POLAND My Friend just got back From Surgery

[orrible]

Picked my friend up from the airport today who went to Poland for surgery (MarkAshleigh you should be on the pay role or at least getting commission  ).

I will try and relay his account as accurately as possible from what he told me. Things weren’t quite as plain sailing for him though.

He booked his surgery via email and sent pictures with details of his problem height and weight etc. As well as booking the gynecomastia operation, he also booked another unrelated liposuction procedure.

Upon arriving the hotel which had been booked for him had no reservation and no rooms available; luckily he was able to stay in the clinic.

During the consultation the surgeon suggested that he was over weight and that it might be worth him not having the procedure until he has lost some more weight. His weight hadn’t changed since he sent the photographs and details and was approved for surgery, so he insisted that this wasn’t right. Going all that way to then be sent home again was quite unbelievable. After a brief discussion via the translator (another surgeon) the surgeon agreed that he would carry out the gynecomastia operation but wouldn’t do the other liposuction procedure. This was disappointing for my friend as he had prepared himself both physically and mentally for the other procedure.

The surgeon told him that he only needed liposuction to correct his gyne. I had advised him before going that this seems to be common practise and to insist on gland removal as not removing it usually leads to revision. He felt that the surgeon wasn’t impressed that he insisted on gland removal but eventually agreed that he would perform excision as well. Obviously having excision costs more, and usually produces better results, so it seems strange that they don’t perform it as standard.  

Now to the scary part. When going to surgery they didn’t have scales or height to measure him with, so he had to estimate his own weight and height in kg and metres so they new to give him the correct dose of anaesthetic. Then whilst still totally conscious before being given the anaesthetic he was asked to lay on a table shaped like a cross and had his arms strapped down so he couldn’t move. He said at this point he felt like a mental patient and was crapping himself. Nobody was speaking any English which didn’t help.

After the surgery, things were fairly uneventful. There is only CNN TV channel in English and no English papers available. Also he said he was starving as they only brought 3 small salads in the space of 36 hours, and nobody understood English.

Also beware, they only accept cash and if on a budget and taking the exact amount of cash as he was charged 200 euros more for the op than had been agreed via email, so he paid for lipo+ excision + another 200 euros. He also had his tests done before 9am, but they weren’t free as like Markashleighs.

With all that being said his chest is looking a lot flatter (over 750ml fat removed), so if he gets the results he’s hoping for it will be worth it.

So his advice to anybody yet to go to Poland for surgery.

Make sure you know your own height in cms/ metres & your own weight in KG.

Make sure you take enough to read/ listen to/ or portable DVD player to watch.

Make sure you take some food that you can eat.

Take a translator book as you will only briefly speak to somebody who can understand English, and the rest of the time you won’t.

If you can take somebody with you, as you feel very isolated.

I hope this helps some people. Obviously it’s not quite such a positive spin on things as the other thread, but he said if he was more prepared, then it would have been easier. Obviously though having went through this he saved himself about 2/3 of the cost of surgery here. I think the main problem was the language barrier.

I will keep you posted on his progress as and when I can.

[geg100]

none of that sounds good to me at all.not very professional at all about the weighing problem.

[markashleigh1979]

Wow, it does sound like a different clinic.But everyone can have a different experience i guess .
The food situatuion with me was good, and if anything they brought me far to much ( but i look lika an orphane)...lol .
I too went of the cross, lol. i found it ok and i had the female surgeon holding my hand...lol   .
I am really sad that he had a bit of a dissapointing trip ,but i hope he gets good results. I have to agree about the excission thing though, but then again i have never seen your mates chest..... . What do you think?Did he need it removing? or was it mainly fat?

I am going back soon, i hope thye do remove the gland or i wil be very sad   .


Sorry , read the post wrong!!!! He got excission!!! Awesome......he should be laughing his head off now ......

