgery.
The actual schedule is this. The first 12 to 48 hours after surgery are a period with a risk of bleeding, so you spend that time with additional compression over the compression garment, and when you come the next day we check for bleeding and then remove that compression. During this period you cannot do upper-body exercise, but you can do light walking or lower-body squats. You do not have to handle the surgical site yourself. The clinic checks that part each time you come.
The Box Where They Wrote It Was UncomfortableIn the last box asking what they would like from us, they wrote: "The waiting room is uncomfortable."
If we collect only answers saying things were good, we cannot find what to fix. Because we perform a great many surgeries, the times patients want often overlap, and even though there are seven private waiting rooms, there are times when they are not enough. It makes me think we need to pay a little more attention to scheduling.
Wearing a Variety of ClothesFor what they wanted to do after surgery, they wrote exercise along with trying on a variety of clothes.
Among people who come in with gynecomastia, many have gotten through summers with dark colors, thick fabrics, and an extra layer. Having more clothes to choose from also means the calculation they made every morning gets smaller.
To others with the same concern, they left the words that it seems better to do it soon if you can. This is the experience this person went through, and whether to have surgery is something to judge after confirming your condition through an examination.
