Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Ok I did it. I went and saw Dr. Deschamps-Braly with my husband and had a really good consult.

It was kind of weird at first. We walked in and he kind of started talking very nonchalantly / casually and it kind of caught us off guard.....but after a bit it kinda grew on both my husband and I. The Doctor basically feels very confident in what he does.

He asked me what I did for a living and at some point actually asked when I first had transgender feelings (not in those words) and I told him 4th grade. Later, my husband and I commented on the fact that he asked that....kinda odd but at the same time, while FFS doesn't require the same things that SRS does, changing your face is still a very drastic thing to do....so if he ever got a patient who was ever 'unsure' about things, he would be less inclined to do surgery on them for fear of them changing their mind later.

I guess I was mostly surprised he asked me because my paperwork lists all the surgeries I've had already and dates.....and so with 6 years behind me, I haven't been asked something like that in a while....then again with both breast augmentation and hair transplants, I never did 'come out' or tell the surgeon directly that I was trans (even tho I listed previous surgeries and medications).

He showed us a huge presentation about skull differences between female and male and the different types of fixes for changing them, etc. He talked about his mentor/partner a lot as well, Dr. O: He did his first FFS in like 1982 or so.

Anyway, he showed us a ton of before and after results for both his partner and his own patients and we discussed what I was looking for. I mentioned my forehead and nose as primary things but also that i had a 'weak' chin as a secondary thing. He agreed with me on all of those things. He mentioned lip length from nose to lip and he guessed what mine was and what Tom's was and he later measured and had guessed pretty accurately. My VFFS consult had already cautioned against any lip lift because I already do show a lot of teeth with mouth slightly ajar so lifting the lip further could potentially give me a more 'gummy' smile. Without telling the doctor this, he basically said the same thing.

We talked about noses and he said the best thing was to bring in pictures of what noses I liked and that gave him a good idea of what I wanted. Again his confidence in being able to do just about anything for noses felt like a good thing.

He did talk about more chin and jaw stuff and I mentioned that I could most likely not afford it this round and I was afraid of doing too much all at once as well. So they prepared 2 separate quotes for me, one with forehead and nose and one that included chin as well. As I had guessed, the chin addition was going to be too much for me to afford to be able to do it this year....while the forehead and nose alone was right on par with what i can afford by November. That plus the cost of hotel and flights and all that of course.

They took us into a room where he measured different parts of my face and recorded them oh and they took pictures as well (before pictures). He answered all of my questions very well and the only thing I was surprised about was where the scar was going to be....apparently putting the scar back behind the hairline (where it's well hidden) means my forehead could potentially be longer than it is now when in fact we want it to be the same or slightly shorter. So most likely he will have to put the scar right at the hairline in front.....so it will show for a while and within a few months the redness of it will go away....till then I'll have to try to cover it with concealer or something. Not excited about that. =/

He also confirmed that top of the head does go numb for 1-2 yrs. That will be very uncomfortable and annoying. I asked about washing and brushing hair with that condition and he said it was usually fine ....but more likely being careful getting out of cars and such.....so as not to bang your head because you wouldn't even know you hurt yourself.

He said no working out for 6 weeks but that I could start walking right away within the first day and something about patients doing a lot of walking really helped things along, he said from experience.

We talked dates and how long I'd have to be in town etc. Basically I'd arrive on Monday, have pre-op appointment. Surgery is going to be Thur. Stay over night in the hospital one night (or more if needed, but 1 night is usually enough) then go to hotel for the weekend. Have a post-op appointment on the next Monday where they take the packing out of my nose (which will be a huge relief) and then stay in town till that next Friday, and that's when they take the 'cast' off and stitches out I guess. Then can go home that day. So it's basically a 2 week thing.

So yesterday I scheduled for Thursday, November 3, 2016. The basic schedule is I will fly down Oct 31st, have pre-op that day and then hang out in town till the 3rd. In the hospital over night and go back to the hotel on Friday. Get packing out of nose and such on the following Monday then stay in town for another week and fly home after getting cast off on that Friday.

I confirmed with work that I will be able to take the month of November off so that will be helpful. I have enough accrued sick and vacation time to do so.

Basic operation will include :
- Type III Forehead reconstruction (includes: scalp advance and brow lift as appropriate. He said they kind of happen on their own when you reconstruct the bone area)
- Rhinoplasty - I already started coming up with pictures of 'cute' feminine noses so we'll be talking about that at some point and going over what's possible and what will work with my face too.

Pricing totaled out at $28k...if I wanted to add the chin in it would have been $42k.

If this goes well then maybe in a few years I'll consider some chin work and maybe 'more' tracheal shave then as well since my original tracheal shave kind of still shows a lot of adam's apple now (20lbs lighter than when I got it with vaginoplasty).

So I'm excited! I will need to start looking at flights and AirBNB / hotels. It looks like AirBNB may have some good options for the area for both distance and price (compared to actual hotels).

Congratulations, from everything I've read about him he seems to be an excellent surgeon; especially since he  learned Dr.O's techniques from the master himself. I had forehead and nose done in my first round of FFS, and it had a dramatic feminizing effect. I also had the incision placed in my hairline; it doesn't look that appealing at first, but it becomes unnoticeable as time goes by. And the numbing at the top of my head was really bad for the first year, but after a couple of years most of the feeling does come back. Anyway, best wishes, and I am very happy for you. 😊

This is great news!  So happy for you.   :)

He asked me about transgender feelings too.  Its always a bit of a strange question cause in this situation hes in a place of authority, so its a bit strange to ask personal information like that  because you feel compelled to answer. 

But with that said I wouldn't be surprised if he just does it as an opener to better understand the people who come see him, could be wrong though.


Not looking forward to forehead numbness as well.  I really like feeling healthy so its going to suck that parts of me will essentially be injured and paralyzed for a period of time :/.  Just creeps me out.  It seems both high variable but also mostly out of control of the surgeon.  Incision has to go somewhere.

Thank you so much for the post Debra. I'm planning to go to Deschamps-Braly for a consult next year, as I have only heard amazing things. What were the before and after photos like?

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on June 23, 2016, 02:18:24 AM
What were the before and after photos like?

They were all pretty good, if you ask me. And way more up to date than some of the ones you find on other surgeon's websites too.

Quote from: kittenpower on June 22, 2016, 11:42:55 AM
Congratulations, from everything I've read about him he seems to be an excellent surgeon; especially since he  learned Dr.O's techniques from the master himself. I had forehead and nose done in my first round of FFS, and it had a dramatic feminizing effect. I also had the incision placed in my hairline; it doesn't look that appealing at first, but it becomes unnoticeable as time goes by. And the numbing at the top of my head was really bad for the first year, but after a couple of years most of the feeling does come back. Anyway, best wishes, and I am very happy for you. 😊

Thanks for that. Did you use concealer to hide it for the first few months or did you go for bangs, etc?

Quote from: SamSparks on June 22, 2016, 02:33:45 PM
He asked me about transgender feelings too.  Its always a bit of a strange question cause in this situation hes in a place of authority, so its a bit strange to ask personal information like that  because you feel compelled to answer. 

But with that said I wouldn't be surprised if he just does it as an opener to better understand the people who come see him, could be wrong though.

Yeah I just wasn't expecting that I guess....perhaps because it had been 5 years since vaginoplasty and that was the last time a surgeon asked me that haha.

Quote
Not looking forward to forehead numbness as well.  I really like feeling healthy so its going to suck that parts of me will essentially be injured and paralyzed for a period of time :/.  Just creeps me out.  It seems both high variable but also mostly out of control of the surgeon.  Incision has to go somewhere.

Yeah it's going to be annoying and creepy and weird.

Quote from: Debra on June 23, 2016, 05:31:15 AM

Quote from: SamSparks on June 22, 2016, 02:33:45 PM
SNIP
Not looking forward to forehead numbness as well.  I really like feeling healthy so its going to suck that parts of me will essentially be injured and paralyzed for a period of time :/.  Just creeps me out.  It seems both high variable but also mostly out of control of the surgeon.  Incision has to go somewhere.

Yeah it's going to be annoying and creepy and weird.

I had coronal incision 9 months ago, plus a lot of other procedures, including nasal valve repair (not an FFS procedure).  No longer numbness on forehead, lips, chin, cheeks, still have slight numbness on nose tip, however behind coronal incision there is only slight improvement in feeling.

I expected numbness, you do get accustomed to it.  I really notice it when I wash my hair.  The other thing is I've hit my head a couple of times on low hanging branches, once on a rafter in the hay barn.  Without complete feeling there you lose awareness of how close your are to things.  I've learned to be more aware of my surroundings.

Congratulations on finding your FFS surgeon.

Quote from: Debra on June 23, 2016, 05:29:40 AM
Thanks for that. Did you use concealer to hide it for the first few months or did you go for bangs, etc?

I didn't want to contaminate the wound with makeup, but my hair hid the incisions pretty well.

Quote from: deeiche on June 23, 2016, 07:03:40 AM
Yeah it's going to be annoying and creepy and weird.

I had coronal incision 9 months ago, plus a lot of other procedures, including nasal valve repair (not an FFS procedure).  No longer numbness on forehead, lips, chin, cheeks, still have slight numbness on nose tip, however behind coronal incision there is only slight improvement in feeling.

I expected numbness, you do get accustomed to it.  I really notice it when I wash my hair.  The other thing is I've hit my head a couple of times on low hanging branches, once on a rafter in the hay barn.  Without complete feeling there you lose awareness of how close your are to things.  I've learned to be more aware of my surroundings.

Congratulations on finding your FFS surgeon.

Thanks for the congratz and for sharing. That's what the doctor said too.....being aware of it so you didn't hurt yourself was important. Yeah I can't imagine washing my hair and not being able to feel it.....

Quote from: kittenpower on June 23, 2016, 09:53:54 AM
I didn't want to contaminate the wound with makeup, but my hair hid the incisions pretty well.

Kk thanks. I'm considering going back to bangs for the duration of recovery of the scar

Congrats! The girl I met who had full ffs with Dr. Deschamps-braly looked incredible, super passing and pretty even though she was less than 4 months post op. Her hairline scar was already practically invisible. Don't worry about it too much :) I believe he does a trichophytic incision so hair should go through it (correct me if I'm wrong).

- Ruby

Quote from: RubyAliza on June 23, 2016, 06:31:03 PM
Congrats! The girl I met who had full ffs with Dr. Deschamps-braly looked incredible, super passing and pretty even though she was less than 4 months post op. Her hairline scar was already practically invisible. Don't worry about it too much :) I believe he does a trichophytic incision so hair should go through it (correct me if I'm wrong).

- Ruby

Thanks! Yeah you are right. I'm just worried about the time before 4 months lol. I go back to work after 1 month so I want to look presentable and not give off too many 'clues' that I've had some major stuff done I guess

Been in talks with the Dr Office over the last week. Put $3k down to reserve my date and signed a bunch of papers.

They've also talked about a weird facial routine to start doing immediately that includes Retin-A and some other thing that helps even out pigment or something.

Had to sign forms about MicB shots as well as Micro Needling with PRP. Some weird stuff I had to get a lot of more info from them about (cuz I didn't want to blindly sign). The micro needling part sounds kinda scary / painful but hoping it won't take too long.

Also been looking up AirBnB in the san fran area that's close to both the doc office and the surgery center itself. A few pretty good options and all cheaper than any hotels in the area.

Airfare seems pretty easy and I have enough air miles to pay for at least one 1-way ticket so that's a plus. =)

My bestie's mother (who's become kind of an adoptive mother) is going to go with me for the full 2 weeks I'll be down there so I'm paying for her airfare and hotel stay as well.

I looked up rental car prices and it's ~ $500 for 2 weeks. We technically only need the car for the day of (and after surgery) because they don't let you leave in an uber......but it's ~ $200 for 3 days (plus $50 each way from the airpot) so kinda might as well go for the whole $500 but it also depends on parking costs wherever we stay.

Getting excited, still saving $2500/mo to get to the final amount in time (including all the other costs).

