Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm curious, what is your biggest concern when it comes to top surgery?


Mine is that they would mix me up with someone else and make the boobs bigger instead of removing them.

Quote from: Alexthecat on November 13, 2013, 09:13:13 AM
I'm curious, what is your biggest concern when it comes to top surgery?


Mine is that they would mix me up with someone else and make the boobs bigger instead of removing them.

I think that is one of those kinds of fears people have pre-surgery. I had a dream right before my pre-op-- I have a cyst that was removed and it has left a strange scar, well he said he couldn't do the surgery because of it. Well the day of my pre-op, he looked at it and said, "that was a cyst?" Although it was more of a statement. I've heard of guys fearing they were just cut and nobody took anything. I said, "But that would be difficult to explain during the reveal!"  I think if you go to a top surgeon, the odds of it happening are 0%. They don't do any of them at all. A plastic surgeon who does other procedures, I still don't think it could happen. But I think it is one of those kind of irrational fears people have. As I said, it would be hard to explain wouldn't it!!


--Jay

I was afraid that some sort of natural disaster, financial disaster, or my car exploding, or the zombie apocalypse or anything else would prevent me from getting the surgery done. 

I've waited over 3 years for it and I was scared stiff that it wouldn't happen for some reason.  Fortunately it did and everything went really well to plan.     

Having had a ton of surgery growing up, my genuine only concern is that I get sick before it and have to postpone!

Quote from: Jack_M on November 14, 2013, 01:34:25 AM
Having had a ton of surgery growing up, my genuine only concern is that I get sick before it and have to postpone!

I was so worried about this I got a flu shot, something I never do.

--Jay

My biggest concern is my pre-op bloodwork at the moment.   I won't know until just 3 days before my surgery whether or not it came back clear - because they will be out of the office until then. 

So it's highly unlikely, but my fear is that I'll spend all this money, book the time off work, fly to Sydney - get there and then be told that the surgery can't go ahead because something showed up in my bloodwork.

Quote from: Kreuzfidel on November 14, 2013, 02:48:54 AM
My biggest concern is my pre-op bloodwork at the moment.   I won't know until just 3 days before my surgery whether or not it came back clear - because they will be out of the office until then. 

So it's highly unlikely, but my fear is that I'll spend all this money, book the time off work, fly to Sydney - get there and then be told that the surgery can't go ahead because something showed up in my bloodwork.

Geez, that would be absolutely horrible.

I had the strangest experience.  I had absolutely NO anxiety or worries from the moment I stepped off the plane all the way through the entire thing.  It is strange for me because I worry about stupid ->-bleeped-<-.  But, I had not one moment of nervousness or anything, even while I was laying there for 5 hours waiting to go in!  Weird!

I was very anxious and when I saw Dr. G, I became a lot calmer. I think he kind of exudes calm and so on.
But it is normal to have all kinds of anxieties and fears. You are doing a huge surgery and it is normal to feel anxiety and even odd fears.


--Jay

My biggest concern is that when I try to get medical clearance, they find out that I have some type of medical condition that will prevent me from getting top surgery done.

Other concerns:

That my plane crashes before I can get to the surgery center or I get into a car wreck

New Beginnings Retreat closes down, so I have to hire a private nurse

Right when I have enough money to book, something happens that forces me to use all of my top surgery funds....or the price increases before I can book a date. 

Tissue necrosis

Quote from: King Malachite on August 28, 2014, 09:03:29 PM
My biggest concern is that when I try to get medical clearance, they find out that I have some type of medical condition that will prevent me from getting top surgery done.

Other concerns:

That my plane crashes before I can get to the surgery center or I get into a car wreck

New Beginnings Retreat closes down, so I have to hire a private nurse

Right when I have enough money to book, something happens that forces me to use all of my top surgery funds....or the price increases before I can book a date. 

Tissue necrosis

It is nice to see I'm not alone with some off these fears. I'm saving up for top surgery am going to have it done late summer early fall but being100% self pay cause no insurance.... A rouge bill could hinder that, hopefully not. But on the plus side I met my endo Dr. The end of October! For my first dose of testosterone!!!

Quote from: coffeezombie on August 28, 2014, 10:32:08 PM
It is nice to see I'm not alone with some off these fears. I'm saving up for top surgery am going to have it done late summer early fall but being100% self pay cause no insurance.... A rouge bill could hinder that, hopefully not. But on the plus side I met my endo Dr. The end of October! For my first dose of testosterone!!!

Congrats on your upcoming T shot!  I'm aiming to have my top surgery done around the same too....hopefully by July.

I had this fear that Dr. G would retire right before I would be able to see him :P

I was afraid that I would die on the table and that he wouldn't finish the surgery.

Quote from: Squirrel698 on November 13, 2013, 12:07:46 PM
I was afraid that some sort of natural disaster, financial disaster, or my car exploding, or the zombie apocalypse or anything else would prevent me from getting the surgery done. 

I've waited over 3 years for it and I was scared stiff that it wouldn't happen for some reason.  Fortunately it did and everything went really well to plan.     

