Gyno Operation with Dr Ostrowska Clark, Medim*l, Poland - My Detailed Story

[77777]

2 days post surgery 28/11/14

Breakfast at hotel was mediocre. I'm a fussy eater and struggled today as there was no bacon.

Tomek was picking me up at 8:50 - he did. He has been bang on time every time.

When I arrived at the clinic there were no other patients, just me. I went through to the theatre with the surgeons assistant who cannot speak a word of English, and the receptionist (translator).

She took off my compression garment and bandaging. She had a good feel around pressing my chest. For me, this was the most painful experience yet, but not unbearable. I sensed she was happy with my progress.

The receptionist then said that when redressing my self, I was to replicate how the surgeons assistant is currently doing it. As I was lying on my back it was difficult to see properly.

This is where it got confusing for me, the language barrier really was a problem. I didn't feel that I was getting clear and concise answers.

I asked the receptionist what the ointment was for that I had been prescribed the day before? She said this was for massaging. I thought ok, so I've been advised not to massage for a week, so am I not supposed to apply this cream until then? I had an incline that this cream may have been to help with the bruising? I then queried this and it all got abit confusing.

Trying to establish exactly what I was supposed to be doing was hard.

The receptionist said I must have stitches removed after a week, I said I thought it was 12 days? She spoke to the surgeons assistant and then said you're right, it is 12 days. It wasn't filling me with confidence.

Next she was talking about some Hydronated water and Jelonets - I said where do I get these from? She thought I already had them - I didn't. She said I would have to buy them from the chemist. Tomek took me to the same chemist a few doors down and got me what was needed. I have a bottle of Hydrogen peroxide and a carrier bag full of Jelonets (about x25, seems abit excessive to me). This cost me a further 72 zloty (£15).

Again, I have no real idea what this Hydrogen Peroxide is for. Tomek was telling me it was for the scar but not sure I totally trust his judgement.

I then sat in the hotel, typing the name of these prescription drugs/ointments etc into Google to try and establish what they were. The results are all in Polish. I then used Google Translate to try and establish what is what.

I now have a better idea, but I'm still not totally sure about my showering and redressing procedure. I've been told that it's ok to shower tonight, and believe it is necessary to help with the healing process. I will give it my best shot and try and wing it as I go along.

*Update*

Tonight I had my first shower. It was also a chance for me to have a first proper look at my new chest. My chest is as flat as a pancake, almost like a boys chest. I'd hoped that I'd be able to see the contour of my chest, this was not the case. Not sure it's because my muscles are too puney, or because my chest is swollen and taking away any possible aesthetic look that I might have. No fault of the surgeon here, she can only play with the materials that she was given.

My chest still has pen and fluid markings from the surgery that kind of blends into the bruising, so it's difficult to assess how much bruising there actually is.

At this stage, and I'm prepared to give it time, the bottom half of my nipple seems slightly depressed which has me slightly worried. There is a crevice that runs through the bottom half of both nipples, caused by the compression garment. I have lines and markings all over the top half of my body from where the compression garment has been digging in. I'm hoping this is the reason for the slight depression - time will tell.

I'll be absolutely devastated if I do have a depression. I can deal with fluid and scar tissue as this is temporary and to be expected, but a concave nipple? Please no, I'll be gutted.

I've been told that it's ok to put my own Macom compression vest on today, so I did. Hopefully the deep crevices will disappear off my skin and I'll get a better picture of my condition. It's like when you put a plaster on your finger for some time, when the plaster is removed, your finger is all wrinkly and matted. It takes time to adjust to normal, I'm hoping this is the case with my nipple crevice. Putting this vest on whilst trying to hold the bandaging in place proved difficult. I think trying to get the compression garment that the clinic provide would be extremely difficult on your own.

I'm back at the clinic tomorrow for the last time. I'm going to take all my medicine, ointments etc and not leave until I am 100% confident of what I'm supposed to be doing.

[77777]

3 days post surgery 29/11/14

My last day in Szczecin, I have an 21:55 flight home from Berlin. My transfer has been arranged for 16:30 from the Atrium hotel.

My mobility is getting better by the day. Any worries of not being able to get dressed etc were allayed.

Tomek picked me up nice and punctual again, 08:50. I'm off work and still can't get a lie in, I don't know eh...

I took all my medication with me to the clinic to seek clarification. I am not confident that I know what I am doing when it came to applying creams etc.

When I arrived, it was just me again with the surgeons assistant and receptionist (translator). This time I ensured I didn't leave that clinic until I understood fully what I was expected to do. During this checkup, it became apparent that what I thought were Jelonets, actually wasn't. I thought the day previous Tomek got me these!?!? He didn't, I only had the bandaging to go over the Jelonets. I asked how do I get these and the surgeons assistant gave me 22 to last me until my stitches were taken out - I was very thankful.