Latest update: Flights are all purchased except for my own return flight because my husband is going to fly down when my bestie's mom flies home and we are going to go to a conference in San Fran for a few days before flying home together. Correction: HE is going to the conference, I'll be chilling in the hotel with room service lol.

Also AirBnB is purchased for the duration of the trip and rental car as well.

Finally, I sent Dr D the pics of cute noses I liked and he and I spoke over the phone discussing them. He said they looked just fine and definitely doable. He said he likes to see pictures because it's difficult to just talk about verbally the angle of upward tip of the nose and such....easier to see it.

So getting excited, waiting for the stuff they're going to send me to start putting on my face ahead of time (Retin-A and some other stuff).

I love hearing about Dr D. Sounds like he can do anything with noses huh?

Congratulation... I know by myself what a huge step such a decision is... Happy for you  :D

And all the best...  :-*
Danielle

Hey Debra
when you say you sent pictures of noses, how did you go through them, did you just find random noses from the internet, how did you assess them to work with your face? how do you know they would be ok in proportion to your other features?
I haven't done any research for noses, i don't really know where to start especially when i take into account my face shape and whatever my face would look like after facial surgery also.
i am about 6 weeks away now but i don't really know what to do...leave it up to the doctor and cross my fingers or look potentially for a nose that may end up not suiting my face...

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on July 21, 2016, 01:09:14 AM
I love hearing about Dr D. Sounds like he can do anything with noses huh?

Yeah that's what he said. We both agreed though that we want the nose to fit my face too.

Quote from: confused_very on July 21, 2016, 06:12:02 AM
Hey Debra
when you say you sent pictures of noses, how did you go through them, did you just find random noses from the internet, how did you assess them to work with your face?

Yes i scoured the internet for both front and profile shots of what I considered 'cute and feminine noses'

Quote
how do you know they would be ok in proportion to your other features?

In talking with the doctor, we agreed that whatever was done, it would need to be proportionate to my face. The main thing is bringing the bridge down (feminization) and a slight tip up at the end. He said he asks for pictures because it's easier than trying to describe an exact angle of the 'tip up'.

So it won't look EXACTLY like those noses but it helps give him an idea of the general shape to contour my own nose with.

Debra Congrats on the FFS

I have just finished having FFS with DR D and am about 8 weeks into the healing process. The profile pic I have up is Pre surgery I'm not healed enough to put a new one up yet.  I had the break the bank treatment, Chin, upper lip, scalp advancement, rhino, fat grafs, type 3 forehead, jaw taper, 1800 hair grafs.  the surgery was 2 days and over 20 hours of surgery.  I met Dr O at my surgery at the hospital, he has a good book that goes over every type of procedure in good detail and was a big help to me.  It's downloadable as an ebook.

The Ret-A and Micro-Needle treatment and other instructions are real important to success, Dr D uses a lot of modern techniques that some others do not.  The short of it is this 3 days after the surgery I was walking 5 miles a day.  I never needed any of the prescription pain meds given, and only needed OTC pain meds for 4 days, till the nose packing came out.

I had trouble swallowing with the nose packing in so you may want some foods available that are easy to swallow.
The sun is your enemy after your surgery they gave me some special sunblock for the incisions.  In frisco it's cool enough I had a light windbreaker with a hood to keep the sun off my face and head or and umbrella works.  I was told hats were out and a scarf did protect the nose/face from the sun. If your inside then no problem there.

Dr D's team nurses, assistants and staff were all A list and I had no problem getting help immediately for even my silly requests or concerns I would send a picture and the nurse and DR D would look at it and respond right away all turned to nothing but normal healing, hence the silly part. 

After 4 weeks of healing with all I had there was only faint bruising by my eyes and concealer worked fine to hide it.  I agree with others about using makeup on your incision too soon I waited 8 weeks before I did everyone heals differently but I am paranoid that I would get permanent pigment in my incisions.  I'm certain if you shoot betty an email she can find out that for sure.

I hope some of this helps out with some questions.

Hugs  :)

Wow thank you so much Samantha. Lots of great info.

WOW that's a lot of surgeries, break the bank treatment for sure. Hope it works well for you when it's all healed.

It does make me glad I'm only doing forehead and nose though.....I'm hoping upper face alone for now will make recovery much easier than if I'd done lower face too.

Yeah he mentioned a lot of walking....did you get a lot of stares?

I'll be interested to see your pics when you are at a good point to show them. If you don't mind, I wouldn't mind seeing pics of your recovery as well though (feel free to PM me). I want to know the bad parts of things too haha.

Yeah the nose packing seems to be a big crappy part so I'll be glad when that gets out.....and I am a bit afraid of the micro-needling part.....I hope it doesn't hurt too bad =/

Good to hear about 4 weeks post-op because I am hoping to go back to work about that time. Just gotta figure out what to do about the hairline incision =/

I'm still waiting for the Ret-A and other stuff they're supposed to send me but surgery is still 4 months out too.

Thanks again for all the info! =)

I got lucky and didn't have to have the nose packing, but that may be because my Doc didn't do anything with the tip of my nose; I did have to wear the cast for almost 3 weeks though. It was awesome when the cast came off and I could see my new nose, and the bridge had the subtle "ski slope" look that I always wanted ⛷ 💕

Quote from: kittenpower on July 24, 2016, 01:44:34 AM
I got lucky and didn't have to have the nose packing, but that may be because my Doc didn't do anything with the tip of my nose; I did have to wear the cast for almost 3 weeks though. It was awesome when the cast came off and I could see my new nose, and the bridge had the subtle "ski slope" look that I always wanted ⛷ 💕

awww I bet! I can't wait for that part haha

Debra,

The Micro needle treatment for me was tolerable to quantify that it hurt less than laser on my face and more than electrolysis on the cheeks.  It does a great deal to improve skin healing and will reduce chance of prominent scarring.  It was worth doing for me.

I'm at 10 weeks post op and I have new hair growth below (these are transplants) and through the incision line so hair may grow at and through the incision.

You wanted to know the bad so for me the bad was my hair is very sensitive and the tightening of the scalp and blood flow disruption cause about 40% on the crown area to come out.  Thus read carefully make sure to follow the instructions (buy a wide tooth comb). Don't rub your head or use fingernails when you wash your hair.  Anyway be very gentle like the instructions say I perhaps fell short in this and now have to wait a year for my hair regrow to where it was:(

Quote from: Samantha C on July 28, 2016, 11:46:21 AM
The Micro needle treatment for me was tolerable to quantify that it hurt less than laser on my face and more than electrolysis on the cheeks.  It does a great deal to improve skin healing and will reduce chance of prominent scarring.  It was worth doing for me.

Oh good. How long does the actual needling take?

Quote
I'm at 10 weeks post op and I have new hair growth below (these are transplants) and through the incision line so hair may grow at and through the incision.

You wanted to know the bad so for me the bad was my hair is very sensitive and the tightening of the scalp and blood flow disruption cause about 40% on the crown area to come out.  Thus read carefully make sure to follow the instructions (buy a wide tooth comb). Don't rub your head or use fingernails when you wash your hair.  Anyway be very gentle like the instructions say I perhaps fell short in this and now have to wait a year for my hair regrow to where it was:(

WOW 40% of your overall hair fell out? Or just 40% at the incision line? That seems very drastic either way.

Thanks for sharing and warning.

Thanks so much Riya! =)

Good luck with your November surgery girly   :) I am planning to have FFS in September 2017 and while that seems so far away I haven't even begun HRT yet, which is on August 15 of this year. But I just know that I want FFS, granted at the target date, I will have been a year on HRT so perhaps I will look more feminine than I think I will look, or perhaps not. Only time will tell. Either I'll get FFS on that date or I'll just be $34k richer from savings  :D

Quote from: SerenaOhSerena on July 31, 2016, 09:47:19 PM
Good luck with your November surgery girly   :) I am planning to have FFS in September 2017 and while that seems so far away I haven't even begun HRT yet, which is on August 15 of this year. But I just know that I want FFS, granted at the target date, I will have been a year on HRT so perhaps I will look more feminine than I think I will look, or perhaps not. Only time will tell. Either I'll get FFS on that date or I'll just be $34k richer from savings  :D

Good for you for waiting. It helps to see what HRT will do for you first

So I told my Aunt and Uncle about my surgery and I'm happy to say they are taking a week off to fly up and be with me for the first week of the surgery along with my bestie's mom.

It feels good to be loved even if the bio parents are worthless.

In other news, I'm still waiting for my package from the surgeon with Retin-A and stuff that I'm supposed to be using up until the surgery.

Ok finally an update.

I got my labs done yesterday for both my doctor (I'll see him 2 weeks before surgery) and the surgeon.

Other than that, I'm sitting at a month and a week away about. I've been using the Retin-A product every other night until it gets really flaky and then backing off for a couple days and then starting it again. They confirmed today that was the right thing to do.

Birthday coming up this month and last few events before surgery. Can't help but feel like 'these are the last events with this face' haha. Hopefully that's a good thing.

I'm super excited for you! Keep us posted pleaaase. <3

Nothing like signing a $20k check over to someone. eek! haha. Still owe about $6k to the medical facility and anesthesia but won't have to pay that for another 2 weeks.

It's getting close though!

That sound like a good consultation indeed - quite long I imagine - usually most surgeons only spend 30 minutes or so in a consultation, it seems.

But the price is quite steep - I estimate its about double what most other surgeons charge. What part of his work makes it worth spending so much more? What made you decide for him instead for any of the other surgeons? Sadly there are no pictures of patients of his available and he also has no email contact for international patients, so I basically ruled him out from my list, although Dr O was on it when I first started the list.

Quote from: anjaq on October 10, 2016, 03:19:04 AM
he also has no email contact for international patients

Right? What's up with that..

I was told one can only do phone calls - which due to my time zone is not really that easy to do - plus flying from Europe to California for a consultation is quite an endeavour - financially and in respect to the time spent. But then I guess compared to the actual FFS pricetags, those expenses are not that important.

Quote from: anjaq on October 10, 2016, 03:19:04 AM
What part of his work makes it worth spending so much more? What made you decide for him instead for any of the other surgeons?

- I liked his attitude, his experience, his tutelage under Dr. O
- He's close, I live in Seattle, short flight to San Fran
- The pics he had in his office were very good and every girl I've talked to that has gone to him has had good results as well.
- I was able to save the money necessary for Forehead/nose myself (with 401k loan)

Quote
Sadly there are no pictures of patients of his available and he also has no email contact for international patients, so I basically ruled him out from my list, although Dr O was on it when I first started the list.

Yeah the pics on the website thing was annoying but as a patient, it's kinda nice too. Again, it's convenient for me. He's close. I can understand from Europe how it might not be the case. If was In Europe maybe FT would be more convenient.

Quote from: anjaq on October 10, 2016, 04:47:02 AM
I was told one can only do phone calls - which due to my time zone is not really that easy to do - plus flying from Europe to California for a consultation is quite an endeavour - financially and in respect to the time spent. But then I guess compared to the actual FFS pricetags, those expenses are not that important.

  8 pm in the evening in Europe is about mid day in San Francisco.   Is that really a show stopper ?

  Also,  in the past he has done consultations in Europe when he traveled there.   

Quote from: Debra on October 10, 2016, 05:13:42 PM
Yeah the pics on the website thing was annoying but as a patient, it's kinda nice too. Again, it's convenient for me. He's close. I can understand from Europe how it might not be the case. If was In Europe maybe FT would be more convenient.

Well I would hope for sure that all other surgeons ask for permission before putting up photos. I was asked for permission by Yeson before they put my voice on youtube and I only agreed after blurring the video picture.

Convenience is not my game - I travelled to Korea to get voice surgery because I consider Dr Kim to be the best to do it, so travelling for surgery is not an issue for me, what is more important is the quality of the work. So if FT and Dr Deschamps are playing in the same league regarding the results of the surgery, I would of course prefer the short way, if I had the impression that Spiegel or Deschamps are much better, I would not mind travelling for the surgery. But I am a bit reluctant to fly all over the world to get an hour of consultation everywhere, which frankly does not really tell me much about the quality of the work, as every surgeon claims to be really great and shows really good hand picked pictures. In my case so far they all also suggested the same procedures with variation in technique and bascially what I got out of the consultations was mostly if I had a good feeling or liked the personality of the surgeons.

