Surgery with Dr Benito - 14th November - Now with Before & After Photos!

[Bob1981]

Well, just got back from a consultation with Dr Benito and I think that I'm going to go ahead and have the surgery sometime in the first half of November.  Just a case of seeing when they can fit me in and when I can get time off work!   

The consultation, as you may gather, went well and I have confidence in this abilities.  One of the few concerns was that the fee would not cover 'anything that went wrong', i.e. if I should have to go back under the knife if I had bleeding that needed attention.  Still, he reassured me that 98% of the operations went well...  Perhaps some kind of insurance might be called for?  Any ideas?

I also forgot to ask him about revisions and what his policy was.  Anyone know?

He qouted me £2600 for the procedure and all related costs. 

I'll keep this thread updated with any developments, my news and photos.

[Bigdom]

Insurance....not sure whether it would help.  The 98% refers AFAIK to bleeding, and the reason why they keep you in for a couple of days with drains in, so if your bleeding they take you back down and sort it out.

Revisions are free although you have to pay for the flights.  He's never done one though, he takes his time!

[outertrial]

For emergencies that happen on the operating table he and/or the clinic should have their own insurance. I'd just assumed this was the case and never asked about it. For complications that require extra treatment that werent due to any errors in the procedure he told me I would have to pay for whatever needed doing. He said if it happened when I was back home I could just go to a local hospital, but its better not to as they tend to give you a tough time about having had surgery abroad. They probably would but I doubt Id have gone to the trouble of going back to spain if there had been any problems to be honest.

If you need another op to stop bleeding during the 2 days at the clinic I suppose you could wave your EHIC card around and insist on being transferred to the nearest State A&E, but I doubt it would be worth it to be honest. Ive not heard of anyone having problems like this from a gyne op ever anyway. Any surgery carries risk, he does tell you all the stuff that could go wrong so youre properly prepared.

I dont think insurance would do it either, and afaik no insurer will cover you for surgery abroad. Actually one reason I was adamant I would have this done in an EU country (and not a former Soviet Block country) was because I wanted to make sure I was within ambulance ride of somewhere that would give me NHS cover.

Hes an excellent surgeon Im sure you'll be fine, and at least you can be confident youll come home without moobs and without having contracted a flesh eating superbug! Shame we cant say the same for Britain...

[Bob1981]

I'm very confident that I'll get a good job there.  I just have to get the time off work now, which shouldn't be a problem.  Dr Benito even said that one week off work should be fine.  I was planning on having two but one's good because I've only got enough holiday pay for that!  Really looking forward to it!   

[outertrial]

Thats exactly the right attitude, keep us posted!

[Bob1981]

Right, well, I'm all booked in for the 14th November!     Scary!  Don't want to think about all the things that could go wrong!!

Now I just need to sort out flights.  Easyjet seem to be the people to go with.  Unfortunately, I need to be there for about 10.30am and Gatwick, Luton or Stansted (the only London airports for Barcelona) are all a bit of a trek for me!     I'll see how it goes, I could go the night before and stay in a cheap hostel some where....

Anyone going on the 14th Nov, let me know and we can say hello.   

[darrend]

bob i have a consultation with benito on the 16th im bricking it, this may sound sad but i havent plucked up the courage to tell my wife yet about my plans! any of you guys have the same problem?

its actually cheaper for me to fly to barcelona from belfast than it is to fly to gatwick something not right there

[outertrial]

bob i have a consultation with benito on the 16th im bricking it, this may sound sad but i havent plucked up the courage to tell my wife yet about my plans! any of you guys have the same problem?

its actually cheaper for me to fly to barcelona from belfast than it is to fly to gatwick something not right there

No, thats a new one on me. You should tell her mate.

[Bob1981]

Yeah, my girlfriend is the only person I've discussed this with.  I haven't told any of my family.  They'd only worry and might not understand.  Ontheotherhand, my brothers also have the same problem but I think I'll tell them after I've had it done.

[Bob1981]

Right, I'm heading out on Tuesday the 13th Nov, staying the night in a hostel and having the surgery Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately, I have to stay Friday night too because I couldn't find a cheap and conveniently scheduled flight.  Oh well, flights are only costing me about £30 with Easyjet and two nights in the hostel/hotel are costing me £60.  To hell with the extra expense, I've got plenty of money saved for the trip.

OK, now it's just a case of getting prepared.  What am I going to need to do before and what shall I do post-op to speed up my healing?    

[Bigdom]

Do beforehand.....nothing really, could lose a few pounds if you need/want to (but it's coming from an area that you cannot lose it from anyway), learn some Spanish.   And don't visit the Baja beach club whilst in Barcelona!

Post op, take Arnica 30's capsules from Holland & Barrett.  Take a good multivitamin (Wellman) or something similar, drink plenty of water.  I stayed off the booze for a week or so as well, think it helps the old kidneys as they are trying to flush the Sh!t out of your system. 

Dr Benito will give you a cream to rub in, be gentle and try not to overwork the area, as for the first week it's still healing, then the brusing/blood breaks down and moves at pace down your body.

Wash the compression vest daily in a pillow case on wool/silk/handwash programme will dry within a hour, and keeps in top condition.  Try not to do anything too stressful post op for a week or two, and you'll be fine.

I'm now 4 weeks post op, and it's definately the best thing i've decided to do in recent years.

[Johnny Wishbone]

What he said, but we're men so you can wash the vest weekly

[Bob1981]

Here are some pre-op pictures

[HarryO]

Thanks for posting Bob.

You have puffy nips, what did he say about this particular aspect and did he refer to it specifically?

Thanks
H

[outertrial]

Puffy nips is caused by gland Harry. Dr Benito takes it out with scissory things. Have you had any improvement since your last post?