*nods* me too. Even when I was sat in the hospital waiting to go in I was still not convinced it was actually going to happen and something would come up

I had to show the surgeon my chest.

My biggest fear is that insurance will somehow fall through and trans related care will no longer be part of that plan. I'm counting on it to come through.

Quote from: coffeezombie on August 28, 2014, 10:32:08 PM
It is nice to see I'm not alone with some off these fears. I'm saving up for top surgery am going to have it done late summer early fall but being100% self pay cause no insurance.... A rouge bill could hinder that, hopefully not. But on the plus side I met my endo Dr. The end of October! For my first dose of testosterone!!!

Wow congratulations! Looks like we'll be transitioning around the same time because I also get my first T shot in October.

Quote from: harlee on August 29, 2014, 01:50:20 AM
I had this fear that Dr. G would retire right before I would be able to see him :P

This is so funny because the guy is only in his 40's!   :laugh:

You know, I don't even know who I would have used if I didn't use Garramone.  Maybe Fischer, her DI is better than most realize, I think; she is also close to me.  I am not sure that I would have traveled for anyone but Garramone.

Quote from: devention on August 30, 2014, 08:08:28 PM
My biggest fear is that insurance will somehow fall through and trans related care will no longer be part of that plan. I'm counting on it to come through.

Will you get getting your surgery before the next insurance renewal?  Personally, I would jump on it just in case your company removes trans related care for the next round.  I have never heard of that happening, though.  I think that more states will also be requiring all insurance companies to have trans related care.

Quote from: harlee on August 29, 2014, 01:50:20 AM
I had this fear that Dr. G would retire right before I would be able to see him :P

Omg that was one of my biggest fears too: either him retiring or dying before I can get my top surgery.  If that were to happen, I would be devastated....even more devastated than when my fiance left me, lol.  That's part of the reason why I want to get my consultation and book a date asap.  If that were to ever happen, I figured I'd have back ups (Medalie, Crane, Rockmore, and Alter come to mind) just in case.

I'm terrified that I'll lose erotic sensation in my chest. I'd rather bind my whole life than lose that.

Also afraid I won't ever be able to afford the $10,000+ for inverted t technique.

I don't think Dr G is going to retire anytime soon.  You guys can relax. He's very much a workaholic with a crazy schedule (500 surgeries a year, I believe. 5 a day sometimes.) The other thing is there are excellent surgeons out there. I believe Dr Medalie, Dr Fisher, etc are really fantastic. I am not that gung ho on Dr Crane re top surgery (think he does the best metas out there totally though.)

I don't know that inverted T is always $10K might check that out. I think there is a guy in Chicago who is maybe best at this one (not a bad option otherwise). If you'd rather bind than lose sensation you had better work on the extra few thousand you might need. (I think you might be talking an extra year of savign money to put it in perspective). If you feel this strongly, you need to go for the inverted T. You also should not have any reduction of the nipple or areola. The reason I say this is that it quite possible to lose sensation with the reduction of size. I know some guys who had peris who are mostly numb after surgery. You are most likely to lose sensation with nipple grafts. I'd actually say that loss of sensation is normal. I have heard of guys having gettign (or even gaining sensation). What I think happens is their brains are giving them the sensation (being the most powerful sex organ).
Surgeons performing inverted T http://www.topsurgery.net/procedures/inverted-t-anchor-top-surgery.htm
I think Dr Steinwald is the one who developed it and might be my first choice. His results look excellent, imo, though most of them are early on the page.


--Jay

Hmm, my biggest fear was getting sick right before my surgery. Especially so since one of my coworkers ended up getting sick two weeks before my surgery, and I thought I was going to get sick too. So I started taking airborne despite hating the taste of the stuff, and I have doubts it does little more than overdose you on vitamins. Then the nurse told me not to take any sort of vitamin supplement, so I had to will myself not to get sick.

Luckily, I never did catch what my coworker had, or I was so good at willing myself to stay healthy that I never had symptoms. But I don't get sick too often, so all is good.  ;D 

I was worried about nipple rejection, loss of feeling and traveling after. Turns out all three were nothing to worry about. I got both nipples, my chest is fine and I love it (Dr. G was surprised by the level of feeling I had post op) and while I was tired when I got home, it wasn't a bad trip overall.

Quote from: aleon515 on September 04, 2014, 03:00:42 PM
I don't think Dr G is going to retire anytime soon.  You guys can relax. He's very much a workaholic with a crazy schedule (500 surgeries a year, I believe. 5 a day sometimes.) The other thing is there are excellent surgeons out there. I believe Dr Medalie, Dr Fisher, etc are really fantastic. I am not that gung ho on Dr Crane re top surgery (think he does the best metas out there totally though.)