Quote from: oneoftwo on October 10, 2016, 07:16:26 PM
  8 pm in the evening in Europe is about mid day in San Francisco.   Is that really a show stopper ?

That is actually rather manageable. But still, a phone call will not go further than making an appointment for a face to face consultation in California, which is for me a bit of a stopper to spend 1500 EU and two days just for a one hour conversation. I saw some time ago that he was visiting Paris and gives consultations there, that is easier to reach but still takes at least a day and two flights plus consultation fee. It would be manageable, but what stops me so far is that he charges twice as much for the surgery than for example Facialteam, but I do not yet see any specific reason for why he is better, except maybe that he has learned it from "the man", Dr O himself. So before I make a consultation with him, I need a reason why I would consider him in my list, given that he is massively expensive (looking at my funds, choosing him over the other surgeons on my list would almost completely drain all the funds I have, not giving me any reseves in case I need other surgeries or need a replacement for my car or other worldly needs)

Well I talked to the doctor on the phone yesterday. He answered a bunch of questions I had been acruing from reading about other girls' experiences. He pretty much set my mind at ease with all of them.

3 weeks from tomorrow is the big day!

Some might remember that I said Dr D mentioned sending him pictures of noses I liked so he could get a basic idea of what I was looking for. I came up with a list of pictures and I thought I'd share them here :

http://imgur.com/a/5RKei

I've talked to the doctor after he's looked at them and he agreed it should be doable, of course taking into account my face and making sure it fits right and stuff. He mentioned that knowing/saying the exact angle of the tip of the nose going up is too hard so it's easier to just see it in a picture instead.

Wow!  That's a great looking nose.  I hope Dr. D can meet your desire.  People should understand that there are limits to what can be accomplished with a rhinoplasty.  The truth is, you can't simply pick a pretty nose from a magazine and expect the surgeon to create one that looks like it.  One of the things that limits what can be accomplished is the thickness of your skin.  Thick skin is great for not developing wrinkles, but it also limits what can be done to fashion a new nose.  The most successful nose jobs are those that remove bone and cartilage; adding tissue is much harder.  Reducing nostril width and flaring involves an alarplasty with the potential for visible scars.  Revision surgery is often needed after rhinoplasty depending on the complexity and aggressiveness of the surgery.  The truth is rhinoplasty is a surgical specialty and should only be entrusted to someone with the appropriate certifications and a proven record of quality results.

Yep . true that.

We'll see what he can do.

Quote from: Debra on October 14, 2016, 03:37:36 PM
Some might remember that I said Dr D mentioned sending him pictures of noses I liked so he could get a basic idea of what I was looking for. I came up with a list of pictures and I thought I'd share them here :

http://imgur.com/a/5RKei

I've talked to the doctor after he's looked at them and he agreed it should be doable, of course taking into account my face and making sure it fits right and stuff. He mentioned that knowing/saying the exact angle of the tip of the nose going up is too hard so it's easier to just see it in a picture instead.

Do like the third picture (nose) down the list - -  the very best.

Several examples of noses similar to those from your doctor that some girls that have posted ->-bleeped-<-.   It does depend on where the surgeon gets to start from with respect to your individual nose.  Good skin helps a lot, too!



 

Ok yesterday marked the 2 weeks till FFS mark. I thought I'd write up a quick schedule of what is to come.

Thursday, Oct 20 - Stop all vitamins, halve dose of E. Only on VitC and Probiotics going forward. Stop all Alcohol. Pay medical facility and anesthesia fees.
Thursday Oct 27 - Stop all exercise

Monday Oct 31 - Fly into San Fran. Xrays, Pre-op, and facial.
Thursday, Nov 3 - Surgery day!
Friday, Nov 4 - Discharge from Hospital
Monday, Nov 7 - Post-op appt #1 - get nose packing out
Thursday, Nov 10 - Post-op appt #2 - get stitches/splint out
Wed, Nov 16 - Fly home (staying in town for a bit)

Then I don't go back to work till December 1st.

We'll see how this goes!

So exciting! Not long to go now Debra, I can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Debra, I like how you've planned out your schedule already!  I'm a big proponent of always being prepared.  :)

I also think it's good that you've given yourself nearly a month to recover from surgery before you have to go back to work.  I think that being able to rest during recovery without the added stress of having to worry about returning to work is good for one's health too.

Best wishes to you as the countdown to surgery continues!

Hi Debra,

Sorry I haven't posted earlier, this is the first day your post popped up on the "recents" list. I had FFS with Dr. D and am very happy with it. There is one thing that I strongly suggest, though, and I'm not sure if you're going to need to worry about it. If you're going to have an incision under your nose, like for a lip-lift or similar, I strongly suggest that you get electrolysis before you do it. I have had issues with hair growth out of the scar there - it's a sensitive area anyway, but doing electro into a scar is beyond any pain threshold!!

I did forehead contour, nose, lip and trachea. For the first 8-10 months I had numbness in my scalp but that's gone now. Hair growth is slowly returning to the scar area. A year post-op my nose still swells for no apparent reason on occasion, which is frustrating because that is the difference between passing and struggling sometimes. But it's to be expected. Overall, I am happy with the surgery and most of the time I walk as a very happy woman in this world.

I'm going to try to post pics - I haven't been at all successful with that yet! Maybe if the pic isn't there the link will be and you can follw that...

Here's a before:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi682.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv188%2FthenewMia%2Fjail%2520fire1a_zpslllh9nl6.jpg&hash=4156b6edafa04ef91e6bf34ecb3fa3176935c526)

Here's post op:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi682.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv188%2FthenewMia%2FPost%2520Op_zps0w0gniyr.jpg&hash=5386e65bde6c00b8485bd164bce54cdc3bb08622)

And here's about 8 months post op:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi682.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv188%2FthenewMia%2Fmia20160505_141345%2520web_zpsqaf9ojvl.jpg&hash=845dbbfff098e253ea34b1f340b20844f1dfa045)

My profile pic, below, is about one year post op:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi682.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv188%2FthenewMia%2FPizza-09.2016-BG_zps66cawrpd.jpg&hash=488d6fde2c2f97e60e910390c48ba51ee0ed0d9f)

I wish you the best!!

Mia

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on October 21, 2016, 04:22:06 PM
So exciting! Not long to go now Debra, I can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Thanks!! =) I'll keep this thread up to date, no doubt ;)

Quote from: EmilyMK03 on October 21, 2016, 04:38:37 PM
Debra, I like how you've planned out your schedule already!  I'm a big proponent of always being prepared.  :)

I also think it's good that you've given yourself nearly a month to recover from surgery before you have to go back to work.  I think that being able to rest during recovery without the added stress of having to worry about returning to work is good for one's health too.

Best wishes to you as the countdown to surgery continues!

Thank you =) I'm kind of a planner. It helps me to see things laid out in front of me like that =)

Quote from: Mia on October 21, 2016, 08:04:58 PM
Hi Debra,

Sorry I haven't posted earlier, this is the first day your post popped up on the "recents" list. I had FFS with Dr. D and am very happy with it. There is one thing that I strongly suggest, though, and I'm not sure if you're going to need to worry about it. If you're going to have an incision under your nose, like for a lip-lift or similar, I strongly suggest that you get electrolysis before you do it. I have had issues with hair growth out of the scar there - it's a sensitive area anyway, but doing electro into a scar is beyond any pain threshold!!

I did forehead contour, nose, lip and trachea. For the first 8-10 months I had numbness in my scalp but that's gone now. Hair growth is slowly returning to the scar area. A year post-op my nose still swells for no apparent reason on occasion, which is frustrating because that is the difference between passing and struggling sometimes. But it's to be expected. Overall, I am happy with the surgery and most of the time I walk as a very happy woman in this world.

I'm going to try to post pics - I haven't been at all successful with that yet! Maybe if the pic isn't there the link will be and you can follw that...

....

I wish you the best!!

Mia

wow thanks so much for sharing! You look great!!! =) Exciting. And post-op doesn't look too bad frankly.

I won't be doing a lip lift so hopefully I won't have to worry about that. Ugh I hate electro. I've mostly only done laser.

Great to hear that you did get feeling back in the scalp. That's definitely a worry.

For the first few months, with the scar in the hairline, how visible was that? Are you able to hide it with your hair? I'm considering getting blunt bangs again when I get back if I have to.....

Quote from: Debra on October 22, 2016, 06:23:17 PMFor the first few months, with the scar in the hairline, how visible was that? Are you able to hide it with your hair? I'm considering getting blunt bangs again when I get back if I have to.....

I had to use makeup for the scar for a couple of months, but I have blonde hair. 

And wow, Mia, this is great work.  There's so much talent in the world today!

Dr D tried to minimize the visibility of the scar. It was stapled and one end of the staple was in the hair...Frankly I never really thought about the scar, by the time all the swelling and bruising subsided I was already growing hair back. I don't think it's really anything to worry about.

Mia

Thanks both of you for the input! Good to know

Ok the latest update is I still have a cough.

Forget if I mentioned this before but I had cold/flu a couple weeks ago. It led to a sinus infection and cough so my doc gave me a ZPack with refill. Today is the last day of that antibiotic (10 days) and I still have a cough / post-nasal drip.

I told the surgeon yesterday that I still had a cough and I'd been on that antibiotic and they filled a prescription for a stronger antibiotic for another 10 days and told me to see my doctor by Friday to have him pronounce me 'ok for surgery'.

The surgery is still just over a week away so I'm hoping this will get all fixed and we can still operate on time =/

So sorry to hear this! One of my biggest pre-op fears is a bug! After 10 days of antibiotics you've got to be very close to being out of the woods. Dr D also had me taking buffered vitamin C for weeks leading up to surgery and then after. If you're not taking any you may want to, no matter what debate might rage on this forum about the validity of vitamin use. Also lots of water, all day every day and no alcohol.

Good luck!

Mia

Quote from: Mia on October 26, 2016, 08:55:00 AM
So sorry to hear this! One of my biggest pre-op fears is a bug! After 10 days of antibiotics you've got to be very close to being out of the woods. Dr D also had me taking buffered vitamin C for weeks leading up to surgery and then after. If you're not taking any you may want to, no matter what debate might rage on this forum about the validity of vitamin use. Also lots of water, all day every day and no alcohol.

Good luck!

Mia

Thanks yes I'm on vitamin C and probiotics. I've also been taking emergen-C too.

They gave me a stronger antibiotic for another 10 days (which will go thru the surgery date actually) and yesterday my family doctor said I was 'ok for surgery' and gave me a note for the surgeon's office.

He did also say though that if I still have the cough come surgery day, the anesthesiologist will really have the final say on whether they can operate or not. =/

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good until later in the afternoon and I had some nuts and I admit I've been drinking soda pop (for the first time in years) since I can't have alcohol. Wondering if a combination of those 2 are drying my throat out and causing more coughing or something. Last night / this morning kinda felt like a setback in getting past this thing.

I was going to go to halloween parties tonight but now I feel like I'm tempting fate ....and could catch something new even, let alone not recover enough from what I have. So I'm going to stay home and try to keep recovering.

had more tea with honey this morning too. Here's hoping I can beat this thing before Thursday.

The surgery (and getting over it sooner rather than later) is well worth laying low, you'll have plenty of Halloween parties to celebrate as a beautiful, confident woman. Sounds like everything is coming together for you - Good luck!

Oh - make sure you get a lot of photos before and after, even if you don't really feel photogenic. It's incredible to look at the changes - many very subtle - that will take place over the upcoming year.

Mia

3 days to go? How's everything going Debra? Thinking of you <3

I'm flying out today and have pre-op stuff when I get there.

Unfortunately I still have some post-nasal drip + cough going on. Really hoping this is not going to get in the way of the surgery on Thursday.

Pre-Op Day!

Ok today went by in a flash.

