stáhnout ve formátu PDF - My Companion, sro

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One of the most necessary operations involves breast cancer.
Three years ago we founded the Centre of Comprehensive Surgical
Care for Women with Breast Disease at the Na Bulovce hospital and
became the first facility in the country capable of reconstructing the
breasts of women with potential cancer. If there is a history of breast
cancer in a family there is a danger that another member of the family
will face the disease. If genetic tests show the existence of gene mutation
this means that there is an 85% chance of cancer. We liberate these
women from the fear of breast cancer by performing an operation.
But we are still running into a bit of bureaucracy – due to the so-called
flat-rate system we can’t exceed four implants per month.
When you are operating you are surely concentrating very hard on the
matter at hand. Do you ever have any other thoughts at these moments?
It’s the same as driving a car or doodling while on the phone. Here at
the Esthé Clinic I listen to pleasant music and the others listen as well.
We are in a lovely cozy place with a beautiful view of T˘n Church, all
the way up to the top. People find it magnificent and calming. The
clinic is colorful, peaceful, and has a natural atmosphere. It’s a happy
place. People are always laughing at something, which can sometimes
be a problem when I need a patient to hold their mouth in a certain
way. It isn’t dry, impersonal medicine. Fear is not permitted, as there
must be absolute confidence between the doctor and the patient.
You are essentially a painter of living pictures…
When someone comes to show me the nose they would like I have
to explain that each skeleton, each structure is different. I can’t make
a small nose out of a big nose. Every plastic surgeon has his signature
work. Some do upturned noses, while others do straight noses. I try
to make sure results look natural. Regarding breast enhancement, the
size of implants many plastic surgeons begin with is where I stop. There
are relatively few plastic surgeons that do small implants. A woman
can be absolutely stunning with small breasts. And then there are
women with enormous breasts that aren’t attractive at all. Where is
the boundary? What’s fine art and what is kitsch? But this is true in
anything. It’s a matter of a certain craftsmanship, aesthetic sensitivity,
and experience. You need to find the happy medium while avoiding
extremes on either side. The goal is to find something natural and
then add just a little something. But it needs to be minor. You need
to find the right degree. When women want extremes, I send them
home. Perhaps then they’re happy that I didn’t operate. Why take
money from them when I wouldn’t have a feeling of perfection?
On fairness
He demanded empathy from others but neglected offering any of his own.
On relationships and fidelity
Fidelity need not necessarily be an expression of true love.
What operation do you perform most often and which do you enjoy doing
the most?
The most frequent are eyelids, which definitely aren’t my favorite
because I usually do them toward the end of my schedule. During the
course of the day I have around six cases of general anesthesia. I do
noses, faces, face lifting, breasts, abdomens, and then in the evening
six eyelid procedures. I don’t enjoy them because you must work
slowly – by half millimeters. It can’t be accelerated, as the cuts must
be very precise. But everything besides eyelids I do very quickly. One
surgeon wrote that working on noses scares him. I like noses. I do a
lot of them – three a day. It’s a relatively short operation for me; usually
it lasts less than half an hour. If I was to tell someone that nose operations
only take this long they probably wouldn’t believe me. What’s interesting
is that if the operation is done well most people won’t even notice
the new nose. Instead, they think the person has changed their hair
style or the color of their hair. It’s amazing that others don’t even
notice a detail that the patient is so fixated on.
What are some new developments in plastic surgery?
Intimate surgery is expanding a little. But otherwise everything revolves
around the things that we’ve always done. Perhaps some new technology
will come along, but I don’t really think there will be any fundamental
changes. It will always hold true that the operation should be as simple
as possible, with the greatest effect, as short as possible, and with the
least possible stress on the patient.
On disappointment
The depth of our disappointment corresponds to our level of trust.
On loss and uncertainty
If we confuse small problems for big problems we probably won’t have any time
left to solve real problems.
It’s difficult to understand another person if we don’t understand ourselves.
What is the meaning of life in your opinion?
I’m a fatalist; I’m not afraid of death. Perhaps what I fear is that one of
my children would not be sad at my passing. I tell them that life is
beautiful and that it goes on. My children’s happiness is the most
important thing to me. The meaning of my life is to take care of them
and to provide them with a foundation for their future. I’m happy
when they’re happy. Nothing else I have achieved would matter if my
children were not healthy and happy. Many mothers tell their children:
“Don’t leave me; I’ll be miserable without you.” But that’s just psychological
blackmail. When my daughter comes back from England, then I can
do everything to make her happy here. I know that she will leave again,
but that she is going back to comfort. And she knows that whenever
she wants she can come back and I will greet her with open arms. So
I tell her to go, be happy, and when you’re not happy, come back
again. The way you behave towards your children is the way they will
behave towards you. I treated my mother in exactly the same way as
she treated me.
I know the outer extremes of human sadness, so I remain positive. I
am always in a good mood. Giving something to people is what gives
me energy. The meaning of life is in what I do. Thanks to the work
that I do I am able to give people something. The happiness of the
people I help gives me strength. And every day I look forward to
something – perhaps going to my cottage, going for a walk in the
woods, to writing a book, making furniture, studying English and German,
or going skating with my young daughter Tereza. Life would be empty
if we didn’t look forward to things. I am an active person; I can’t sit
still for a moment. My energy is contagious and this is good for life. I
teach children to be considerate. You need to have the feeling that
certain people are watching you. The meaning of life is to make others
happy. This is fundamental. Joy from your own existence. This isn’t
something that should happen once a year, but every day. This is what
people should give one another.
Dr. Mû‰Èák describes his booklet of aphorisms as a “small contemplation on viewing
the world around us, on divergent perceptions of human nature and events, where
nothing is fixed in time. With the addition of years, in connection with new experiences
and knowledge, some things move forward in our thoughts while others, to the
contrary, are lost.”
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