FFS countdown with before pictures and recovery with after pictures

[Jeneva]

Ok, so my wife and I have talked it over and I got an OK to confirm the 29th of next month for Dr. Z.  Neil is going to call back tomorrow and we'll finalize it all then.  This will put my GCS way behind, but my hairline is a serious issue for me right now and just not having as much passing anxiety is worth a delay.  The cool part is that I was already taking half of the days and this means that it won't hurt my vacation time as much for next year.

I'm planning on skipping the cheek implants.  I also got quotes for breast enhancement, but it isn't in the budget right now and while I've been on some level of HRT for over a year, I've only been full strength for a few months, so maybe I have a bit more growth left.

Apart from the cheek implants it is a full FFS suite.  I considered dropping the rhinoplasty, but now I'm trying to make it work.  My nose isn't that bad, but it is a bit thicker at the bridge and slopes outward instead of inward.  And to be honest I like the upturn that most FFS rhinoplasties give.  I also have a deviated septum which this should repair.  Hmm, I think I've talked myself into it now, but anyone want to try and talk me out of it?

Is skipping the cheek implants a bad idea?  I have fairly pronounced cheekbones anyway (enough partially native american ancestors).  I also thought that many of the cheek pictures on Dr. Z's site were grossly overdone.  I've also seen others that seem to consider his cheek recommendations a bit much.



edit: trying to change thread title

[eli77]

I strongly approve of skipping the cheek implants. They seem to create the "I have had facial surgery" look more than any other procedure. It's also one of the areas most affected by HRT. Also, careful if you are doing lip work, that's the other one that can have some problematic results if the surgeon goes too far. I won't talk you out of the nose though. Nose jobs seem to make more of a difference than you'd expect just cause it's right in the middle of your face. There is a reason it's such a common procedure. If you are really struggling, maybe try out http://www.virtualffs.co.uk/? I found it helpful.

Anyway, congrats and best of luck!

[elle2011]

Skip nose and cheek with Z, you'll regret it trust me. Find a nose surgeon that does great work period. And can really give you a feminine symmetrical nose, dr Z doesn't have much skill in noses. they are all a bit piggish.

[Tristan]

thats great. now you can start the count down 

[Jeneva]

It is official booked. I also stopped by my Edward Jones agent office and put in the sale order. If the market stays up the rest of the day I may even have some shopping money for the day before

[JenJen2011]

CONGRATS! My surge with Dr. Z is a week after yours. I'm skipping the cheek implants as well. I already have nice, full cheeks. And I got my nose done already by another surgeon a few years ago so no need for that. I wish you the best and please keep us posted.

[Mahsa Tezani]

How much and how are you financing it?

[Jeneva]

How much and how are you financing it?

I'm budgeting 27-28k for all the expenses. Unfortunately I had to raid some IRA accounts I had from a 401k rollover.   They will be totally gone so now I have 0 savings for GCS. I'm betting that I'll have to wait for a couple of years to raise the funds.

I'm actually the first trans person my therapist has worked with so she is playing by the book strictly so I couldn't have had GCS until the fall anyway. And since my wife teaches I'd have had to wait till the following summer. Or at least that is what I tell myself so I don't let my dysphoria about THAT consume me because of the delay.

[Jeneva]

CONGRATS! My surge with Dr. Z is a week after yours. I'm skipping the cheek implants as well. I already have nice, full cheeks. And I got my nose done already by another surgeon a few years ago so no need for that. I wish you the best and please keep us posted.

Congrats! to you too.   When are you getting in?  Where are you staying?  Maybe that is better in PM than an open post.  I'm staying up there till the following Friday since it was easier to get a ride back home from the airport. If you want to pick my brain about how it went just shoot me a PM.

[Jeneva]

I've got a flight and room now. I've got to go through ATL on the way up, but I managed a nonstop for my trip back so I didn't have to rush from concourse to concourse. It was a touch more but I'm sure I'll feel bad enough that I'll be happy I did. It also doesn't get me home until close to 10pm.

BTW for anyone looking to use Dr Z his rate for the stay bridge is $20 cheaper a night than online.

[Jeneva]

Ok, now I've confirmed the caregiver service since I'm going up alone.

I keep looking for something else to do so I don't keep thinking about how close it is.

[Jeneva]

So today is my medical clearance appointment. I've been so excited, but now I'm a bit anxious about this. I had thought nothing of it until my wife made me promise to try not to crash hard if something happens and my pcp can't approve it for health reasons. So now of course I can't think of anything else.

I don't know of any reasons it should be a problem and I understand it is for my own safety, but it is hard to fight that fear.

[JenJen2011]

So today is my medical clearance appointment. I've been so excited, but now I'm a bit anxious about this. I had thought nothing of it until my wife made me promise to try not to crash hard if something happens and my pcp can't approve it for health reasons. So now of course I can't think of anything else.

I don't know of any reasons it should be a problem and I understand it is for my own safety, but it is hard to fight that fear.

I know exactly how you feel. My appointment is next week and all I can think about is if I'll be cleared for surgery or not. Let's try not to worry. I'm sure everything will be fine.

BTW, I came across a site of someone who had FFS with Dr. Z back in August of this year, I believe. Take a look at it. http://www.jolind.com/jolind/WebPages/FirstSet/FFS.html

I just thought I'd share.