We (me and my bestie's Mom , from here on out, just "Mom") flew into San Fran around 8am or so, got our rental car and headed straight away for the doctor's office. He wanted me to do some xrays before the pre-op appointment but also to pickup meds beforehand too.

The xrays are pretty crazy. I had already done the one that goes around your head while you bite down and have these things in your ears. But the other stuff was very all inclusive, including a whole digital mapping of my teeth.

Anyway, Mom and I finally made it to the doctor's office a bit early for the Noon appointment. He greeted us early while I was finishing signing some paperwork (I swear I'd already digitally signed some of that stuff but for some reason some of it didn't take) and he right away said that he wasn't too worried about post-nasal drip /cough so that was a huge sigh of relief for me.

Anyway we went into his office and he was looking thru my xrays and he had a composite of all of the noses I'd sent him there as well. That made me feel really good...like that's direct attention to detail and such. Anyway, he went thru the xrays and kind of went over some basic measurements of changes that he was going for. Then we discussed scalp advance and again he said he didn't think we should move mine down at all but at the same time, we didn't want the hair part pulling the forehead up more either so he said something about anchoring that point to the bone or something. I'm not exactly sure how that works but I trust him and I understand what problems he's addressing with that.

I asked about nose incisions because we hadn't previously discussed that and he said 2 on the side and one at the very bottom. I asked about taking "First Intentions" which has bromelane in it and he said sure, go for it. He also mentioned the first day or two I could have weird double vision or something but that it usually goes away within a day or two.

He also once again stressed walking. He said his patients that walk a lot, heal the best. It still seems surprising but it'll be good exericse too....just will suck walking around town looking like total crap. But I'll have Mom or someone with me as well....and my Aunt and Uncle's airBNB is not too far away from ours.

Then we went into the other room with the PA and she went over all of the crazy meds and other stuff I have to keep track of. wow! I mean antibiotic, xanex, valium, (tylenol/ibuprofin for pain but he ordered percocet for me in case I do need it), anti-inflamatory stuff, antibiotic cream for inside my nose between now and the surgery, blood-pressure lowering patch for 24 hrs before surgery, all kindsa stuff. Oh and ambien cuz I asked for that too once the valium is done.

Then she gave us the crazy news: There is no nose packing. I was like what ? wow! Apparently they don't do nose packing anymore, just a splint and stuff. We'll see how that goes but I'm a little relieved at least.

Anyway, we left and finally checked into our AirBnB. It's about 15 min away with no traffic. Pretty roomy, 2 bedroom, lots of stocked goods. computer, tv, etc. I like it so far. Then I left Mom there to get settled and had to run back into town for a facial that the Dr had scheduled. Facial went well so that was good.

Came back and Mom and I got dinner at a thai restaurant nearby and now we're settling in for the night.

Surgery isn't till THursday though so tomorrow and Wednesday we're goign to be sight-seeing and my aunt and uncle are flying up to spend a week with us too.

Have fun being a tourist for a couple days, Debra!  San Francisco is a very walkable city, lots to see and do.  (OK, I'm biased.  Lived in the Bay Area most of my 63 years...) It sounds like you'll be in great hands there, and with wondeful support, too.

Hi Debra,

Enjoy today and Wednesday having a look around SF.

Good luck on Thursday, you will be fine and judging by other girls results on here, you are in great hands.

Hugs

Paula

Ooooh, xanax, that really helped me through the first week of recovery! 

A friend of mine always said that this was the "real sex reassignment" and I tend to agree.  Everything changes now.

Thanks everyone!

Quote from: Sophia Sage on November 01, 2016, 07:52:12 AM
Ooooh, xanax, that really helped me through the first week of recovery! 

Yeah it kinda makes sense.

Quote
A friend of mine always said that this was the "real sex reassignment" and I tend to agree.  Everything changes now.

Interesting way of putting it. It's the reassignment that more people will actually see I suppose

Just wondering but what's "nose packing"? Sorry english isn't my first language. :/

Oh and goodluck tomorrow! :)

Quote from: IglooAustralia on November 02, 2016, 02:40:34 PM
Just wondering but what's "nose packing"? Sorry english isn't my first language. :/

Oh and goodluck tomorrow! :)

Welcome to Susan's Place. When you have nose surgery, packing made of gauze is placed in the nose to keep the passages open until they sufficiently heal. They are uncomfortable and you need to breath through your mouth while they are in.

We issue to all new members the following links so you will best be able to use the web site.

• Site Terms of Service and rules to live by  (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)
  
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Yeah what Dena said :) It's one of the more annoying things about rhinoplasty.

But apparently Dr D's office stopped doing it. should be interesting.

Best wishes for your surgery today 😊

Well the surgery is done!

I'm back at my airbnb now. Experencing some double vsion / hard to focus a bit (plus I'm tired) so I'll have to try to write about myexerpeinces tomorrow or so;)

What all did you have done?

Just a reminder, I had: Forehead reconstruction (including type 3, scalp advancement (only very slightly) , brow lift) and then rhinioplsaty/ceptoplasty.

Here's a long diary account:


Day of surgery

Night before, I had to take a shower and wash my hair with baby shampoo and put in a lot of conditioner (not rinse it out ). I then braided my hair and went to bed.

The next morning, we had to be at the medical facility by 6am but we ended up getting there a little early. They admitted us right away though so that as good. Waited in the waiting from for only a little bit and then they call just me in to start prepping me.

They had me change into a gown and thigh high pressure stockings and socks with grip on the bottom as well as blue bonnet thing. Then the guy proceeded to ask me a lot of questions, mostly about vitamins and medications, most of which I'd stopped 2 weeks before as requested by Dr. D.

The nurse then gave me an IV int he hand (ugh I hate them in the hand) but he used lidocaine at first so it wasn't so bad. He also gave me an anti-nausea patch and I still had the low blood pressure patch on from the day before. Then orally he ave some other anti-inflammatory or something.

About then the doctor and his assistant came in and said hi, they weren't dressed for surgery yet but wanted to check in. They were all smiles. Then they brought my adopted mother, aunt, and uncle in and they all got to meet the doctor.

The doc and his assistant left to go change but came back shortly saying we had a slight delay because of an emergency case that came in before us. so we waited around for a while. My family had brought me my teddy bear and unicorn to hold on to so that was good.

Eventually they wheeled me to another area where one family member could go and so Mom came and the others went back to the waiting room. The Anesthesiologist then came in and introduced himself and checked up on me. I wasn't coughing or anything at that point so I felt pretty good.

We waited there for awhile, maybe 30-45min until they finally came to wheel me into the OR. Which is odd cuz the last few surgeries I've had Ihad to get up and walk to the OR. But anyway it worked out.

The OR was rustling with people everywhere. running around, hooking things up. they had me switch from the tourney to the operating table and then started hooking me up to stuff.

Dr D was there and he was mostly just hanging out, kinda waiting for everyone to get ready and he kept rubbing my arm and smiling at me in a comforting way. At one point, he pointed up at the wall where he had my X-rays and his notes and the pictures of noses I had sent him. That was comforting.

The anesthesiologist asked me what I did for a living and I said I told him and also told him about my hobbies and everyone kinda smiled and then I kinda blacked out.

Woke up in the OR as they were finishing up I think but I don't recall everything there. Apparently I asked for a margarita or a burrito or something, kinda funny. Then they wheeled me to like a waiting area inf front of some desks with nurses there and there were a couple gourneys next to me too. I guess an in-between area. I felt like I was asking for Dr D a bunch, kinda wanted to know how it all went.

Anyway they finally wheeled me over to a room and I saw the family kinda all waiting too and they walked in with me.

At first I was all kinda chipper and happy and silly even though I couldn't see very well with no glasses/contacts. But as they gave me more meds in my IV, I would drift asleep off and on. They brought me some soup and stuff and sipped  a little bit but it wasn't going that great with my stomach, despite all the anti-nausea meds.    

My family finally left around 7pm I think and they were going to get mexican food.

My night was ok, a lot of drifting off to sleep then waking myself up by breathing thru my nose on accident (no packing). The nurses would come every so often and give me more anti-nausea IV and anti-inflammatory IV.

it must have helped cuz my eyes did not get swollen at all or anything. They also gave me a couple stool softeners throughout the night too.

I think it was about 5am, that Dr D's nurse came (or maybe she'd been there longer) and she kinda took care of me, taking my vitals and then letting the nurse on duty know when she came in. She also was checking my catheter bag a lot too.

Finally about 6 am she asked if I was ready to give walking a try and I said sure. So I held onto the iv pole and we walked the whole circuit of the hallway ....about 3/4 of the way, I started to feel hot all over, kinda precursor to nauseness but it seemed to go ok. Got back to my room and she said she could take the drain out of my head, the catheter out, as well as the IV out. So I was happy about all that.

Then I immediately had to go pee and she said that was a good sign.

Dr D came in shortly after, prob 7am...he was running early but he talked to me about how it all went. He said everything went very well and that he had to put my sinus bones back in place in 4 pieces and he even showed me a picture. I asked how normal that was and he said it can be anywhere between 2 pieces to 7 pieces so 4 was pretty good. You could see the wiring holding it all in as well.

He commented on my cute little nose as well, saying it all went well.

He spent a good amount of time typing on the computer I'm assuming for discharge paperwork but wow it took a long time. We than chatted about his vacation after my last post-op appointment.

Then he left and I felt like I was waiting forever. The nurse on call came in a nd tried to give me more meds but the iv was out already so she only gave me the stool softener which was oral.

My family finally arrived at like 10am and then we waited a little bit for discharge paperwork and transport wheelchair and then we were off, back to my air-bnb . When we got there, I laid on the bed (upright) and my mom and uncle wen to the grocery store while my aunt and I watched some tV but I kind dosed off and on lol. Sow hen they got back my aunt and uncle went back to their airbnb.

I had a couple of quesadillas (gluten free) cuz I was starting, the hospital still couldn't get the gluten free thing right, bringing me cream of wheat hah so I ended up eating vanilla yogurt and vanilla pudding....and coffee.

I took several pics of myself right after the surgery and some the day after. Really not looking too bad yet. Not a lot of swelling but some general tightness and numbness around the hose and forehead.

As for top of the head numbness, it doesn't cascade all the way back down the back of my head surprisingly, it really is just not he very top and into the forhead I think.

So far been alternating tylenol and ibuprofen every 4 hrs and that seems to be all I need along with the anti-biotic,anti-inflammatory, steroid, and other crazy stuff the doc has me on haha. Whatever the cocktail is, I think it's helping.

Finally today I woke up with a little bit of stuffiness / post nasal drip. I may have to use the weird spray cleaner they said to use up my nose but I can't put it directly up my nose because no pressure can be going up or down it for a while....include sniffles, ugh. I have coughed a little, cleared throat a little, and sneezed a little, all taking care to not do so thru my nose but even so I can feel the sinus wall move a little when I do it. eek.

Anyway today and tomorrow for the weekend and then first appointment is post-op on Monday.

Sorry that was a novel and a half.

Thanks for the update; it sound like everything went as well as could be expected 😊. 

Hoping everything is going better.

Walking is really the best medicine.  Don't worry about people on the street, you are the one who just had major surgery.

take care

Thanks. Yesterday was my first full day back at the airbnb. I ended up wakling up the hill a few blocks to my aunt and uncle's airbnb and hung out there for a litle bit and then Mom and I walked a TON of blocks up hill to a small park nearby where we rested on a bench.

Then we walked all the way back down and hung out at the airbnb the rest of the day. I did clean my sutures a bunch with peroxide and vaseline as instructed. The tip/nostrils of the nose are seemed to be patciuarlly bloody so I cleaned them a bunch as well. (q-tips)

I kinda had teh sniffles some throughout the day and tried to keep sniffling to a minimum. It helped taping up a piece of gauze again under the nose (makes it hard to breaht thru nose but also seems to allow for drip).

I had leftover mexican for lunch and then made some chili in a crockpot and put that into gluten free tortillas with cheese for dinner. Party way eating that, I felt a drip of blood out ofmy nose so I had to use tissue.

