My Experience Poland
Hi everyone,
My original post was removed and account deleted 
as the moderator thought for some reason that my post was an advertisment for -, i don't know why 
. But, after speaking with Merle, the site owner, he has no problem with me posting the account as he is convinced that I am a genuine patient. So you can read this account safe in the knowledge that it is 100% true.So, again! Here is an account of my experience with -. I will provide pre op photos and update with post op photos in a few weeks when the swelling, scar tissue has gone down a bit.
About meI am a 26 yr old Male who has had very mild gynecomastia since puberty and throughout my teenage years I was always aware that my nipples just looked a bit different to everyone else’s . They didn’t really bother me until I started weightlifting at 22 where naturally I became more self ware of my appearance.
As you can see in my pre op photographs the gyne was very mild and almost unnoticeable to some. I’m sure the majority of this forum would call me crazy for wanting to have surgery but it was just enough to ruin the contour of my chest in t shirts, where the nipple would become the prominent point and not the muscle of my chest. I also didn’t like the idea of having glands behind my nipple as this can apparently increase the risk of certain cancers. I just wanted them gone. I have always said that gynecomastia severity is not measured by the size of the gland but by how much it affects that person, one man’s 2 will be another man’s 10..
Also just to note, I am a natural weightlifter and have NEVER used steroids nor do I plan to.
I first heard of - after reading a blog on a bodybuilding website and it was at that point I knew I wanted to contact - as I was looking for a surgeon who had some experience of operating on bodybuilders/weightlifters. I also really liked that fact that the surgeon’s husband was British as my main concern was a language barrier. So after speaking with Jeremy (the British contact and also surgeons husband) for around 6 months I went ahead and booked my surgery for the 20th August. It should be noted that Jeremy was very helpful in his responses and answered all of my questions very quickly.
TravelJeremy informed me of a few of the travelling options available to me, such as flying direct to - airport etc but unfortunately - airport was closed on the day that I wanted to travel. As I live in London the easiest option for me was to fly from Stanstead airport to Berlin Schoenefeld airport, this took about 1 hour 40 mins. Once I arrived in Berlin I went outside to wait for the Minibus, which Jeremy had arranged and paid for me in advance. I waited around for an hour, just chilling on the grass outside the airport. As you exit the airport just look to your right and there is a large car park, this is where the minibus will arrive. The minibus arrived right on time, the driver checked my name on his list and off we went to -. The journey to - took about 2 hours and was an easy journey, albeit a little bumpy at times, the minibus was a comfortable Mercedes and I even managed to nod off for 1 hour. The minibus dropped me off at the Atrium Hotel where I was staying.
Atrium HotelThis was all arranged by Jeremy beforehand and I chose this hotel as it was close to the clinic, plus they give a 5% discount for patients of -. Initially I had booked a single room, but in the few weeks before departing, my brother decided he wanted to come along aswell, so Jeremy changed the booking for me to a double room, which only cost an additional £10 per night, he also added my brother to the minibus passenger list last minute, which was very nice of him. The hotel was a really nice 4* hotel, where the majority of the staff spoke good English and the breakfast buffet was pretty awesome, it ran from 7am-10.30am and was almost always fairly empty so we had all the food to ourselves haha, the food at the breakfast ranged from sausage, eggs, rolls etc to the more health conscious fresh fruit and oats, so there is something to cater for everyone. The hotel room was a nice spacious double room, with a TV, free aircon and free wifi access although this was giving me problems constantly dropping connection every 10 mins or so, but this may have been my net book. On our last night at the hotel we had a meal in the restaurant, which was quite cheap and very nice! It cost about 26 Zlotys for a big pizza and a drink, which is about £5. The hotel also has a free sauna, which I regrettably only found out about after I had the surgery, so my brother was free to use it on his own, the lucky git!
The day of the SurgeryOn the morning of the 20th August, Jeremy phoned my hotel room at 8am to let me know that he would pick me up outside the hotel at 9am to take me to a diagnostic centre to have my blood test done. So I waited around for an hour and then went downstairs where Jeremy arrived promptly at 9am and drove to diagnostic centre, which was about a 10 minute drive. After having the blood test Jeremy dropped me back to the hotel where I was told the Consultant Surgeon would pick me up at around 12pm to take me to the state hospital in - to have my ultrasound done so that the Surgeon could get an idea of the size of the glands. At 12pm I was met outside the hotel by Katarzyna the Consultant Surgeon who was a very nice woman, she was very easy to talk to, down to earth and spoke perfect English, not intimidating like some Surgeons can be. I felt very relaxed around her, which was very important to me as I felt I could ask her any questions. The drive to the Hospital was about 15 minutes and then roughly another 15 minute wait in the hospital before Katarzyna took me in to a well equipped room with her and a radiologist. The ultrasound confirmed what I had always suspected, which was that the left gland was very thin at 3mm but longer at around 3-4cm and the right one was smaller but more compact and hard.