[Jeneva]

Ok, so all done now.  The EKG was fine and my PCP had no issues.  We'll still have to wait on the blood tests, but she said that since I've never shown any issues on blood tests that I should be fine.

JenJen2011 thanks for the link.  When you see her medical history and that she was approved it does help relieve a bit of tension.

This was my first appointment since my name change and starting RLT so basically I was coming out to a lot of the support staff. 
My lab person is someone I went to elementary school with and we usually talk when I have lab work.  So I started out with "So I guess you noticed the name change."  She was very supportive. 
The nurse that I've been afraid was anti-trans because of her brusqueness didn't react badly to my breasts when she did the EKG and then later when she was talking to the Dr she slipped and used a he and immediately corrected it to she and genuinely apologized to me.

Sometime I let my anxiety get the better of me and assume things are so much worse than they really are and this was another of those times.

[Jeneva]

I've sort of reworked this thread to be a countdown for me.  Posting every so often helps me feel like it's getting closer and keeps me from just feeling like I'm stuck waiting.

Ok, I had my second consult with Dr. Z and we nailed down everything and got my final costs.  I am definitely not doing the cheek implants but I am going to get breast implants because the market was a bit up when I cashed out my IRA and I was able to get a 2 year 0% loan to help give a cushion for extra costs.

They still don't have my Dr's test results for final clearance so I'm still not sure, but my PCP Dr didn't think there should be a problem.

At this point I have the flights, hotel, caregiver, and ground transportation all arranged.  I'll fill his prescriptions as soon as I get notice that they have fully cleared me.

[JenJen2011]

I've sort of reworked this thread to be a countdown for me.  Posting every so often helps me feel like it's getting closer and keeps me from just feeling like I'm stuck waiting.

And know that you are not alone. I have you in my thoughts.

They still don't have my Dr's test results for final clearance so I'm still not sure, but my PCP Dr didn't think there should be a problem.

I'm the one worried now. I meet with my PCP tomorrow.

At this point I have the flights, hotel, caregiver, and ground transportation all arranged.  I'll fill his prescriptions as soon as I get notice that they have fully cleared me.

Cool. Have they sent you a DVD booklet with pre/post-op instructions? I believe they send you this after making a payment of half the total amount.

[Jeneva]

And know that you are not alone. I have you in my thoughts.

I'm the one worried now. I meet with my PCP tomorrow.

Cool. Have they sent you a DVD booklet with pre/post-op instructions? I believe they send you this after making a payment of half the total amount.

I wish you fast healing and great results for yours as well!  I'll be around the Staybridge until 5pm on the 6th since I managed to get a non-stop flight and it didn't leave until later in the day.  If you are in before that, I'll probably be killing time in one of the public areas of the hotel.


I was really worried too, but now I think it was more me than any real reason to be worried.  When I went to see my PCP she said that it was almost just busy work to rerun the tests.  If you've had prior surgeries then I can't imagine this one will be a problem since your previous EKGs had to have been ok.  So if you've had recent bloodwork done that they weren't worried about it probably isn't a big deal.  Hopefully that helps keep your nerves down.

I got my booklet about a week ago and I've skimmed the book once and then we watched the video.  The video is a bit scary in terms of how bad I'm imagining I'll look.  Although I was really pleased with all of the results on it.  Several of them had really nice noses and the rest of the facial features looked pretty good too.  I think he would be SO much better off if he switched some of them with his main site pictures.

[Dahlia]

I fully agree with skipping the cheekimplants. It doesn't scream 'plastic surgery' only but it can look weird to see  a 'cheekimplant' face animated.

You don't want to wind up with a strange, wooden face, barely able to move when you're speaking. Makes me wonder if that's because of 'obstructed' facial muscles and/or they will 'stretch' and adapt over time.

Besides that: it surely is one of the facial things most affected by HRT as Sarah7 points out. If your face changes with HRT after having cheekimplants....you run a risk of ending up with an even stranger overstuffed looking matronly 'pillowface'.

I fully agree on the 'the dr Z piggynose' as well.

Saw some hideous  MTF dr Z piggynose pics a couple of days ago. She had a revision but not fully to her satisfaction. Her nosetip is still to high.

[Jeneva]

I fully agree on the 'the dr Z piggynose' as well.

Saw some hideous  MTF dr Z piggynose pics a couple of days ago. She had a revision but not fully to her satisfaction. Her nosetip is still to high.

Hmmm, I'm having him do it to fix my deviated septum since I have enough breathing problems as it is.  I also like a bit of a curve on a nose.  The pictures I've seen all look ok, but I'm sure there are some that are too far gone.  Has she done the recommended massage while it was healing?  The breathing help makes it worth the chance for a bad nose for me though.

And now for the latest step in my progress.  They have all my test results.  I decided to trust Dr Z on the sizing and went with the 700cc breast implants.  I had an old set of forms that were 40D and wore those over my existing growth and we felt it looked good and not too much.

And I've finished shopping for the trip.  I went ahead and bought most of the food I'll use just so I don't have to run around Chicago without a car trying to grab it last minute.  Hopefully tomorrow I can go ahead and pack everything away.

I know it is still a bit away, but there is the whole holiday season coming up so I'll be busy with that and it is something for me to do

[JenJen2011]

It's getting closer and closer Jeneva! It's good to be well prepared than unprepared!