Been taking all my meds as prescribed but avoiding the narcotics still successfully. Tylenol every 4 hrs alternating with ibuprofen every 4 hrs. Also doing the antibiotic, steroid antinflamotory, as well as the First Intentions vitamin my naturpath recommended (has bromalane in it for swelling).

Sleeping was a bitmore fitfull last night. I thikn Itook the valium too early so I didnt sleep very well. Finally got up at like 4amish.

Doc called yesterday to check on me and the office sent me flowers (nice of them). Everything seemes good.

Today relaxing mostly but I do need to get up and go for a long walk again. I want to see Dr. Strnage in theaters but may wait till Monday or Tuesday ....since Monday they'll check meup and probably at least remove staples and maybe sutures too.

First post-op appointment today.

I didn't sleep very well last couple nights. The valium wasn't as good for tryingto sleep onmy back and at 45 degree angle. But I got up, got ready, and I drove to the doc office. Still not really on narcotics so that was fine.

In general though, kinda feeling icky, not quite nauseous but something off.

Anyway doc appointment went well. They said I was cleaning my sutures well and they took out all the staples and sutures. They also talked about internal sutures which was kinda news to me. They said they'd still keep things together for more as well as the skin to the bone or something. I asked about spitting sutures and he (like previously) said that was pretty rare....that they should dissolve or something.

They also cleaned the tip of the nose area a bit and cut off a part of the tape holding the nose tip up cuz it had kinda flecks of blood in between it that I couldn't quite get out when I was cleaning it.

The nurse lady was doing all the work but the doctor would come in periodically to check on it and chat with me. He said everything was looking really good. They said to keep cleaning where the sutures used to be like I had been though and that I'd get the full forehead/nose cast out on Thursday at my post-op appointment then.

The nurse then detangled and rebraided my hair for me so that was nice.

I asked about sleeping andhe said for swelling purposes, it was still best to sleep at 45 degree angle. He said to double up on the valium or start taking the ambien. So I'll try that tonight.

I drove to the appointment and drove back and then we filled a prescription for  aheavier laxative/stool softener. Hopefully that helps because despite not taking any narcotics (just ibuprofin and tylenol), I have not really pooped for almost a week. I assume it's mostly from the IV drugs they gave me when I was in the hospital.

So yeah just in general have kind of an 'off' feeling today. Hoping to walk some more and then go see Dr Strange with Mom and Aunt and Uncle.

Quote from: Debra on November 07, 2016, 02:19:08 PM
SNIP
I asked about spitting sutures and he (like previously) said that was pretty rare....that they should dissolve or something.
SNIP

Hopefully you won't be effected.  We would hear about it more often if it was common.  At least you are aware of them.  Unless you ask, surgeons don't bring them up at all.

Quote from: Debra on November 07, 2016, 02:19:08 PM
I asked about sleeping and he said for swelling purposes, it was still best to sleep at 45 degree angle. He said to double up on the valium or start taking the ambien. So I'll try that tonight.

Sleeping propped up sucks, I didn't sleep well for the 1st week or so post surgery.  You will finally get exhausted enough where you will sleep. 

Quote from: Debra on November 07, 2016, 02:19:08 PM
I drove to the appointment and drove back and then we filled a prescription for  aheavier laxative/stool softener. Hopefully that helps because despite not taking any narcotics (just ibuprofin and tylenol), I have not really pooped for almost a week. I assume it's mostly from the IV drugs they gave me when I was in the hospital.
SNIP

Do you eat quinoa, also beans?  I did not have a good BM until I got back home, almost 4 weeks post surgery.  I cook up some quinoa whenever I feel constipated, just did not know where to get any in Buenos Aires.

Thanks Deeiche

Yeah the spitting sutures, really hope that doesn't happen. Right now you can see the scar line where the sutures were (right next to the hairline) and then below that is a patch of skin along the front of my forehead that looks kinda 'puffed up' slightly....and then below that is the beginning of the cast on the forehead that holds the nose in place. He said that puffed up skin there had something to do with internal sutures that will dissolve. *cross fingers*

Yeah lastnight was another not so great night. THe last 2 nights I've slept at 45 degree angle for at least half the night and then wake up, take meds, and then can't sleep again so I end up lowering the pillows a bit. I know it's bad for swelling but can't seemto get around it. Last night I took 2 valium and still had similar problems. Maybe the ambien will help tonight.

I did finally poop today, yay! So the prescribed stool softentener (as well as milk of magnesia two nights in a row before) are probably starting to work.

I do drink coffee in the mornings and it usually helps me poop but this trip it hasn't done much because of those IV drugs I guess.

I've kinda eaten all kinds of things lately, chicken, potatoes, mexican, dairy (which usually can give me diarrhea) etc.

yesterday was kind of odd though after the appointment. I felt kind of 'off'. Not quite nauseous but stil post-nasal drip and stuff. I did walk 3 miles which was helpful but I am finding the slighty drip coming out of my nose really annoying so when I go somewhere I'm taping up the nose with gauze as instructed.

This morning I feel a little better and might even be able to SLIGHTLY breahte thru my right nostril; thus far it's only been slightly thru the left.

I tell ya this cast thing can't come off soon enough :P

I gotta drive my aunt and uncle to the airport today, they're going home. Then Friday I drive my adopted mom to the airport and then Sunday my husband flies in. This trip is coming to an end soon :) Then I'll at least finish off recovery at home and such.

Ok! Yesterday (well yesterday evening) was finally the big unveiling.

The cast finally came off and the stints came out of the nose.....that part was a little unpleasant and scary....having her grab on with the tweezers and pull this huge thing out of each nostril haha. But not as bad as you'd think.....more scary than bad.

Anyway, it all came off and WOW no brow ridge! It looks great. I was kinda shocked....it doesn't look that different (from the front) but it does. The nose doesn't look very different either except the base of it is obviously much smaller to match the forehead and frankly I'm hoping theres a lot of swelling that will come down off the nose itself.

But I'm happy. My eyes pop more, my face looks more feminine and soft in general. It's really great.

Now for this hairline scar to heal.....

Yaaaay! Sounds like it was a success Debra! I'm so happy for you. I'm sure you will continue to notice changes every day as it continues to heal and the swelling goes down. :)

Quote from: Debra on November 11, 2016, 10:54:08 AM
Ok! Yesterday (well yesterday evening) was finally the big unveiling.

The cast finally came off and the stints came out of the nose.....that part was a little unpleasant and scary....having her grab on with the tweezers and pull this huge thing out of each nostril haha. But not as bad as you'd think.....more scary than bad.

Anyway, it all came off and WOW no brow ridge! It looks great. I was kinda shocked....it doesn't look that different (from the front) but it does. The nose doesn't look very different either except the base of it is obviously much smaller to match the forehead and frankly I'm hoping theres a lot of swelling that will come down off the nose itself.

But I'm happy. My eyes pop more, my face looks more feminine and soft in general. It's really great.

Now for this hairline scar to heal.....

Nose and forehead make an incredible difference when done together; and it's probably the greatest feminizing effect for most of us. Congratulations 😊

Thanks kittenpower.

So wow yesterday and today I woke up with throbbing headaches. Basic throbbing pain in forehead and at the bridge of the nose too. I can only assume it's swelling.....although it doesn't look TOO bad....it is kind of a constant dull ache/throbbing that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm taking ibuprofin again to no avail as of yet.

Weirdly enough, the first week after surgery didn't have headaches like this....I can only assume because of all the extra anti-inflammatory and pain meds I was on as well as the cast kind of keeping everything flat and in place.

Still taking ambien at night and trying to sleep upright at least halfway thru the night. Doc said I shouldn't have to anymore but it doesn't seem to matter now....upright or not, the headache keeps me from getting a lot of sleep as well.

Last night and today were better.

I slept better last night. Still taking ambien to help and ibuprofin regularly for swelling headaches.

Today's headaches were mostly kept at bay.

My husband flew down cuz he's going to a conference and I've switched from my airBNB to his hotel room where we can stay together. I haven't seen him for the last 2 weeks I've been here so it was great to be reunited. :)

We went for a 2 mile walk around downtown together and that was great. Yesterday I bought some athletic cloth headbands that aren't too tight that cover up the hairline scar for now. It's not ideal, I look a little odd but better than showing off some crazy scar right now haha.

it's amazing how much more confident I feel ..... it's probably just me but I'm seriously no longer worrying about what I look like from the side view because of the brow ridge being totally gone. =)

OH and the scar itself is scabbing.....for some reason it didn't dawn on me till today that it was a reddish scab and that's why it was so visible. I imagine the scab will fall off in a week or two and the real 'scar' will be much less visible. That was very relieving to realize.

Tomorrow I plan on dilating....2nd time on this trip (I do it weekly nowadays......this is the first trip I've taken where I actually had to take my dilators, let alone dilate TWICE ...in the 6 years since I had SRS)...and then I will walk around downtown again, maybe go visit Dr D's office again. Have a couple more questions for them and such and hey I'm still in town....and he wants me walking everyday so why not? haha

My husband and I flew home today and I'm unpacked and relaxing.

Tomorrow is technically 2 weeks post-op and I get to go back to normalcy for the following things:

- Restart my vitamins and regular estrogen dosage
- Drink alcohol again
- work out / exercise (lightly)

I don't go back to work for 2 more weeks. I'm thankful for that as there's still (even at 2 weeks post-op) a slight bruise under my right eye and well the hairline scar still shows too.

Other than that, the hairline scar in front is a bit scabby in places, in the places where it's fallen off it's really not very noticeable. For now I am wearing either sweat hairbands or beanies when I go out. Also, just under the scar itself, the skin on the forehead at the top is a bit bumpy. They said there were deeper stitches that would dissolve over time (unless I'm one of the few patients who ends up 'spitting stitches'. Here's hoping that's not the case.

My husband commented that the swelling has gone down a lot today. I'm still waking up with tension headaches....but today I only took ibuprofen once.....immediately upon waking. I'm also feeling slight tinglings where the numbness is around my eyebrow areas.....also some weird sensations near the hairline scar too.

Sleeping itself is still not easy...on my back or side....uncomfortable on the side (and I can't only sleep on my back). Ambien continues to help but is just about to run out and I'll have to see what just plain melatonin does for me.

Still taking First Intentions and arnica (as well as rubbing arnica on the bruise) and cleaning my nose with q-tips morning and night. At night I find putting vaseline in the nose helps too....to soften things up for removal in the morning. Kinda gross I know....but needed.

I have to say, at 2 weeks I'm VERY happy with the results. My eyes have opened up so much in a 'cute' / feminine way and my nose....I can't stop touching/feeling the curve of it. I love it!

Hi Debra,

Congratulations on surviving FFS!  So much of your story I can relate to.  I flew home by myself nine days after surgery, and I barely made it.  Lugging my little suitcase through Chicago O'Hare airport nearly did me in.

I am glad you are taking more time off from work.  I hugely underestimated my recovery time.  I took about two-and-a-half weeks off, and went back the third week.  Big mistake.  I was largely non-functional, and ended up taking half-days. By the fourth week, I was almost back to normal.

My forehead scar has been one of the slowest to heal. It is still a red line, and one of the worst offenders for spitting sutures, although I would have to say the sutures in my nose were worse, because they were *right there* under my septum and outside my nostrils, and looked and felt like big pimples.

One of the tough things I had to deal with during recovery is sleeping on my back. I have been a side-sleeper my whole life.  I had to wear a compression garment on my head for the first month, and the pain in my ears from the face/neck lift made sleeping on my side impossible.  I was taking Valium and Vicodin nearly every night for the first three weeks to get to sleep.

One thing I did not do was stop estradiol, at least as originally instructed.  Dr. Zukowksi and I bargained about that. I stopped two days before surgery and started two days after. There is just no sound medical reason to stop sublingual or parenteral estradiol.

Now that I am largely "healed" I still have to deal with the weird electric sensations and shooting pains through my face, forehead, and neck as nerves recover and reconnect, so I certainly sympathize with you there. 