Katarzyna then dropped me back at the hotel, where I waited (anxiously) until 3pm where a taxi arranged by the clinic would came to pick me up. So the taxi arrived and the cost of the taxi trip was about 13 zlotys, which equates to about £3. Once I arrived at the clinic I was immediately impressed by how modern and clean it was, it was a step above some of the hospital wards that I have worked on as a student nurse. Katarzyna opened the door to the clinic to greet me and showed me to the room I would be staying in, it was a modern, clean room with a flat screen TV on the wall. The bathroom was in a separate room right next to your room and was also very clean and well equipped.
After settling into my room, Katarzyna went over the consent forms and payment with me, she said I could go into my room to read the consent form to make sure I was comfortable with what it contained, I didn’t feel rushed in any way, which was nice! I then went back to my room, read the consent form and signed it. After that I had a nice informal chat with Katarzyna where she explained to me what she planned to do, where the incision would be, what size sutures she would be using, a pre op checklist to determine any condition I may have such as hypotension etc and some complications that can arise from the surgery, which I appreciated as some surgeons would not be so forthright about such things. The main complications that I was told could arise were nipple indentation and necrosis of the nipple. Katarzyna told me that she likes to remove the gynecomastia gland completely, which is what I wanted despite there being a higher risk of nipple indentation doing this. I never understood the point of leaving a small bit of gland behind to reduce the risk of nipple indentation, when it means you still have a gyne gland remaining increasing the risk of it coming back. After the chat with Katarzyna the Anaesthetist arrived and I was introduced to her, she was also a very nice woman. I went back to my room to relax for about 20 minutes, then when I was ready Katarzyna asked me to strip down to my boxers and socks and follow her and the Anaesthetist to the operating room. En route to the operating room, Katarzyna took some pre op photographs of me.
I lay down on the operating table, where the Anaesthetist inserted a canulla in my right arm, this was the part I was most nervous about as I had never had a canulla inserted before etc but it was pretty much painless. I was then given something intravenously to relax and then I felt the surgical scrub being put on then Zzzzzz... I then woke up very sharply in what felt like 5 minutes but had been in fact just under 1 hour. They like to use a combination of mild general anaesthetic and local anaesthetic; this allows you to be fully awake within an hour of surgery.
Once I had woken up, the compression band and a dressing was applied and I was shown the glands, I snarled at them and then I was brought to my room where I was introduced to the nurse who was to take care of me throughout the night. They send the glands off to have some histopathology tests done to look for cancers etc, which is really good practise and commendable!
The nurse hooked me up to a Paracetamol infusion for any pain, which surprisingly I didn’t really have. I was then given an anti coagulant injection subcutaneously (into a bit of fat) on my lower abdominals, I think it was clexane and it hurt a bit, like a mosquito bite. I have given these injections to elderly patients before but I had no idea how painful they can be! I was also given anti biotics intravenously throughout the night and through to the morning. The clinic has only 1 bed so the care provided by the team was exceptional and you felt really well looked after. The Nurse also brought me plenty of food, such as ham and cheese rolls and a slice of pizza later in the night
and lots of water. I spent the rest of the night just listening to my MP3 player while the nurse would come in to check my observations such as pulse, blood pressure etc my heart rate was a bit low at 47bpm but this is normal for me. Just before I nodded off to sleep, Katarzyna came in to check on me, said good night and said that she would see me in the morning.
Morning after the surgeryIn the morning I still wasn’t in any pain, just a sensitive on the nipples almost like a burning sensation, it was a bit uncomfortable but not unbearable. Katarzyna, the Nurse and I went into the operating room where I laid down on the operating table so that Katarzyna could remove my dressing and have a look at the nipples. On removal of the compression band, Katarzyna smiled and said ‘perfect’ which put me at ease
as there was no necrosis of the nipple. Some blood had collected behind the nipples, which is to be expected so Katarzyna and the Nurse gave both the nipples a massage/squeeze to get the blood out, which it did, the left one actually squirted and made Katarzyna jump back lol. It hurt a little bit having this done, but it is better than having drains in situ in my opinion. This is where I had my first look at the nipples and I was really pleased as both were flat as can be, Katarzyna told me that the left one looked like it was trying to go back a little bit so to make sure I massage etc My right nipple was actually ok pre op and didn’t even think there was much wrong with it, but even it looked better, it had spontaneously shrunk by about 10%. The nipples were cleaned using Hydrogen Peroxide disinfectant and a new dressing was applied, which consisted of a Jelonet gauze on each nipple and then some bandaging on top of both nipples and then the compression band was put back on.
I then went back to my room, got dressed. Katarzyna wrote out a prescription for antibiotics and a heparin (anti coagulant) based spray called lipohep, which is a spray that penetrates the skin and helps in the prevention of haematomas (collection of blood outside the blood vessels) this was to be applied 3 times daily. I was given my discharge letter and arranged to come back on the 23rd August at 12pm for a check up before I left for home. There is plenty of 24 hour chemists around - called ‘APTEKA’, there is also a chemist right next door to -, so it’s very convenient.
