case (pre-diagnostic) hereold picturesYay! So I finally had surgery yesterday... Been waiting since December, I think.
I was diagnosed with mild gynecomastia in the Spanish public health system, and the doctor found it obvious, after telling him my experiences, that this condition had been severely affecting my psychology, especially my self-esteem and social skills. So I was a candidate for free surgery.
Time passed, had an echo+mamo done around June which hurt like hell (not only did it apply pressure to the gland, but also apprently pinched my pectoralis muscles), and a blood test.
But a few days after that, I received a letter from the public health system that explained they were having some issues with waiting lists (not a surprise, waiting lists are insanely long here), so they gave me the choice of 3 different private hospitals to have my surgery done, or waiting nearly a year for the public hospital. If you ever get a letter like this, you should answer ASAP, or they'll understand you don't want the surgery and remove you from the list!
So I chose Hospital de Llevant, which is near my home and has a good reputation here. Had another blood test and EEG the 19th of August, an interview with the anesthesist next week, and wait for a month (any longer and the tests would have lost their validity) until I finally had my surgery yesterday.
Couldn't eat or drink for 8 hours before the surgery (as usual), got my breast shaved, and around 10am I was already in the surgery room. The nurses were nice, had some chatter with one of them (I'm a last year Podiatry student, talked about our legal competences and such), and they opened a way for the serum on the back of my hand. Well, they actually did that twice, the nurse messed up on my left hand ("bad vein" she said). After a few minutes, the anesthetic kicked in and I fell asleep.
I woke up a couple hours later, as I was being pulled to my room. Felt no pain at all. It took me a few hours before I could pee the anesthetic, since I hadn't drink for like 15 hours, and the serum takes sooo long to build up enough liquid in the bladder. A couple nurses checked my tension, helped me to get up and walk for a bit, and gave me some water (after ~17 hours, I was certainly thirsty). Some half an hour later I had some juice and cookies, and they waited to check I didn't puke or anything.
Spent the evening and night reading, and around 4am a nurse came to check if I needed any analgesic (they had parenteral Nolotil) but I didn't, I didn't feel pain at all.
So, this morning at sunrise the doctor came to check his work (said everything was perfect), another nurse put some Betadine and explained I could shower without a problem (just remember to dry the area with caution),and had to put some more Betadine every day. He also said the sutures were all internal and the body would absorb them, while the paper strips on my nipples would just fall by themselves in a few days.
...
So, I'm finally back at home, feeling no pain (well - my left hand hurts a bit, damn nurse) and will return in a couple weeks to check how's everything going. And it didn't cost me a cent; public health system, private hospital, the best of both worlds.
I'll take some post-op pictures soon, maybe tomorrow. Hope everything goes as well as it seems. I'll check my papers for the name of the surgeon, just in case there's anybody around Benidorm who wants a surgery as painless as this.
Oh, and excuse me if I said something wrong - my English is a bit rusty nowadays.
Topic: [Dr.Carvajal, Spain]Just had free surgery! (Read 2736 times)
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