The first three weeks after surgery I was not allowed to blow my nose. I had to go rooting around with  hydrogen peroxide-soaked Q-tips to clear my nose.  Perhaps you can relate to how satisfying it was to get big red globs of coagulated blood and snot out your nose, lol!

One downer for me: my nose was absolutely perfect until I took the tape off on day 12.  Within a few days I noticed a new lump on my previously perfect nose!  :(  I can only hope it subsides with time.

Anyway, congratulations to you again.  You should post some pictures!

With kindness,

Terri

Quote from: Maybebaby56 on November 16, 2016, 09:28:41 PM
Hi Debra,

Congratulations on surviving FFS!  So much of your story I can relate to.  I flew home by myself nine days after surgery, and I barely made it.  Lugging my little suitcase through Chicago O'Hare airport nearly did me in.

I am glad you are taking more time off from work.  I hugely underestimated my recovery time.  I took about two-and-a-half weeks off, and went back the third week.  Big mistake.  I was largely non-functional, and ended up taking half-days. By the fourth week, I was almost back to normal.

My forehead scar has been one of the slowest to heal. It is still a red line, and one of the worst offenders for spitting sutures, although I would have to say the sutures in my nose were worse, because they were *right there* under my septum and outside my nostrils, and looked and felt like big pimples.

One of the tough things I had to deal with during recovery is sleeping on my back. I have been a side-sleeper my whole life.  I had to wear a compression garment on my head for the first month, and the pain in my ears from the face/neck lift made sleeping on my side impossible.  I was taking Valium and Vicodin nearly every night for the first three weeks to get to sleep.

One thing I did not do was stop estradiol, at least as originally instructed.  Dr. Zukowksi and I bargained about that. I stopped two days before surgery and started two days after. There is just no sound medical reason to stop sublingual or parenteral estradiol.

Now that I am largely "healed" I still have to deal with the weird electric sensations and shooting pains through my face, forehead, and neck as nerves recover and reconnect, so I certainly sympathize with you there. 

The first three weeks after surgery I was not allowed to blow my nose. I had to go rooting around with  hydrogen peroxide-soaked Q-tips to clear my nose.  Perhaps you can relate to how satisfying it was to get big red globs of coagulated blood and snot out your nose, lol!

One downer for me: my nose was absolutely perfect until I took the tape off on day 12.  Within a few days I noticed a new lump on my previously perfect nose!  :(  I can only hope it subsides with time.

Anyway, congratulations to you again.  You should post some pictures!

With kindness,

Terri

THanks for the response! Yes lots to relate to. I'm thankful for taking time off work too....but I'm going to have so much cabin fever too haha.

Really hoping the scarline area doesn't spit stitches ugh. Yeah sleeping still sucks. I took my last ambien last night ....we'll see how tonight goes. I may be getting more if I can't take it. Still waking up with tension headaches too.

Yeah I talked Dr D up . He wanted 1/4th dose of Estradiol 2 weeks before nad 2 weeks after surgery. I talked him up to 1/2 dose. Which is much more bearable and I have done that for several other surgerys with no problems.

Wow the nose bump sounds bad. I hope it goes away too! And I hope I don't get that lol.

Thanks, no pics for me. I may consider posting a temporary pic at some point....but still not sure I want to do that.

So yesterday (Thanksgiving) was 3 weeks post-op.

Not a whole lot has changed. I'm off valium and ambien and sleeping 'ok'. Not great but ok. It's still hard sleeping on my side because of the scarline that's behind the hair...still kinda tender and stuff. Because of that I can't seem to sleep on my stomach either as there's not enough twisting going on to twist the side of my head on the pillow back up towards the ceiling enough when I'm on my stomach. (if that makes any sense)

The hairline scar is a slight pink but not nearly as noticeable as it was a week ago. I'm still using the scar treatment on it 2x a day as directed. I've also noticed some hairs starting to grow back in the scarline itself already, yay! The bumps from the (deep stitches) directly below the scarline are still a bit bumpy....and that will be my primary concern going forward. I can hide what's left of the scar itself with concealer, I'm pretty sure. But the bumps are impossible to hide.....so I may be wearing beanies for a bit longer (including when I go back to work).

Nose scars are barely noticeable and still treating them as well. That being said, the constant feeling of stuff in my nose drives me nuts. I am using q-tips and tissues to get stuff out as I am able (gross I know) and putting Vaseline inside at night to try to keep things soft in there.

The bruising is really only on my right cheek, directly under my right eye.....arnica 3-4x a day on that sucker and it does not wanna go away very quickly still. Both cheeks are still slightly swollen too so even tho the left cheek doesn't have the bruising, because of the swelling , given the right lighting, it does show.

Swelling in general is very much in play with the nose. I'm still surprised about that. I guess I assumed it would swell upwards but what seems to happen is (at least at the bridge of the nose) it swells outward like to the sides towards the eyes....kinda flattening out the bridge. (and making it difficult to get eye boggers out of the corner of my eyes without q-tips).

Swelling of the tip of the nose is also in play but less noticable from the front, more from the side/profile, I think?

And finally numbness. Still general numbness from eyebrows up to the back of the top of my head. So the back of my head I can feel but not the top. The forehead I can feel in the middle (directly above my nose) but not directly above my eyes. I can lift my left eyebrow slightly but not the right but I can kinda squinch both down and in slightly (think angry face).

Also slightly weird phenomenon, a bunch of acne-like tiny bumps around my forehead and nose and going down the sides of my eyes (from the forehead). Not sure if that was part of the micro-needling done post-op or what. I've also restarted the retin-A treatment they recommend doing so hoping that will help shed some of these upper layers of skin.

General satisfaction? From the front I'm still kinda annoyed/upset about the bumpiness and the swelling. A little worried with only 1 week away till I go back to work. From the side, however, I'm pretty darn happy...even with the tip of the nose still swollen.....my side profile looks pretty damn good.

So that's me at 3 weeks post-op. Feeling generally pretty happy and glad I did it. Just impatient for results ;)

At this point it helps to focus on the good, acknowledge the bad but let it sit on the back burner and allow more time, at least a month or longer, for more healing to take place, however be vigilant about anything that looks like infection and call your doc asap. This is major surgery so unfortuneately you probably won't be able to hide the fact that you've just had surgery, but you can still hope for the best; and these days Plastic surgery isn't anything to be embarrassed about; it's a status symbol 👝🐩

I was pretty disappointed with what I was seeing after 4 weeks.

After 8 weeks, I started to get optimistic.

At 12 weeks, I knew my life had changed profoundly.

Quote from: kittenpower on November 25, 2016, 07:35:10 PM
At this point it helps to focus on the good, acknowledge the bad but let it sit on the back burner and allow more time, at least a month or longer, for more healing to take place, however be vigilant about anything that looks like infection and call your doc asap. This is major surgery so unfortuneately you probably won't be able to hide the fact that you've just had surgery, but you can still hope for the best; and these days Plastic surgery isn't anything to be embarrassed about; it's a status symbol 👝🐩

Thanks, yeah that's what I'm trying to do. If anyone asks, yeah I got a nose job, whatever.

Quote from: Sophia Sage on November 25, 2016, 10:29:33 PM
I was pretty disappointed with what I was seeing after 4 weeks.

After 8 weeks, I started to get optimistic.

At 12 weeks, I knew my life had changed profoundly.

Thanks Sophia. Puts things in perspective. The docs always talk the recovery down like it won't be that bad.....but I know better lol.....and yet you still hope things will heal quicker.

Heard back from the doctor's office yesterday and today about any questions I had. I had sent some pics to them as well and apparently Dr D noticed my nose bridge swelling and said it was swollen enough that it might be helpful to be taping it at night.

I was a little concerned that he was bringing this up now haha. He had mentioned taping it at my first pre-op appointment I think? But then at our 2nd pre-op appointment when they took the cast off, tape wasnt' really mentioned at all. We were all just kinda excited at the results and I forgot to ask about it.

Then I walked to the office a few days later (couple days before I flew home) and the Doc wasn't in but the PA took a quick look at me and didn't mention tape.

Anyway, I am hoping this new info will help some of the swelling because the bridge of my nose is indeed still pretty swollen....to the point of having a hard time digging out 'eye boogers' without a q-tip heh. And hoping I didn't set myself back on healing by not taping it up until this point. =/

Anyone else with experience with rhinoplasty to tape or not to tape and for how long?

wow thanks for sharing all this fresh information about Dr.D-B's process and detailed insight into your experience and recovery. i recently got super hyped about Dr. D-B and want to ask 999 questions but i'll try to keep it to just few (at a time anyway! :D):


1. Did they require any documents or official therapy history / letters regarding your transsexuality at all to proceed with the consultation / surgery? or could a completely random person in guy-mode fly there and buy an FFS out of nowhere just by telling the doc his story, signing papers and paying?
(im considering getting certain FFS stuff done there in 1-2years from now still in full male mode before even starting any official transition "therapy" and hrt. im from europe so i wonder what all i would need to bring/do over there to get smoothly processed at D-B's other than my passport id, travel insurance and money)

2. how was your dreaded micro-needling and at what phase of your stay did they actually perform it? i didnt fully understand it from the line in your post about it earlier

3. also before the surgery do they wait with putting urinary cathether in until youre already knocked out? thats like the last quality of life thing im still annoyed about in pre-surgery stuff


And finally, hows the nose doing ?

Quote from: Debra on November 25, 2016, 06:37:41 PM

Also slightly weird phenomenon, a bunch of acne-like tiny bumps around my forehead and nose and going down the sides of my eyes (from the forehead). Not sure if that was part of the micro-needling done post-op or what.

Oh, yes, I have those too... !  :) tiny bumps/pimples feel a little bit sandy on my forehead. They appeared on the 3rd week. I have no clue what they are...

Quote from: Mko on December 04, 2016, 02:21:34 AM
wow thanks for sharing all this fresh information about Dr.D-B's process and detailed insight into your experience and recovery. i recently got super hyped about Dr. D-B and want to ask 999 questions but i'll try to keep it to just few (at a time anyway! :D):

Sure thing! =) He's awesome!

Quote
1. Did they require any documents or official therapy history / letters regarding your transsexuality at all to proceed with the consultation / surgery? or could a completely random person in guy-mode fly there and buy an FFS out of nowhere just by telling the doc his story, signing papers and paying?
(im considering getting certain FFS stuff done there in 1-2years from now still in full male mode before even starting any official transition "therapy" and hrt. im from europe so i wonder what all i would need to bring/do over there to get smoothly processed at D-B's other than my passport id, travel insurance and money)

I can't really speak from experience here because I transitioned a good 7+ years ago. I walked into his office with my husband in a full face of makeup, curled hair, and a dress. During the consult, he did say that some people come into his office expecting FFS to change everything and he always has to play that down. He said with me, obviously I was already doing pretty well and it would be a good change/update for me.

That being said, there were a couple consults/appointments where I saw what I assume to be AMAB individuals in the waiting room before or after me and I can only assume (since he's the leading expert) that they were pre-transition trans individuals....but again, huge assumption being made there...they may just be seeing him for a nose job or something random, who knows?

I'd say yes you could see him and consult him in 'boy-mode' just fine but you'd definitely want to have a plan laid out so he can understand where you're coming from and give you a good estimate of what to really expect. As for therapy and other requirements, I'm not really sure. Since you're so far away, I would definitely call the office and/or email them and talk to the staff about any therapy or HRT requirements ahead of time.

Quote
2. how was your dreaded micro-needling and at what phase of your stay did they actually perform it? i didnt fully understand it from the line in your post about it earlier

Haha yeah. It's funny I was kinda dreading it more than the surgery almost but it really wasn't that bad. The prep is a lot like laser hair removal. When they take your cast off (1 week post-op) they do the micro-needling. Essentially they draw your blood, centrifuge it to get the plasma out, and then use a little device that has a bunch of needles in a small area (1 inch by 1 inch maybe?) to poke your face all over. So they do it area by area all over your face (like with laser kinda). The part that hurt the worst was the forehead and they said that was because of the skin being so close to the bone (even tho my forehead was numb, hah!). The rest of the face really wasn't that bad.