[orrible]

Geg: I agree, it did sound a bit more amateur than Mr Levicks operation. Sounds like the contrast between the service after the op was night and day. The priory gave me menus and were so helpful, treated me like royalty by comparison. I think its probably a language problem though mostly. However its results that count and if he achieves the results he wants then im sure it will be worth it.

Markashleigh: Yeah he got excision which is a great thing. Before he left i said to him please insist on excision. He told me that he had booked that anyway via email, and didnt seem concerned, but they said he didnt need it when he got their. He is pleased now that i made a point of telling him to insist on it because otherwise he would have likely just went along with lipo.

He did seem happy and not in anyway dissapointed about leaving 750ml of chest fat in Poland   just dissapointed about the other procedure and the other stuff mentioned.

Mark im sure they will remove your gland on the 9th as thats why your heading back.

Forgot to say that they did tell my friend he may need a revision in 4 months to remove any loose skin that could result as such a vast amount was removed.

[markashleigh1979]

I think it was probs just a language barrier....

My days were like this : 8 am woken up with continental breakfast and cheese and fruit...dinner time was a soup starter, then chips with chicken or pork.....tea was meat sarnies and sald again ...and fruit . And on top of that i had upteen cups of tea....lol. I think it may depend on who the day nurse is too.
But the TV situation drives you crazy, there is only so much cnn you can watch! ...lol. I am trying to buy a mini portable dvd player off ebay for my next trip...lol. I will also spend my days out and about ...visiting frankfurt and stuff.

May need a revision? He must have got a lot removed....hopefully his skin will mould back ok

[phantom]

On the one hand I appreciated the ethical stance of the surgeon deciding against both procedures but at the same time, this clearly should have been established BEFORE your friend went out there.

Surely it's essential that clinics that offer services to international patients must ensure as much as possible is in order before agreeing to carry out any surgery and that all information and prices are agreed before travel.

Luckily your friend had you Stonecold to give him all the additional information before he travelled otherwise the chances are he would not have got the glandular excision and would be in Markashliegh's position (maybe).

Whilst Levick charges a premium compared to just about anywhere else in Europe, if for any reason I needed to go back, it's just a trip down the M6 and no language barrier!

I did seriously consider going overseas at one point and this thread has been invaluable stonecold.  I certainly would not knock going to Poland (clearly markashleigh is happy so far) but forewarned is forearmed.

[ace]

Sorry , read the post wrong!!!! He got excission!!! Awesome......he should be laughing his head off now ......

Ok, probably a  bit late to ask this question a week before my op, but, what is the difference between Gland Removal and Excission??

(ie also the price difference, the former 30eur more than lipo and the latter 200eur more than lipo)

[orrible]

Phantom: He emailed the clinic on a number of occasions and not at any point did they suggest he wasn’t in the correct weight category. It does make you wonder if the surgeons actually see potential patients pictures and details before agreeing to the op, or if a secretary just approves people and the surgeon just has to work with what he’s got when people get their. I think this is common practise in clinics here such as transform, where you end up consulting with a cosmetic surgery counsellor instead of a surgeon.

Ace: Excision is gland removal, they mean the same thing. Are you having surgery in Poland also? Not sure what you mean about the price difference? He was given a price in email for excision and lipo which worked out at 500 euros more than just lipo. So basically paid for both which costs more. They then added an additional 200 euros to the final price. It might be worth taking abit of extra cash if you can for any unplanned additional expenses.

[phantom]

Hello ace

Are you off to Poland too?

Liposuction only refers to the removal of fat within the offending breast area.  Separate to fat is another tissue called 'gland' or 'breast tissue' - they are both the same thing.

Glandular/breast tissue is usually much more tough in texture than fat and is much more difficult to break down and very difficult to suck through the cannula (the metal rod) that the surgeon uses for this procedure.

Glandular tissue often stems from the back of the nipple area and the surgeon needs to cut here to release it.  It is then completely excised (cut) out.  It's the same tissue in females breasts that produce milk straight after pregnancy - and clearly we don't need it.

