Staff Reporter
By Lisa Burgess
I HAVE just left Malaga’s Materno Hospital after breast reconstruction surgery. It was a unique experience.
The Head of Surgery, Doctor Torres Corpas and his team performed the surgery. They took fat from my back to inject into my breast and used my own tissue rather than implants which is less risky.
Naturally, I was terrified. As Doctor Torres drew lines all over my breasts, 12 people including medical trainees observed while another surgeon took photos. He did ask my permission and I thought well why not if it helps another woman?
The result was amazing and I am so grateful to Doctor Torres but I wasn’t prepared for what lay ahead of me.
I shared a room with two different roommates. I felt almost guilty that I was in the hospital for such a positive reason. My first roommate, a clearly much-loved German mother and grandmother, aged 88 was told that day they could not operate.
Her daughter was distraught and I at least managed to give her some comfort having nursed my own departed mother Ann through cancer.
My second roommate was a shy, gentle young Spanish girl. She had to have her uterus removed and endured incredible pain so bravely. Talking about pain, I forewarned my wonderful nurse, Patricia Rubio that I would pull the same stunt regarding pain medication as I had at Costa Del Sol Hospital in Marbella previously.
I told her to tell the surgeons that when I had my mastectomy and they prescribed me paracetamol I asked the surgeon at the time ‘If you had your penis cut off would you prescribe paracetamol’? He immediately upgraded me.
Everybody on the ward and especially the patients had a great laugh about that and it felt good to make people in such dire straits smile just that once.
I called Malaga Materno my home for five days. The food wasn’t too good but the nurses were terrific and all I can say is a huge ‘thank you’.