So in general, worth it and really not that bad.

Quote
3. also before the surgery do they wait with putting urinary cathether in until youre already knocked out? thats like the last quality of life thing im still annoyed about in pre-surgery stuff

Yes thank God. lol. The last time I had a catheter (that I remember?) was vaginoplasty. If I had one for BA, they took it out before I woke up.

For FFS, I was out before they put it in and I woke up with it. Thankfully there was no trouble getting it out and peeing after, etc.

Quote
And finally, hows the nose doing ?

Not bad. It's still very swollen at the tip area and the bridge area is still very WIDE like towards the eyes. My doc has said to tape the bridge at night for next 2 weeks to help more with continued swelling. But they say the nose won't really look right until 1 year out. I've started to notice it more in pictures when I'm turned at a 3/4 angle, it has a very nice slope =) But the tip of it definitely still seems very big in comparison. So here's hoping it goes down a LOT in the next year ;)

Quote from: 2cherry on December 04, 2016, 06:33:07 AM
Oh, yes, I have those too... !  :) tiny bumps/pimples feel a little bit sandy on my forehead. They appeared on the 3rd week. I have no clue what they are...

Yeah the retin-A they gave me to use before the surgery, they said to start using it again 2 weeks post-op . It's definitely been helping shed some of that and most of the tiny bumpage is gone now =)

General 1 month Update:

Scar: Still pretty red/pink but after seeing my hair lady last week, we seem to be able to hide it pretty well by simply moving the hair more to the front and side sweeping some bangs. Any other parts of it I may try to use concealer. Still using scar cream on it 2x a day and unfortunately that tends to grease up my bangs/roots.

Bumpiness under the scar (forehead): These have come down a LOT in the last week and oddly enough, simply wearing beanies and headbands over it has seemed to help the bumps come down. I also had a gf who had FFS years ago tell me that massaging is supposed to be good for that ....I asked the doc about that at ~ 2 weeks post-op and they dont recommend for or against it. Not sure what to make of that. The bumps still feel kinda hard themselves.

Nose: As stated in an earlier post, the slope of the bridge of the nose is really cool, cute even...I've noticed it at certain angles in pictures. But the tip / nostrils area is still quite big looking in comparison. Also the width of the bridge is still widening out to my eyes . Doc has me taping the bridge of the nose at night for now.

Eye trouble: My right eye has been kinda acting up a bit since the surgery. Because of the swelling and really bad bruising under that eye, I have to assume it may have taken some damage possibly too. I tend to find that eye dries out very easily and have had to use eyedrops a lot. Someone also commented asking if I had a cross eye/ lazy eye issue and I was surprised but after looking at some newer pics I'm starting to notice some of what they mean. Hoping that will heal with time too and really hoping my vision hasn't gotten worse ...esp since that's my good eye....with a prescription of -7.

Overall swelling: The swelling that still seems to be an issue is really all around my eyes. So the eyebrow / orbital rim area is still kinda swelling down a bit and the cheeks are swelling up a bit. It ends up making my eyes look a bit too small for my face and kinda like I'm having an allergic reaction to something....especially when I smile. The doc office claims within 3 months most of that swelling will go away. Here's hoping...2 more months of this, oh joy.

Hair regrowth: In the scar line in front (and in the scar line behind all the hair) I can see little tiny hairs regrowing, yay! That'll take forever lol. Thankfully it's not too noticable unless I pull my hair back.

I go back to work on Monday...well really Tuesday since I work from home Mon and Fri. I'm glad I took a full month off but I'm still going to end up looking like I had surgery. So I guess it's good I had kinda told a few people I was getting my nose done. I dress pretty nice at work so I'm going to try to do my hair up good on Tuesday and go in dressing like I usually do....but then the rest of the week maybe go casual with a beanie. Until these bumps and the scar is easier to hide, it's going to be tough.

Quote from: Mko on December 04, 2016, 02:21:34 AM
wow thanks for sharing all this fresh information about Dr.D-B's process and detailed insight into your experience and recovery. i recently got super hyped about Dr. D-B and want to ask 999 questions but i'll try to keep it to just few (at a time anyway! :D):


1. Did they require any documents or official therapy history / letters regarding your transsexuality at all to proceed with the consultation / surgery? or could a completely random person in guy-mode fly there and buy an FFS out of nowhere just by telling the doc his story, signing papers and paying?
(im considering getting certain FFS stuff done there in 1-2years from now still in full male mode before even starting any official transition "therapy" and hrt. im from europe so i wonder what all i would need to bring/do over there to get smoothly processed at D-B's other than my passport id, travel insurance and money)

2. how was your dreaded micro-needling and at what phase of your stay did they actually perform it? i didnt fully understand it from the line in your post about it earlier

3. also before the surgery do they wait with putting urinary cathether in until youre already knocked out? thats like the last quality of life thing im still annoyed about in pre-surgery stuff


And finally, hows the nose doing ?

Sorry to interrupt the thread.

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Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna

Quote from: Debra on December 04, 2016, 03:24:17 PM
General 1 month Update:

Debra! I came on for my check-Susan's-every-other-year update and saw your post :) Congrats on getting surgery, I didn't know you had that planned. Of course you are still early in recovery, but it sounds like things are going pretty well. Bone work will take a few years, but day-by-day, week-by-week it'll get better and better.

It's cool that you went to Deschamps-Braley, I know a few people who have gone to him and they loved their results. Plus, he's hot, that doesn't hurt either, lol. I hope married life is going well and that things are awesome! Be well :) Meghan

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on December 10, 2016, 11:09:30 AM
Debra! I came on for my check-Susan's-every-other-year update and saw your post :) Congrats on getting surgery, I didn't know you had that planned. Of course you are still early in recovery, but it sounds like things are going pretty well. Bone work will take a few years, but day-by-day, week-by-week it'll get better and better.

It's cool that you went to Deschamps-Braley, I know a few people who have gone to him and they loved their results. Plus, he's hot, that doesn't hurt either, lol. I hope married life is going well and that things are awesome! Be well :) Meghan

OMG Meghan!!!!! Long time no see!!!

Yeah I started planning this like a year ago. Up until that point, I didn't really feel like I needed FFS. I guess it was kinda the icing on the cake. Mostly about my profile and well you don't see your profile everyday lol....just in random pictures and stuff.

Yes Dr D is pretty damn suave :D And he's cute AF too. Shoulda seen him the day we took the cast off. He kept running in and out of the room like an excited little boy ;)

Yeah 1+ months now, I'm still kinda surprised at how much swelling is still going on. I mean I expected nose swelling but the cheeks, the brow bone all of that causing my eyes to look smaller and then on top of that having the nose swelling outwards towards teh eyes. It's been a bit odd....and of course frustrating.

This was my first week back at work and I wore beanies for most of it. Still self conscious about the ripple in the forehead look. It's gone down a LOT though and they say 6 weeks is the expected point of it really going down by......and that's next week.

So my 6 weeks post-op day is tomorrow but I thought I'd update today.

Yesterday I took a picture and felt like "Hey, I'm starting to look cute again." so that was a good feeling.

That being said, my nose is still very 'wide' looking with its swelling and I'm still taping it at night.

My cheeks have gone down A LOT and I think that's contributing to the good feelings but the brow are is still kinda pressing down on the eyes a little (causing wrinkles in the eyelids and such). Also the forehead is still numb in areas but I feel like a lot of it is maybe coming back, slow but sure.

Some newer complications though. My vision is being weird. I've noticed a bunch of 'double vision' and having issues keeping focus on things. If I turn my head, it takes a second for my vision to 'catch up' and focus. I find that when I blink, the same thing happens. I mentioned this at last week's checkin with the surgeon and they weren't entirely sure what was going on there. I decided yesterday to make an appointment with my eye doctor for next week.

Other than that, the bumps on the forehead have flattened out A LOT as they promised (they said by the 6th week) but the scar still shows a good much. I've noticed a lot of shorter hairs growing in the scar area/hairline so that's good.

Also weird baldness patches in areas that were not stitched is a little concerning. I assume just general trauma to the head is the culprit. Hoping all that grows back.

Last night I noticed that there was like a zit of some sort in a bald spot area about half an inch to an inch into the hairline in front. I'm really hoping it isn't a stitch being 'spit' because I've heard bad things about that. =/

Still wearing beanies. Hoping next week to maybe start curling my hair more again and combing it over in a faux side bang and see how that goes.

7 week update with questions for the doc. I assume I'll hear back next week after the holiday.

1. a : Nose swelling continues (esp along the bridge) is this normal?
. b : And when should I stop taping it at night?
  c : When should I expect at least the bridge of the nose to calm down a bit?

2. When should I stop using retin-A semi-daily?
3. Some hair growth is happening near the hairline scar but the rest of the hair loss all around the scalp is disheartening. When should I expect hair to start growing back again near the scar itself behind the hairline? Today I've started using a DS Labs hair for women treatment that does not contain minoxidil and I finally got my hair colored this week as well.
4. There's an odd bald spot a couple inches up from the hairline in front and a zit/dimple/mole? something in the middle of it. Is that a stitch coming through or something? Not sure what to make of that.
5. There feels like a stitch or something directly in the hairline itself too that kinda sticks up and I've noticed similar stitches sticking up just inside the right nostril as well. Will those eventually dissolve?
6. Continued vision focusing problems: I saw the eye doctor today and they verified the eye muscles are working fine but they think I can't quite close my eyes all the way so that may be causing dryness which may lead to the vision issues I'm seeing. They prescribed some heavier eyedrops for morning and night. I assume this has to do with continued swelling above the eyes and with the nose most likely? So hopefully as those calm down, the vision problems / dryness will go away as well.
7. Blowing my nose finally and I've also noticed a LOT Of post-nasal drip since doing so. If I remember correctly, you said my nose may be dripping for a good year or so? Is that pre and post-nasal?

Hi Debra.

I too have a few sutures left on the scalp. I asked my doc, and he said they will dissolve on their own. There can also be ingrown hairs in the scars. I too notice hairs growing through the scar already. It's great.  :)

I also have some swelling with the nose, especially since last week near the bridge. I guess it's normal.

I also have these minor vision focus issues from time to time. Especially when I ride a bike or stare in the distance. I think it's due to swelling indeed, and the muscles that need to settle. Lot's of muscles there.

Quote from: 2cherry on December 22, 2016, 10:19:43 AM
Hi Debra.

I too have a few sutures left on the scalp. I asked my doc, and he said they will dissolve on their own. There can also be ingrown hairs in the scars. I too notice hairs growing through the scar already. It's great.  :)

I also have some swelling with the nose, especially since last week near the bridge. I guess it's normal.

I also have these minor vision focus issues from time to time. Especially when I ride a bike or stare in the distance. I think it's due to swelling indeed, and the muscles that need to settle. Lot's of muscles there.

Thanks! Really good to know about similar experiences ;)

Doc office responses:

Quote
To answer your questions:

1. It is normal for nose swelling to persist up to 1 year after rhinoplasty. And it usually subsides gradually. You can continue taping your nose at night if you feels its helping, but you don't have to.

2. Retin - A is a great skin care product that not only helps with acne and sun damage, but also slows collagen breakdown and makes your skin look healthier and younger. You can stop it if you don't like it, but you can use it for the rest of your life.

3. Your hair will start growing back in about 6 months.

4 and 5. Your hair line and nose sutures are starting to break down. If you see or fill one, you can trim it. And yes, they are dissolving. I'm not sure what that red spot is. It could be a zit or ingrown hair. Or a suture being spit out, however it is unlikely at this point. Just watch it for a few days.

6. Is your vision improving? It is because of the swelling and as a result of tugging on the nerve and will resolve. If you feel you can't close your eye all the way, keep practicing. This will fire up eye muscle and help with recovery. I'm sorry it is taking such a long time.

7. Your nose will be draining for a year.

Then I later asked and she said that using retin-A weekly for the rest of my life was fine haha.

8 weeks post-op today.

I'm more comfortable not wearing beanies but definitely still using concealer on the scar. Ripple in my forehead is pretty much gone.