But it's both ratios of glandular and fat tissues that can make up the appearance of gynaecomastia.  For some reason, some surgeons concentrate on fat removal alone.  Some do fat and some gland others (suck as my surgeon, Mr Levick) aims to remove the 'right' amount of fat and to excise as much glandular tissue as possible.  I have even read on here about gland removal only.

Ultimately, I think all surgeons that perform male chest reduction procedures need to sit round a table and discuss a whole variety of male patients with gynaecomastia and thrash out best practices because clearly patients are getting VERY different information from different surgeons.

As a guide, if you plough through the experiences on this forum, there seems to be a correlation of patients that have had liposuction for fat only and seem to be more often dissapointed with the result.  Often they go back for revision - not always with the same surgeon (loss of trust?) for glandular excision.

This is why it's essential to do as much homework as possible and see a number of before and after photos of patients with your chosen surgeons.


Make sure you fully understand what your surgeon intends to do.  If he or she does not intend to remove any offending glandular tissue, ask to explain why and that you are concerned that after speaking with other patients on here you are concerned you may not get a desirable result.

Hope that helps.

[ace]

thanx Phantom and Stonecold.

Yes my surgery is at the Polish Clinic on Monday 27th March.

The reason I asked about the price difference was , from what Mark told me, and from an e-mail from Andreas (agency man for the clinic) Lipo on the breast was priced 'X' and gland removal at priced at 'X + 30 euros.'.  
ie Gland removal is 30 euros more, so when our friend paid 200 euros more for excission , I was thinking are 'Gland removal' and 'excission' two different things, becuase of the price difference; I thought they were the same thing too.

Mark can u expand on this, as you were also told that it was 30 euros more? so where did the 200 come from???

thanx

[markashleigh1979]

I have no idea where the 200 has come from...lol. Would the price be effected by the amount of gland to remove?

[orrible]

Ace i asked my friend about this for you.

He was quoted 740 for lipo only
He was quoted 700 for gland excision only

or if having both gland and lipo perfomred at the same time the price was 1200.

The extra 200 euros my friend paid on top of that, but has no idea why.

So in total my friend paid for gland excission and lipo 1600 euros, which included the vest, tests and anethestic etc.

Hope this helps and the best of luck with your surgery.

[markashleigh1979]

 :-/

[markashleigh1979]

Not being rude,but was your friend a big guy?
I was just wondering if it goes something like this....

Minor case:If you have lipo or excission as a main procedure, and then lipo or excission as the seconary ( smaller op)...

Large case:,,,it would be cheaper than having lipo and gland as two main procedures....due to the size of the breast ....meaning equal vast amounts of gland and fat.....does that make sense? or am i talking bollocks

[phantom]

God only knows how they work it out.  As far as I know, it can be difficult to establish how much tissue needs to be removed until you are actually under the knife.  What do they do? Take the waste bin over to the scales after the op, cross reference it on some kind of charge sheet and ring it into the till by dragging your new boobs through the scanner?

As far as I know, in the UK, you only pay for the treatment, in this case the removal of gynaecomastia.  I was one of the larger cases with Mr Levick.  Some other guys have had far less tissue removed, others more.  But we all paid the same price.  We paid for the same treatment, not the amount or kind of tissue removed.

Once again, this is why I think it is essential to establish a price, what it includes and the policy on revision before you commit to it.

I didn't pay my surgeon for fat and/or glandular tissue removal.  I paid for chest reconstruction to look more masculine and normal.  Ultimately I didn't care what he intended to do with me, as long as he could get me to an agreed level of expectation on both sides and if he didn't reach that expectation, then he'd continue until he did.

Two months on I am reasonably happy with the progress.  Things continue to get better each week (ever so slightly).  If I think I've reached an end point and things stop improving, then Mr Levick and I will be due another conversation.

Ask questions especially where expectations/results are concerned.