So, I was all redressed and ready for home. Although I found the aftercare pretty poor when it came to relaying information, the surgeons assistant and receptionist were really nice. They tried their best despite the language barrier being a problem. I left the clinic a lot happier today. I said my goodbyes and again thanked the staff.

Tomek took me back to the hotel. I had about 20 Zloty spare so gave him that as a tip. Only £4 but better than a kick in the boll*cks - I'd have gave him more but that was all the currency I had left, bar a little money for food as I had a late flight.

Checkout was 12pm, I asked if I could pay extra to extend the room but I was told this was not possible - bummer, I have 4.5 hours to kill walking around Szczecin and it's -2 degrees.

I ventured to the Galaxy shopping centre again to kill some time. There are various spots around the centre where you can pick up free WIFI with seating facilities (McDonald's, KFC etc). I tried the ice cream that I had seen mentioned on here, it was very good and cheap - about 50p.

I made my way back to the hotel and waited outside 15 mins before my scheduled pickup time. My transfer arrived at 16:27, 3 mins early. I have been very impressed with how organised the transfers, hotel, blood tests, ultrasound tests and daily trips to the clinic have been. All have been bang on time with no problems.

That's it for now, my next update will be from home.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to help.

[Ty25]

Sounds like everything has gone well for you! I have my surgery in 4 days there. I'm very eexcited for it. How is the compression vest? I have yet to buy the rerecommended macom vest as unsure of the size.
Hope recovery goes well.

[77777]

Hiya Ty25,

The compression vest provided by the clinic is not as bad as I thought it'd be. Mine was digging in around the armpit area and chaffed the skin on the first night. When it was readjusted in the morning I had no issue with it.

I'm normally a medium so ordered a size smaller (small) when it came to buying the Macom compression vest - it looked tiny but once it's on it's not too bad.

Overall, I am relatively happy, but I think I did expected more. I could only find positive feedback on here so perhaps I set my expectations too high. Some things did not go well as I have mentioned in this thread. I've had another look today and things are looking better. At the moment, I still have no fluid build up which is good. My only concern is the bottom half of my nipples (left is worse than right) look slightly concave but I'm praying that these will come good.

Good luck with your surgery, that part of it is a breeze. Keep us updated with how you get on!

[sgtakira]

How's everything going man?  Looking forwards to seeing some pics.  The best way is uploading them to another site then using img tags to link it in here.

[77777]

Hiya mate,

Things are going really well. There doesn't seem to be much swelling, neither do I have fluid build up. I think my scars will be gone in no time too. Everything is perfect except for the slight depression on the bottom half of my left nipple. Dr Clarke got in touch with me yesterday to see how my recovery was going which I thought was really nice of her. I sent her a few photos of my nipple and she advised me to try and detach my nipple from muscle and massage the area gently - hopefully this will help.

How's your recovery going? How many days post op are you?

[sgtakira]

10 days now  and healing well, all the bruising is gone, tiny bit of swelling behind nipple but it's going down every day and you would only notice it if I pointed it out.  All in all very happy.  Want to be track in the gym and on with my life!

[77777]

12 days post surgery today and had my sutures removed by a nurse in a walk in centre.

I think I've mentioned on this thread that I thought the stitching didn't look very neat after surgery. I think I said this at the time because mine looked different to the photos I had seen of Dr Clarkes work - there didn't seem to be a definitive line, so I thought it wasn't 'normal'. In hindsight, I think this was due to how good of a job she had done. This was confirmed today when the first thing the nurse said was "my god, how small are them stitches." As she was taking them out she said you're hardly going to have a scar. Just before I left, she said if you have any problems, like I've missed one because they're so small (she was kinda joking about), just come back.

As a General update, my bruising has all but gone now. I'm not taking any pain killers/antibiotics but my chest is still tender. My left nipple still isn't right, if it stays like it is I would be very happy. I just hope it doesn't get worse over time.

I've started to massage, but it is uncomfortable, and I'm abit quimish massaging at such an early stage - everything feels raw. I can feel scar tissue building but at this stage it is not visible to the eye.

My Macom compression vest is getting on my nerves now. I'm not sure if mines is too small for me, but it kinda pulls my shoulders down giving me terrible posture. They've really started aching the last couple of days. So looking forward to when I can finally get this thing off and let everything breathe.

All in all, so far so good, just a shame about the ever so slight depression of the lower left nipple.

I'll update when I see more changes, good or bad.

[Ty25]

Keep postive about the nipple. Im sure it will be back to normal eventually. Be persistent with the massaging and wearing the vest. You'll get the final result you want I'm sure! I'm now 5 days post op with Dr Clark and very happy. I've posted pics on my thread.
All the best

[kdot93]

Would love an update on your results!