I went to see Benito on 29 April. I liked the man as soon as I met him. He was being quite honest and frank, which I always prefer. He conceded that there could be complications, but on the whole, 99% of his patients have had great results.
He said that there was a possibility that he might not be able to get all the gyne out through his standard operating procedure of two incisions on the side of the chest, and that I would have to choose whether I wanted the second incision under the armpits, or at the bottom of my areola. He said that the armpit incision would be more painful (during the recovery stage) but invisible, but the areola would be more visible but less painful. I decided on the pain option. I could deal with that for a month – I thought.
He told me not to eat after 7am on the day of surgery. I really wanted the surgery to be done.
The 14th of May arrives; my flight was at 7:45am. This meant a 4am wake-up. Strangely, I didn’t feel nervous at all. Maybe I would later.
I arrived at Barcelona airport – I saw Ledley King at the baggage carousel – he was on my flight. Things must be bad for him if he has to fly EasyJet…
I left the airport and was greeted by my driver, who drove me to the hospital. This took about 20 mins.
I was met by the very friendly and helpful Aida at the hospital. She got me to the front of the queue to have my blood tests. I was then taken to fill out some paperwork which was overseen by a very pretty and jovial Spanish woman who spoke two possibly three words of English. This is a feature of the hospital – the staff are extremely friendly, but speak very very little English.
I was then taken to my room on the 4th floor. On the way up, Aida showed me the Nou Camp Stadium, which is visible from the hospital. She commented that Yaya Toure was at the hospital that week and underwent knee surgery, which was interesting. Apparently, the Barcelona players get certain ops done there; she also told me that Yaya had a nice bum, and all the nurses were crazy about it. Not so interesting.
My room was very clean, with a sofa and a glass window on one side which overlooked a local park, a TV and a nice ensuite shower and bathroom which wouldn’t have looked out of place at a 5 star hotel.
Aida told me to get undressed to my boxers to have the heart monitor test.
I was then asked to sign a consent form, and pay for the remainder of the surgery. I paid the remaining £2430 in cash, although I am sure other options for payment are avialable. It might have been quite funny if someone burst in to see me in my boxers, and see a petite blonde counting out a large amount of foreign currency on the hospital bed.
I was given some morphine by one of the nurses, which I had to put under my tongue. It tasted awful and dissolved slowly, and considering you are not allowed to eat or drink on the day – it was quite literally a bitter pill to swallow.
Dr Benito came into see me, and told me that there was a delay and he would operate on me at 5pm.
Nearer that time, I was taken down to see the anesthetist who put a needle into a vein on the top of my hand. This was slightly painful, but lasted maybe 3 seconds.
I was out maybe 20 mins later. I heard a distant voice which I recognized as Benito’s and he told me that everything went well, and that he did not have to make the second incision. I groggily replied that it was “great news”.
I awoke later that night, at about midnight, when I was given some antibiotics. These are given to you by the nurses quite regularly. I was attached to a drip.
My chest was wrapped up very tightly, and it was very flat. My upper chest, almost upto my neck, was covered in a mummy-like bandage.
I was very hungry as I hadn’t eaten for 17 hours. The nurse told me that breakfast would be served at 8 am.
I didn’t feel too much pain on my chest, which was quite surprising. The pain was more of a dull and numb type. I spent the next day in bed, reading mainly. Benito saw me in the morning, and answered some of the questions I had. He also took off the bandages, which to be honest did hurt. The bandages also took off some of my skin, as they were so tight. He also took out my drains, which again was painful, but nothing that gritted teeth doesnt solve. It lasts for about 3-5 seconds.
When I left for the airport the following day, I found it quite easy to carry my luggage. It didn’t even feel or look like I had surgery.
My recovery so far has been great. However, due to the cuts on my back, and surgery on my front, it was difficult to sleep the first 3 nights. After 7 days post opp, I felt more or less the same as before surgery – no pain – just a compression vest was the difference. The only thing was that my nipples were and still are slightly tender to the touch.
I saw Benito for a consultation last Friday, and he told me that the nipple takes the longest to heal, and that I should massage around it to break up the scar tissue.
He told me that I should start doing all my normal activities. My chest is looking great, and all that hard work in the gym is finally visible. My physique is muscular, and I can finally see that on my chest.
I did some press-ups on Saturday. My chest felt a bit tight, but it was fine. I am going swimming tonight, which I love to do. More or less fully recovered.
If anyone has any questions do please ask. This forum has been a great help, and hopefully I can help others.
Topic: My story (Read 3223 times)
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