The operation went well. Tomek picked me up yesterday morning at 9 am. He called an hour before, so that I would have enough time to get ready. We went and got blood tests done. He then dropped me off at Atrium hotel afterwards. He picked me up at around 2 pm and I did an ultrasound before going to the -- clinic.
I was very happy to see Dr. Clark there to greet me. I noticed two things about her personality immediately; competence and warmth. She made me feel welcome and I felt I was safe. The rest of the staff was also delightful.
The next 45 minutes I spent going over the surgery and potential complications with Dr. Clark, paying, taking a shower, shaving my chest, and finally going into the operating room. I met Adam, who would be my anesthetist for the day. He said it would be a bit painful to get the IV into my arm, but it wasn't that bad. I asked him when I should expect Dr. Clark to come to the operating room....
The next thing I remember is waking up an hour later and feeling somewhat disoriented. When Beate (the nurse who took care of me after the operation and throughout the night) helped me get from the operating room to the recovery room, I remember telling her a lot of stuff, but I don’t recall what I said. I don't even remember which language I spoke, lol!
They had already wrapped me up very tightly before I woke up and I was still very numb in my chest from the local anesthesia. Beate told me everything had gone well and told me that Dr. Clark would talk to me after she finished operating another person undergoing gynecomastia surgery. An hour later, I had a talk with Dr. Clark about the surgery; she said everything went well and that she would change my bandages the following day. The rest of the day/evening/night/next morning I spent trying to sleep, getting various refreshments from Beate (such as the famous ham/cheese sandwich), getting pain killers, getting antibiotics through the IV and being monitored. Even though the compression strap was uncomfortable, the IV irritating, and sleeping on my back close to impossible, I felt happy to be there and happy I went through with the operation. I really helped that Beate was so nice to me throughout the night.
At around 1 pm the following day, Beate and Dr. Clark changed my dressings, took out the drains (which was painful) and put the compression strap around my chest again. Before they did, I had a sneak peek at what the result might look like in the near future. I was so happy to see my chest looking like an actual chest J Sure, there was swelling, some blood and stitches, but I got a good idea about how everything will turn out – So far very happy with the result!
After this I put on my clothes and packed my things. I got detailed instructions about the medicine I will be taking the next days. Tomek drove me to the pharmacy and helped me buy the medicine, and I arrived at Atrium at around 2-3 pm. Since then I have been taking it easy J
Tomorrow Tomek will pick me up at 11 am to go change my dressings again J
Hopefully I will be able to post some after photos soon, but it will probably be a few days before I am allowed to shower and change my own dressings.
Cheers,