The next few days before the final check up I just chilled at the hotel, watched a bit of TV and tried my hardest to not take my dressings off to have a peak as Katarzyna asked me to leave them on until Monday. Apart from a bit of blood coming out my right nipple, nothing really happened and I wasn’t in much pain, just restricted movement, kind of felt like I had a killer chest session in the gym, that’s the best way I can describe it.
Monday arrived and I took a taxi to the clinic, where - met me at 12pm. She changed the dressings for me and we had a chat about what to do post op, such as massaging technique, applying the lipohep etc. I am glad I chose to stay in - longer as the post op check up was a good opportunity to make sure everything was as it should be, which it was. I personally would not recommend leaving the day after the surgery and stay for at least 3 days post op. Although my surgery was straight forward with no complications, problems can arise and it is best to be close to the clinic in case this happens. Katarzyna told me that if there any concerns post op or if I had any questions, to contact her or Jeremy via email or even call the clinic. So off I went back to the hotel.
On the Monday afternoon after the check up, I went to the Galaxy shopping centre with my brother. I picked up some food and a baggy shirt as the shirts I had brought with me would not have fit with the compression band on. Also, be prepared for a shock when you go to the Galaxy shopping centre, the amount of hot women you see will blow you away! I still can’t believe it haha
Poland rocks.
The next day the minibus picked us up at 9am on the dot as arranged and took us to Berlin airport. I was a bit worried about going through security with the compression band on as I was worried that it looked like a suicide vest haha, but nothing happened.
The compression vest is about 28cm in width and very thin, I have been advised to wear it for 6 weeks and massage for 1 hour daily for 4 weeks.
I am now 13 days post op and the nipples are looking better every day. I took my own stitches out on the 8th day as I am a student nurse, but I would advise people to have it done at their GP as the stitches were very small. I had 9 sutures on my right nipple and 11 on my left and the scar is very neat, the right one being hard to detect already.
My only concern right now is the amount of scar tissue that has formed; it feels like hard lumpy bits around my nipple, kind of like glandular tissue, particularly around the left nipple. Using the lipohep that Katarzyna prescribed me 3 times per day is definitely working and I know it will all be gone soon. But this is not the surgeons fault; this is my body’s way of dealing with the wound. I have already contacted the clinic about this and received a very fast response from Jeremy with some sound advice about massaging technique etc
CostsThe surgery cost a total of £1090, which was for bilateral removal of gynecomastia with no lipo. £200 of this was a deposit to be sent to Jeremy before the operation. This included operation, anaesthesia, care at the clinic, one night stay at the clinic and aftercare, which is dirt cheap considering the high standard of care that was delivered.
The minibus transfer from Berlin to - was £34 return, which Jeremy paid for me in advance and then I paid them at the clinic for this.
The same goes for the cost of the blood test and ultra sound, which was £53 for both, Jeremy paid for this in advance and I, again, paid for this at the clinic when paying Katarzyna.
So in total, excluding flight costs the total was £1177. The flights from Stanstead to berlin return cost me around £60, which is nice and cheap!
Extra costs to consider.You will have to pay for taxis, antibiotics, lipohep and other drugs/medicines if you are prescribed them. A taxi to the clinic from the hotel cost me about 14 Zlotys (3 gbp) on average, the antibiotics 50 Zlotys (10 gbp) and the lipohep was 72 zlotys (15 gbp) for 2 bottles of the stuff.
Also, bring money for food. There are plenty of small grocerie stores where I stocked up on rolls, cheese, ham and water. For any other weightlifters/bodybuilders that are going, will want to turn left as they exit the Atrium Hotel and just walk for straight for about 10 mins until you come to a big round about, around there you will find a couple of dudes selling huge rotisserie chickens for 14 zlotys (3gbp), fairly lean chicken and tonnes of protein mmmmm
Just to reiterate, I WILL definitely upload after pics in a few weeks when the scar tissure subsides a bit.
Would I recommend -? Definitely! I already know the surgeon has done a great job, hardly any bruising and a very neat scar, which is what she is renowned for.
So that is my account of my experience with -. Sorry that it is ridiculously long, but I just thought I would document as much as I could. I’m sure I have forgotten a few things as I am awful at writing personal accounts, so if you have any questions just ask!
Watch this space for after pics!
A little update since i last posted this blog, the scar tissue is going down but nipples are still really sensitive and a small amount of blood came out of one of the nipples, but it was just from a small scab that was still there. I'm still wearing the compression band 24/7, although i keep having to wake up in the middle of the night to pull it up as it slips down a bit, maybe i'm a rough sleeper or something.
The first photo really shows the puffy nipple at it's worst to be honest. The second photo was in the room at - about 10 mins before i went for Surgery. The third and fourth photo i put on to show how lean i'd tried to become but the glands didn't improve much in appearance, although they look OK, the left nipple pointed out really far and ruined my chest in t shirts
Topic: My experience - Poland (Read 3849 times)
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