Hey all,
Long time reader, first time writer
I just wanted to write a quick post on my recent experience with having the surgery in Poland with Dr Katarzyna Ostrowska-Clark..
I'm 24, average height and weight, and have had Gyne since I was about 13/14.
I'm now 5 days post op, and everything is going as hoped; the doctor is very impressed with my recovery so far.
I decided to have the surgery here after reading many of the posts on this forum (many of which have recently been removed since the new site owner
). I was very skeptical at first, but after much research and getting in touch with someone who was also booked in with them I proceeded with booking. Jeremy Clark was very quick with responding to all of my questions and quickly too; I had also contacted another clinic and had to wait over a week for their reply.
There was less than a month from initial contact to the date of surgery, but I made sure that I had all the information I needed and this eased the worries, as (I'm sure like everyone else) I get very worried about going under.
I received a call the night before the surgery from Jeremy just to confirm the meeting time in the morning as I would be going for a blood test and then ultrasound. So on the morning of the surgery I was collected by Jeremy and went to pick up another guy who was having the surgery on the same day as me, this instantly removed any doubts or worries I had as up to this point a part of my was still expecting some sort of catch or for this to be a scam.
The blood test was at a clinic and the ultrasound at the local hospital; all of it is up to UK standards at least, so far so good..
The time was now just about 11 and this meant that we couldn't eat anything until the surgery (we also couldn't eat anything before the blood test), we were taken back to our hotel where we would wait until 2.40pm for a taxi to take us to the clinic. The wait was pretty intense as my nerves got the best of me; luckily I had my laptop and watched The Wire which absorbed my nervousness only slightly.
Soon enough it was time to get the taxi, and we shortly arrived at the clinic. I had a consultation with the surgeon (Katarzyna) and she went through all that was going to happen, and the possible complications, also answering any questions that I had - which weren't many as she'd already covered everything! I must say now that Katarzyna is a wonderful doctor and I couldn't have asked for a nicer person; she's great to talk to and is very open and honest which is great as you don't get a sense of salesmanship from her, unlike many of the consultants I'd met with in the UK who I can only compare to like being in Phones4U..
I decided to go first out of me and the other guy, and I changed into a sexy little number (a green paper robe), and went into the surgery room to meet with the anesthetist and be prep'd. I lay down and had the plasticky needly thing stuck in my arm and he injected something, afterwards asking me if I knew what Valium was - as this was similar. Everything then became a nice slight blur and I wasn't expecting to go under, but the next thing I know I woke up nice and cosey in the recovery room.
I had a compression vest on and drains coming out of my chest (due to having lipo) - none of this hurt in the slightest as I was still numb. A few hours later after I'd come back to reality and the sleepiness had worn off, the nurse (who doesn't speak English, but is so helpful and great) came and gave me a drink which I guess was a painkiller, not that I really needed it at that time; everything still felt really good! haha.
After a night in the clinic I had my drains removed (not as bad as I thought... still wouldn't like it done again though!) and I left for my hotel. I later took a walk into the town and visited the massive mall and ate at Pizza Hut, really didn't feel like I'd just had surgery the day before. I did feel very tender and I didn't have full use of my arms - for example I couldn't really pull a door open or lift my heavy bag, but really who would expect to be able to do this the day after having chicken fillets removed from their chest?!
It's now a few days later and I'm due to go home tomorrow, and I really have to say that this experience hasn't been hard or negative at all. For what it is - a cheaper solution to the problem that many of us have, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.
I'll break down the costs as many of you are probably interested:
Surgery: £1450 (due to having lipo also)
Flights: £48 - Ryanair
Hotel: £200 for a week
Taxi from Airport and back: £75 for a private Mercedes
Meds: About £35
Taxi's to and from clinic: under £10 per round trip, I've been 4 times and split the cost for most of that with the other guy.
Food: under £10 per meal (lunch and dinner) - less for breakfast
I'll post before/after pictures tomorrow when I'm back at home, but in the meantime please ask any questions if you have any..
Tony