I don't know that inverted T is always $10K might check that out. I think there is a guy in Chicago who is maybe best at this one (not a bad option otherwise). If you'd rather bind than lose sensation you had better work on the extra few thousand you might need. (I think you might be talking an extra year of savign money to put it in perspective). If you feel this strongly, you need to go for the inverted T. You also should not have any reduction of the nipple or areola. The reason I say this is that it quite possible to lose sensation with the reduction of size. I know some guys who had peris who are mostly numb after surgery. You are most likely to lose sensation with nipple grafts. I'd actually say that loss of sensation is normal. I have heard of guys having gettign (or even gaining sensation). What I think happens is their brains are giving them the sensation (being the most powerful sex organ).
Surgeons performing inverted T http://www.topsurgery.net/procedures/inverted-t-anchor-top-surgery.htm
I think Dr Steinwald is the one who developed it and might be my first choice. His results look excellent, imo, though most of them are early on the page.


--Jay

The inverted T has been around for eons.  It is a common female breast reduction surgery technique.

That's true but I suppose applied to FTM top surgery. Yet another reason this is not an extremely expensive procedure that is beyond what someone who can afford surgery can get.

--Jay

Quote from: Brett on September 04, 2014, 06:39:45 PM
The inverted T has been around for eons.  It is a common female breast reduction surgery technique.

Quote from: aleon515 on September 05, 2014, 03:23:04 AM
That's true but I suppose applied to FTM top surgery. Yet another reason this is not an extremely expensive procedure that is beyond what someone who can afford surgery can get.

--Jay

Right (newer in that it is now being applied to top surgeries).  Got ya now!  That is why I nixed the idea of that surgery techniques immediately.  I see breast reduction every time I look at it.  I mean, I know it is a FTM chest, and I can SEE that it is a flat chest, but every time I see a inverted T top surgery picture, I see it through a filter of the many breast reduction pictures I have in my head. 

If nipple sensation were a huge deal to me, it would have been my choice. It really was not, i was so dysphoric I really didn't want anyone to touch my chest anyway. I had free nipple grafts. I do have sensation, but not at all erotic. I can feel they are there. What is strange is this: If you asked me to touch the tip of my nose in one movement I could do it. Not so with my nipples. I don't exactly know where they are. I think this is not touch but something like proprioceptive input that is lacking.

--Jay

Quote from: Brett on September 05, 2014, 06:32:38 AM
Right (newer in that it is now being applied to top surgeries).  Got ya now!  That is why I nixed the idea of that surgery techniques immediately.  I see breast reduction every time I look at it.  I mean, I know it is a FTM chest, and I can SEE that it is a flat chest, but every time I see a inverted T top surgery picture, I see it through a filter of the many breast reduction pictures I have in my head.

Quote from: fatalerror on September 04, 2014, 09:21:40 AM
I'm terrified that I'll lose erotic sensation in my chest. I'd rather bind my whole life than lose that.

Also afraid I won't ever be able to afford the $10,000+ for inverted t technique.

Have you consulted with any other less expensive surgeons about possibly doing that technique? Dr Medalie has video on youtube explaining top surgery techniques where he mentions that he can make a T incision, but it's probably best at that point to do DI. I also saw someone on tumblr (can't remember their name) who had surgery with Fischer, and they basically had the peri technique done but she made horizontal incision coming out from their nipples to remove excess tissue. Just something to think about if you haven't. The idea of never getting top surgery distresses me, so I hope you find a solution that works for you.

Quote from: Brett on August 31, 2014, 08:45:41 AM
Will you get getting your surgery before the next insurance renewal?  Personally, I would jump on it just in case your company removes trans related care for the next round.  I have never heard of that happening, though.  I think that more states will also be requiring all insurance companies to have trans related care.

I think my insurance gets renewed in January, and I won't be able to get insurance to cover until next June at the earliest, because it requires 1 year on T and 1 year RLE. So I probably would be SOL until next September. I'm aiming for between the end of my fall semester and new years for the actual surgery, but it depends on if I'm taking only online classes that semester.
This stuff is so complicated.
My other major fear is that the hospital that the surgeon performs in burns down our something. It'd be just my luck ;-;

I'm worried that to get the results I want, I'll have to first get a breast reduction and then peri.

I'm worried I'll die on the operating table from some undiagnosed anesthesia sensitivity.

PS. Thanks Jay for all the great information you've been contributing.

No problem buddy.
I think the fears re: dying on the operating table are pretty exaggerated but very common, if not almost universal. I know someone who asked the anesthesiologist what they did if someone stopped breathing. He found it pretty comforting. I didn't ask. I didn't care for the guy as he talked down to me, but I figured that Dr G would have an excellent one. So who cares if he was annoying. But found when the actual surgery came up that I was not scared in the slightest. I thought this was odd. I think perhaps it's just fears of being out of control and not really fear of death.

--Jay

Quote from: pianoforte on September 05, 2014, 06:59:46 PM
I'm worried that to get the results I want, I'll have to first get a breast reduction and then peri.

I'm worried I'll die on the operating table from some undiagnosed anesthesia sensitivity.

PS. Thanks Jay for all the great information you've been contributing.

I was worried about getting sick before surgery as it was around finals week and I usually get sick then even if I'm unstressed. Also anesthesia because it is hard to get a breathing tube in me. However, I talked to the anesthesiologist before surgery, which helped as I was able to explain my situation.