Returning home and follow-up care

Before you leave Istanbul

Make sure you go home with all of the following. If any of it is missing, ask before you travel:

• A written summary of the operation performed — useful to you and essential to any clinician who treats you later
• Details of any implants or devices used, including manufacturer and reference numbers
• Your medication list and instructions
• Wound care and garment instructions in writing
• The schedule for follow-up reviews
• A direct contact route for concerns, and what to do out of hours

How remote follow-up works

Reviews are conducted by video call or by secure exchange of photographs at intervals appropriate to your procedure. These are not a formality — they are how problems get caught early, when they are still straightforward to deal with.

Tell your own doctor

Inform your GP or family doctor what was done and when, and give them the operation summary. If you need local care — for a wound check, a dressing, or something unexpected — they can only help properly if they know what they are looking at. Some patients avoid this conversation out of embarrassment; it is not worth the risk.

What to watch for

Contact the practice, and seek local medical care if the problem is urgent, for any of the following:

• Increasing pain rather than gradually decreasing pain
• Fever, or feeling generally unwell
• A wound that is increasingly red, hot, painful, opening or discharging
• Sudden swelling or asymmetry that was not there before
• Calf pain or swelling, chest pain or breathlessness — these need urgent local attention immediately

Contacting us about something that turns out to be normal is not a waste of anyone's time. Leaving something because you were unsure whether it counted is the failure mode that matters.

The longer view

Swelling takes considerably longer to settle than most people expect, and scars change over many months before reaching their final appearance. Judging a result in the first weeks is judging it too early. Your team will tell you when the outcome can reasonably be assessed.

If you are unhappy with the result

Say so, and say so early. Some concerns resolve with time; some are addressed with a minor revision; some cannot be improved. You will get a straight answer about which category yours falls into, and about what any further procedure would involve and cost.