Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey, first post on this forum n_n i'm a non binary androgyne, used to identify as male but had zero support with that so it kinda became a low priority thing for me and i focused on other things, i don't have the same type of dysphoria that i used to so i am relatively okay with my body but i hate my breasts all the same @__@ i'm a 34 k . and i have made an appointment for a reduction.. unfortunately my surgeon says she can't get them smaller than a c - d. i really wanted something manageable like an a or b cup, so that i could bind or flaunt as i chose. she referred me to a gender specialist in montreal for chest reconstruction.. which i would be okay with as well. there's a lot of factors going on here, basically i want to confirm some things with some knowledgeable peeps!!

like a. do you know if breast reductions are incompatible with reconstructions? like could i get a reduction and then a chest reconstruction, sometime at a later date?
      b. i've heard that breast reductions are NOT incompatible with MASTECTOMIES... how would you define the difference between a (full?) mastectomy and a chest reconstruction surgery? are they often used synonymously/ interchangeably?
      c. HAVE YOU GUYS EVER HEARD OF A PARTIAL MASTECTOMY????? <---- THIS SEEMS LIKE MY BEST OPTION

my reduction surgery date is 2 months away at the most.. and it would be a good option for me nonetheless. i'm confused x__x i CAN postpone it in the even that i find an alternative, but i also just want to get rid of these awful things.

cheers
xx
centipedes

Hi centipedes, welcome to the site! The guys will be by with answers for you, but here's some reading material in the meantime: https://www.susans.org/wiki/Gender_reassignment_surgery_(female-to-male)

The Wiki is a goldmine of information! See you around!

Hugs, Devlyn

A LOT of guys had reductions first. Usually because insurance covered those and not top surgery. Sometimes because the guy is unhappy, but really does not know he is trans or that top surgery can be done. I've heard of this a lot. You would be about to have the procedure called double incision but not peri. Most people in your situation would not qualify for the peri as it is quite a lesser procedure. But it is impossible to do a peri after a reduction, just what is done, scars and so on.

There is no "partial" mastectomy.


--Jay

okay so i did a bit more research and found out that the type of reduction i'll be getting is called a 'short scar breast reduction' (as far as i can tell online). i've corroborated the details of this procedure with what my surgeon's told me mine would be like.

ya'll can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CQHCYxBng&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT-CQHCYxBng&has_verified=1

and yeah i'd like to know now since i'm having a hard time finding this out, aleon515 you said that i wouldn't be eligible for a keyhole mastectomy after reduction, but would i be eligible for the double incision?

i want to know if mastectomy/chest reconstruction is conflicting with this procedure.

thanks for your insight, also!!

And thanks for welcoming me to the site :)

Quote from: centipedes on November 09, 2014, 09:29:09 PM
okay so i did a bit more research and found out that the type of reduction i'll be getting is called a 'short scar breast reduction' (as far as i can tell online). i've corroborated the details of this procedure with what my surgeon's told me mine would be like.

ya'll can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CQHCYxBng&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT-CQHCYxBng&has_verified=1

and yeah i'd like to know now since i'm having a hard time finding this out, aleon515 you said that i wouldn't be eligible for a keyhole mastectomy after reduction, but would i be eligible for the double incision?

i want to know if mastectomy/chest reconstruction is conflicting with this procedure.

thanks for your insight, also!!

And thanks for welcoming me to the site :)

If you are asking if you can still get top surgery after a breast reduction, yes. They do it all the time.

Quote from: centipedes on November 07, 2014, 05:13:40 PM
      ...how would you define the difference between a (full?) mastectomy and a chest reconstruction surgery? are they often used synonymously/ interchangeably?

