In all truth, the hardest part of the surgery was the anesthesia. I'd never been put under before, and found that I did not react very well once I woke up. But the staff at the medical center were very helpful, and all ended well. If you have any conditions like sleep apnea (which I found out I had much later), make sure to let them know!
I was fortunate to have an Aunt who lives about 30 minutes from San Francisco, so we stayed there. I do, however, know a lot of people who stayed in nearby hotels. If I lived in San Francisco, I'd be offering our spare bedroom for guys all the time! A bit difficult to do that when I live in Massachusetts, though!
One way to find a place to stay if paying for lodging isn't an option would be to join email lists in the San Francisco area: Craigslist, Yahoo Groups, LiveJournal communities (if you're on Livejournal), etc. I often see people requesting somewhere to stay post-op or people offering space.
My best advice for surgery is to be in the best shape possible. By this I mean eat healthily and lose weight if you need to, stop smoking (if you do) to allow your body to heal faster, work out and build some muscle in the chest. The more chest muscle you have, the easier it is to sculpt a line that will hide underneath your pecs. Or so I've been told by friends with marvelous pecs ;)
My results are not perfect, but I knew they wouldn't be due to my weight. I was probably close to 100 lbs over my "ideal" weight at the time of surgery, which means I have the "dog tags" under my arms, etc. Of course, I knew all this going in. Brownstein warned me ahead of time that I'd need revisions because of my weight, and I accepted that because I didn't want to wait any longer to have the surgery.
I still haven't bothered to have revisions, even though I know I could. I'm pretty damn happy with my chest as it is. Maybe someday I'll care to go get the minor "problems" fixed but it's just not a worry right now. My grafts healed wonderfully, the contour of my chest is great, scars are minimal. It's just not a priority for me right now.
As for recovery time: It's hard for me to know how bad the pain really was. It seemed like every time I woke up enough to express discomfort, someone handed me another pain pill. I do tend to heal from injuries/illnesses slowly, though, so I'm not complaining! I know many guys who were up and moving around after just a couple of days, and many who were knocked out for longer. It seems to be completely individual.
I would recommend, however, that you have someone (or a few people who can rotate) lined up who can help with monitoring and emptying drains. And, yes, I know it's embarrassing but you may need helping with toileting, as well. Wiping is not so easy when your mobility is impaired after chest surgery. It's also nice to know that your hygiene needs will be taken care of if you are unable to provide them for yourself. (Again, I know some guys who needed lots of help, some who needed none.)
I wore my binder for the maximum time recommended in the post-op instructions. I probably did not need to wear it that long, but I felt more secure doing so. As long as you're careful about reaching overhead and lifting heavy objects until the stitches have healed, you should be fine.
Brownstein was great in terms of contact. My partner was worried that one of my drains might be clogged and paged Dr. B. He responded quickly and reassured her that it all sounded normal and that she could contact him whenever needed. I really appreciate the attention he gives to not only his patients but to those caring for them post-op.
I have a friend who had both chest and hysto done at the same time (Brownstein did chest- can't remember who did hysto). He stayed in a hotel with his partner and had a visiting nurse help out until he was ok to be on his own. (I believe the nurse was recommended by Brownstein, so you might want to ask him about that.) This is what he had to say about his experience:
Some Brownstein trip info. I flew into Oakland instead of San Francisco (it is a lot cheaper); from the airport there was a shuttle to the BART train. At the BART station you have several different options of where to go, I don't really remember what they were.
We stayed at the Mark Twain Hotel on Taylor street: http://www.hotelmarktwain.com/ and it was $65 a night. I don't recommend staying there, but I am also not fully against it either. The lobby looks really posh but the rooms don't reflect that , t.v. only had 3 channels so be prepared to watch a lot of Cops and talk shows. On the plus side if you’re a meat eater, next door is the best hamburger I have ever had!
I don't recommend staying near Brownstein's office because it is in that weird industrial area, not convenient if you need to get something to eat or a store. I used both cabs and the bus system depending on how much time I had to get to places or how I felt. I had both my hysterectomy and chest surgery so I had to travel between both doctors offices and the surgery center. I definitely would use the buses and cabs as opposed to renting a car because parking in any of the garages was seriously outrageous, like $30+ a day.
For both my wife and I we took and spent exactly $1,000 in cash (10 days) for things like food, cabs, bus, medicine, entertainment, etc.
If you are having only the chest surgery, you should consider that you will probably feel well enough to want to get out of the hotel after a few days and go for little walks, etc. So it's good to make sure you're staying in an area where you can walk to a few places easily (keeping in mind that you will tire easily and that SF is hilly!).
If you are going alone (heaven forbid), you will want to make sure you ask for extra pillows, etc. before the surgery. Additionally, if you do have to go alone, I had an awesome nurse who can see you through the first night at the hotel (required for me because I had both surgeries). An added expense, but maybe worth it.
One other thing I can think of is using something like travelocity.com to get the airfare and hotel together. We used a travel agent but that isn't really necessary if you have internet.
I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have. Trust me, I'm not shy. So if there's anything particular you'd like to know, just shoot me an email at:
| Content & Personal Photos Property of PhoenixRisingFTM.net & Alexander Pangborn | All Rights Reserved |