Swelling: again I'm kinda surprised at HOW MUCH swelling is still going on. Up close, selfies seem ok sometimes but farther from the camera, my eyes seem to drown into my forehead/cheeks/nose...giving the appearance of like an allergy or something. Forehead and nose-bridge swelling are contributing to this I guess.

Surgeon's office says most of the swelling will go down by 3 months post-op but that the nose swelling will take the full year. When I asked a gf about her nose bridge swelling when she had her FFS, she said it was like 6 months before the nose really started to take its shape. Surgeon's office says I can tape my nose at night or not.....I've read a lot of things online that say taping doesn't really help and it's kind of a PITA.

Hair loss: It abides. Nothing new I don't think but not a lot of new hair growth yet. Some in the hairline but the balding areas including the shaved area where the scar is behind the hairline. Surgeon's office says I can use minoxidil if I want ...or not. I started using a non-minoxidil treatment for hair thinning for women. We'll see how that goes.

Happiness level? Not great....I mean I'm trying to be patient. My profile looks amazing but for the front, I think the real happiness factor will have to be checked in next November when a year has gone by. Guess we'll see where I am in 3 months and 6 months along the way.

Debra, it hasn't been two months yet, don't most say it takes about a year for everything to be normal?

Be patient hun, you're gonna look amazing!

I was looking good 5 months post op (type 3 forehead & rhino); there was still swelling but that is when all of the bruising was gone and the results were looking really good.

For me, the 3-month mark was when everything really started working. 

Thanks everyone. Good to hear everyone's experiences. Just really surprised at HOW LONG it all takes....just to look semi-normal again heh.

Really hoping by 3 months I'll feel better about things.

2 months post-op today.

Feeling mostly normal, pretty confident without makeup and such and looking not bad with makeup too. The scar sometimes hides well with concealer and sometimes not. Kinda annoying.

Middle of the night I can kinda feel the swelling a bit still in the nose and forehead. Can't wait for both to calm the EFF down. 2017 will be the year of healing for me, I can tell.

I do go see Dr D-B again for a checkup in late February (3 month checkup) so we'll see how that goes.

Just a quick update.

I started seeing a massage therapist for Lymphatic Drainage Massage on my face. I had it last Monday and felt a little better for most of the week but then Thurs and Fri, couldn't sleep very well because I could literally feel the tension from the swelling and laying down. I wonder if the massage is helping but is short term or something? I plan on asking her when I see her again tomorrow.

The scar is still annoying AF trying to hide it. For some lighting and some pictures, I feel like it doesn't look like much, maybe like a stray hair or something....but even when covering it up with concealer, the indentation kind of shows in certain lighting. Kind of annoying. Still putting the scar cream on it though, 2x a day.

I go to the gym with full scar showing and hair pulled back, dont care haha. THen the other day I got my nails done with it bare as well. Still throwing either concealer on it or covering with a beanie at work though.

Slowly getting back to a feeling of normalcy when I look in the mirror. And I've seen a few pics where someone caught a shot of my profile and I was really happy with that.....even tho the nose has a long way to go yet.

Numbness? I get a lot of tingling/itching on the top of my head where itching doesn't help. It's crazy annoying lol. Top of head is still pretty numb and I guess I've just gotten used to it mostly.

My forehead is mostly all back now, full eyebrow muscle control and feeling but still a little tightness on the forehead area and my left temple area is kinda numb? I can feel the surface but not deeper, kinda weird. Lots of progress though.

Hair growth in / around the scar is doing pretty well, I see a LOT of small 1+ inch hairs in that area but nothing that would really cover the scar.

So yeah, that's it for now. I have a picture of my skull all patched up that the doc took when my head was still open. It's not bloody persay but it is kinda gross looking. Not sure if that's something I'm allowed to post or not. I thought it was kinda interesting at least.

Yeah, the scar can take several months to settle down, for me it was six.  The good news is that after it's healed (it's white, not red), there are long-term strategies to deal with it -- I went with a combination of permanent makeup to help it blend in, plus a round of hair transplants since there were a couple of "corners" in my hairline I wanted filled in anyways.  Can't see it anymore. 

In the meantime, one thing that really helped for working out is a hairband (which is also better for your hair than ponytailing it up).  A nicely positioned hairband will give the appearance of a very feminine hairline without the hairline, keeps your hair out of your face, and they're cheap. 

------------------------

Between 2 and 3 months postop is when I started doing a lot of "mirror work" -- I'd close my eyes, make a facial expression, open them up, and see if the image I thought I was creating was the one I actually was creating.  So interesting how "off" my proprioception actually was!  I had to re-learn how my face worked, basically.  But this was a fun exercise to do, because for the first time looking in the mirror was actually a pleasurable experience and not a dysphoria-inducing one. 

Quote from: Sophia Sage on January 16, 2017, 07:34:04 AM
Yeah, the scar can take several months to settle down, for me it was six.  The good news is that after it's healed (it's white, not red),

Good to know. 6 months isn't too bad considering I'm halfway there now. Once it turns white, I feel like it'll be much less noticable.

Quote
there are long-term strategies to deal with it -- I went with a combination of permanent makeup to help it blend in, plus a round of hair transplants since there were a couple of "corners" in my hairline I wanted filled in anyways.  Can't see it anymore. 

Hoping to avoid doing hair transplants again. My hairline is great now and it was such a long recovery and VERY noticeable.....and NOT hidable (can't even wear a hat or you'll kill the transplants) so if i can avoid that I probably will.

Quote
In the meantime, one thing that really helped for working out is a hairband (which is also better for your hair than ponytailing it up).  A nicely positioned hairband will give the appearance of a very feminine hairline without the hairline, keeps your hair out of your face, and they're cheap. 

Yeah I tried the hairband thing. it's not a great look for me. Maybe some thinner ones, just wide enough to cover the scar could help though.

Quote
Between 2 and 3 months postop is when I started doing a lot of "mirror work" -- I'd close my eyes, make a facial expression, open them up, and see if the image I thought I was creating was the one I actually was creating.  So interesting how "off" my proprioception actually was!  I had to re-learn how my face worked, basically.  But this was a fun exercise to do, because for the first time looking in the mirror was actually a pleasurable experience and not a dysphoria-inducing one.

Interesting. I may try this exercise. I don't feel like there's a whole lot different (I only did upper face) but I will need to make some adjustments now. I got so used to tilting my head to one side because my nose was crooked and now I don't have to do that.

So almost 3 months post. Wow time does fly when you aren't paying attention.

I posted a thing about jowls.  (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,219431.0.html)

Essentially I've noticed some saggy skin at the jawline on both sides of my face.....I know for sure it was not there before. I can only assume this is an unintended consequence of messing with the face but I admit I'm surprised since I didn't do any lower face work. A friend has told me that a face lift or bella fill could fix it but both seem scary and ugh I am so done with surgeries right now lol.

Been doing lymphatic drainage massage for swelling AND the massage lady has massaged my scar a bunch too and that has helped A LOT in the breakup of scar tissue. I'm glad for that because I've noticed it's not just the color of the scar that's noticeable but also the topography of it...the fact that it's like an indented area means that in certain lighting, the light hits it differently making it visible even with concealer, at times.

I fly down to see the doc for a 3 month post-op appt (it'll be closer to 4 months by then) at the end of Feb. I'll be asking more about the jowls thing primarily.

Thought I'd share a pic of the jowls....the truth is it's not like CRAZY sag or anything...it's just something that was not there before the surgery.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FFEfrQAJ.png&hash=515cf42797a7b65a7991a0a5a430615e6d3098e4)

Almost 4 month post-op update.

Friday, I flew down to SF for a 'day trip' to see Dr. Deschamps-Braly. His PA brought me in and took pictures and then we went into the doctor's office and he setup the before and after pictures of both profile and front. I watched as he messed with the proportions to make sure the pics all matched up correctly.

It's funny because he pulled up the first front pic and my first thought was omg what's wrong with my eyebrows and then I realized that was my before pic from last year and that I had filled in my eyebrows weird or something haha! He pulled up the 'after' pic and that was more what I was expecting to see.

I had forgotten I had worn makeup for the before pictures and I had not worn makeup for the afters so that probably played down the results a bit. Since FFS, I've gotten eyelash extensions and microbladed eyebrows such that I no longer feel like I need to wear makeup on a daily basis. It's been really great.

Anyway, looking at the pictures I brought up my concerns about the bridge of the nose still kinda being wide and there being almost a 'webbing' feel covering the inner corner of my eyes. He said that it is possible that because they took so much from the bridge of my nose that the skin can't pull back anymore. He talked about some ways they could possibly fix it like adding some more cartilage back on top so that it pulled that webbing in, etc. But in general that issue seems to be an unintended consequence and I've seen the same issue (wide-bridge-nose) in other patients of his.

He did notice a bump on the nose slightly up from the tip and he was more concerned about that. He said it could still be swelling but if not, it would be something he could try to fix at no charge but we'd see after the 1 year post-op mark. (Note: No-charge only includes surgeon fees, usually you do still have to pay medical/hospital and anestheia fees)

I'm still hoping both the bridge of the nose and this bump thing will calm down by the 1 year mark, personally.

The scar seems good and he said to keep using the scar cream even if only for the SPF in it. I asked about continued facial massage and he shrugged his shoulders. I'll probably just start doing it only once a month for a few more months.

The jowls. From the profile before/after view, I could see the jowls in the before as well....so I think it was just something I didn't notice before....maybe the forehead was just so prominent that I didn't notice it and now that it's not such a big issue, the jowls are more noticable now? Or maybe I just look at my face a lot more now LOL.

The other thing weird is the eyes. Pictures taken from farther away, I've noticed that my eyes seems much smaller than they used to be...which seems odd to me because we've taken out the brow ridge and the orbital rims so I'd think that would open things up more....but what seems to be going on is the orbital rim area kinda pushes down on the eyelids or something.....again hoping there's still some swelling going on there too maybe....but not really so sure about it.

One thing to note is that in the before pic I had eyeliner on and the after pic I didn't and this can make the eyes look smaller too....that with not having gotten very much sleep....my eyelids look droopier in the after pic too.

All-in-all, the appointment helped confirm that I still need to wait till the 1 year mark before really looking at results. And I'll probably at least throw in some eyeliner before the next 'after' photos I take for a better comparison too.

I could probably share the before/after pics with certain people on here, I just don't want to post them publicly so if you're interested, PM me.

PS ~ I have to admit I was a little depressed about the eyes getting smaller thing and well the nose bridge and bump maybe not being good to the point of needing further surgery to fix them. But between my bestie and hubs talking me down from that and then having complete strangers compliment me on my eyes and seeing another cis-girl with almost the exact same nose I have now....I'm feeling a bit better already haha.

Unless something is drastically wrong you may want to proceed with caution if you are chasing perfection since subsequent surgeries increase the risk of complications and you could also have a worse result than what you started with, especially with the nose if adding or removing cartilage is involved.

Quote from: kittenpower on February 27, 2017, 12:26:41 PM
Unless something is drastically wrong you may want to proceed with caution if you are chasing perfection since subsequent surgeries increase the risk of complications and you could also have a worse result than what you started with, especially with the nose if adding or removing cartilage is involved.

Agreed. I've had so many surgeries over the last 7 years. I'd really like to just be done at this point.

It occurs to me that despite my complaining and dissatisfaction throughout recovery, I feel pretty good about the results.

As I said in my last update, I recently started doing eyelash extensions as well as micro-blading for my eyebrows resulting in not really feeling like I need to wear makeup at all on a daily basis.

I really don't think I would feel that way without this surgery.

Quote from: Debra on March 11, 2017, 11:40:03 PM
It occurs to me that despite my complaining and dissatisfaction throughout recovery, I feel pretty good about the results.

As I said in my last update, I recently started doing eyelash extensions as well as micro-blading for my eyebrows resulting in not really feeling like I need to wear makeup at all on a daily basis.

I really don't think I would feel that way without this surgery.

HI Debra,


  How are your results with Deschamp? Any regrets? dissatisfaction?

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