Hi centipedes,  (Gah, why the name??  :o )

From what I gathered prior to my operation, FTM top surgery is a bilateral mastectomy (but with different reconstruction afterwards), only we don't usually call it that, I'm guessing because it triggers the same kind of dysphoria that guys feel when you refer to their chests as "breasts." Plus, if you google "mastectomy," the information is mostly geared toward cancer patients and tends to have an undercurrent of sympathy for women going through a traumatic challenge to their femininity as well as their health. That being said, I found some of the medical advice geared toward post-surgical mastectomy patients to be very helpful - I found a list of simple physical therapy-type exercises that I attribute to regaining my arm movement that I wouldn't have found by sticking to FTM sites alone. So google away if your identity can stomach it.

That being said, what we have is not a "complete mastectomy;" a complete mastectomy involves not only the excision of breast tissue, but also the lymph nodes and possibly bits of the pectoral muscles as well. You don't want that. :P The removal of breast tissue alone is called a "simple (bilateral) mastectomy."

Cheers,
V

cool okay thanks guys! i'm just worried because my surgeon said that chest reconstruction was a conflicting surgery with the breast reduction she was giving me. idk if i made that clear. so i'm just like EXTRA WORRIED AND ALL. thanks for confirming that it isn't but i'm still confused, is my surgeon a dick or whattttt ahfff. will probably get more details from her and a second opinion just to be sure??

and yeah i have been so rigorously told that i am not trans or male my whole ->-bleeped-<-ing life like it drove me insane (kind of literally) but um i guess i am pretty okay with dealing with it at this point/gender is complicated

and centipedes is bc aesthetically it is a good name,

xx ccheeerrsss

Quote from: centipedes on November 10, 2014, 12:16:42 AM
cool okay thanks guys! i'm just worried because my surgeon said that chest reconstruction was a conflicting surgery with the breast reduction she was giving me. idk if i made that clear. so i'm just like EXTRA WORRIED AND ALL. thanks for confirming that it isn't but i'm still confused, is my surgeon a dick or whattttt ahfff. will probably get more details from her and a second opinion just to be sure??

and yeah i have been so rigorously told that i am not trans or male my whole ->-bleeped-<-ing life like it drove me insane (kind of literally) but um i guess i am pretty okay with dealing with it at this point/gender is complicated

and centipedes is bc aesthetically it is a good name,

xx ccheeerrsss

Well, there are all different types of breast reduction procedures.  Tell your surgeon you want a type where top surgery is still a possibility.  Go to someone else if she can't provide this.

Quote from: centipedes on November 09, 2014, 09:29:09 PM
okay so i did a bit more research and found out that the type of reduction i'll be getting is called a 'short scar breast reduction' (as far as i can tell online). i've corroborated the details of this procedure with what my surgeon's told me mine would be like.

ya'll can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CQHCYxBng&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT-CQHCYxBng&has_verified=1

and yeah i'd like to know now since i'm having a hard time finding this out, aleon515 you said that i wouldn't be eligible for a keyhole mastectomy after reduction, but would i be eligible for the double incision?

i want to know if mastectomy/chest reconstruction is conflicting with this procedure.

thanks for your insight, also!!

And thanks for welcoming me to the site :)

i can ease your mind a bit. i had a reduction a few years ago (i was an H) and i went down to about a C - D (although i wanted smaller too but trust me, a C - D isn't big and easy to bind with if you choose to do that). my surgery was exactly like the one in the video and i am getting surgery this spring (double incision). i haven't had any issues with going forward with my surgery (aka the surgeon didn't call me to talk to me about it being an issue) and i'm sure you won't either.

Quotei can ease your mind a bit. i had a reduction a few years ago (i was an H) and i went down to about a C - D (although i wanted smaller too but trust me, a C - D isn't big and easy to bind with if you choose to do that). my surgery was exactly like the one in the video and i am getting surgery this spring (double incision). i haven't had any issues with going forward with my surgery (aka the surgeon didn't call me to talk to me about it being an issue) and i'm sure you won't either.

Ah!! perfect thanks this is what i was looking for :) I'm going to triple check with my surgeon.. i have a pre surgery appt booked so i'll get all these questions smoothed out... thanks so much, again n__n