Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Still bandaged, but this is what I look like 1 week post op.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash4%2F250756_10150259457123475_536853474_8925627_6090247_n.jpg&hash=377278effa7af64fdad10f393ed167b35dedc1f8)

Actually I'm practically painless!

Well then.  Mondo Hugs.  But still gentle.

^^ Thanks.
Tomorrow is "bandage appointment".
I suspect I'll be bandage free after that..

Suspicion's proved correct, but I think I'll abstain from photographing my chest any more for a couple weeks, give the swelling a slight chance to settle.

Congrats Miniar,

Cindy

(2 weeks post-op tomorrow, gonna add photo then)

I was a little nervous before surgery because I'm from a small town in a tiny country and so there's only two doctors who've done "this" before and I didn't like either of those, so I went to someone who'd never converted a chest from a "female configuration" to a "male configuration" and.. well, if anyone else's experience is anything to learn from, going to someone completely inexperienced is likely to backfire.
Now, this doc's the finest in breast augmentations and reductions in the country however, and an orthopedic surgeon as well, so the odds were in favor of him knowing what he's doing, but there's always that little "he's never done _this_ before" that makes ya nervous.

Gotta say though, I don't think anyone's done this good in the first try that I've ever heard of.
Good luck getting me to wear shirts after I'm healed up!

Can't wait to see the bandages off.

First "shower" in two weeks... OH GODS THE WATER FEELS AWESOME!

Changed the small gauze squares that cover the nipples too, and took the oppertunity to take a pic while they were uncovered.
Still quite swollen, makes 'em look like small breasts, but still... When I compare myself to images on transbucket I'm astonished at how well he's done, all things considered.

Also, the doc's all "That's awesome!" at my binders and encourages me to wear 'em "until we meet again" which is in just under a month.

Here's the new pic;
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy189%2FFreetha%2Fweek2post1.jpg&hash=3956ff25e04984ff9ec79380846f3b6c7600d164)

Just two weeks.... and I never had any drains either...

Your chest is looking really good!

bruising is to be expected.  So is swelling.  But otherwise your looking good.  Hubba hubba.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on May 27, 2011, 07:57:49 AM
bruising is to be expected.  So is swelling.  But otherwise your looking good.  Hubba hubba.

Ditto and it seems he is great at stitches which will fade great..

as a MTF I had to get my implants removed because they were 2 yrs over their warrenty. Now i am stuck with small B's but dressing a a guy / FTM because i hated how men were attracted to me..  I sure wish i had the extra funds to get mine removed. Oh i still am a legal female gender, name, post op, but dress as a guy

There's tape on my stitches, doc's orders, so you can't see 'em, but they look good.
The vertical line is crisscrossed so it moves rather well, doesn't feel "tight" at all".
The horizontal line looks like it's almost healed to invisibility already.
There's hardly any bruising that is visible, which is a pleasant surprise, and the swelling's going down rather fast, all things considered.

I remember when I was starting to look into top surgery. What it'd cost, what I "could" try to get and where, and so on and I remember getting told at some point that it's better to wait a decade, save up, and get it done by a skilled surgeon with experience in the field.
I decided that I couldn't wait that long, at all, and took this chance, and I'm honestly glad for it.
I was prepared for the worst, but it seems I had no need to worry that much.

Looks really good. Nipple placement is better than mine, and it looks like your scars are appropriately placed. And if you didn't have drains, it will take a little longer for the swelling to go down. The binder will help.

Yeah, waiting sometimes just isn't an option.

Quote from: Kvall on May 27, 2011, 10:18:53 AM
Congrats once again!
You probably don't have a scar there yet, just the very thin incision line. I was confused about this first, too. It'll form a scar in a few weeks. Then again, I have a few spots that were like that (around the areola, though) that ended up with no scar, so you never know.

Yeah I know.
It's compatible to my hysto in way of recovery when it comes to that.
I now have about a 1 millimeter thick line of scar from that.

I tend to heal well.

Quote from: Arch on May 27, 2011, 12:46:12 PM
Looks really good. Nipple placement is better than mine, and it looks like your scars are appropriately placed. And if you didn't have drains, it will take a little longer for the swelling to go down. The binder will help.

Yeah, waiting sometimes just isn't an option.

It's placement and size that tends to be the things that don't turn out so good with inexperienced docs, but it's all good for me.

The horizontal scars are a little low. As in, they won't tuck in under the peck line really, but I don't mind. I'll have 'em tattooed over eventually...

Quote from: Miniar on May 27, 2011, 04:33:36 PM
The horizontal scars are a little low. As in, they won't tuck in under the peck line really, but I don't mind. I'll have 'em tattooed over eventually...

Funny, my scars are too high. And a bit lopsided, actually--one's about a centimeter higher than the other. But I was pretty lopsided before surgery, so no surprise there.

I don't mind the scars so much; I'm less happy with the size and placement of my areolas/nipples.

Wow, nice job, especially considering this is his first FtM chest.  Good areola placement and all.  Talented doc.  I think I may have been one of the ones saying 'wait for an experienced surgeon', lol.  I was wrong.  I would've been apprehensive and scared going into top surgery if I was going to be the surgeon's 'first' for this type of surgery, but it looks like it worked out well for you.  Congrats, looking forward to more pics.

I see the vertical incision going up to the areola--does that mean he kept the nerve pedicle intact, rather than severing it and doing a nipple/areola graft?

And you really don't look all that swollen or bruised.  I had drains, and at 2 weeks my skin was still discolored (mostly due to the lipo, I think; it was a peri).  I kept the post-surgical binder on for about a month.  I didn't really have a lot of visible swelling, but my flesh was oddly firm and I didn't want to give it even the slightest chance of swelling more or forming a hematoma.  Also, if I would go without the binder for a few hours, my chest would start getting sore from being jostled around.

Happy healing, Min.

Congrats Miniar,

You are looking really good.

Hugs
Cindy

He had intended to keep the pedicule for the nipple to make absolutely sure blood supply to it was in order and that there was zero chance of necrosis, but once he got in there he saw that he'd have to leave a "lot" of tissue under it to make sure that would happen, so it became a graft.
The vertical incision is there also, in part, because in order to make a round object flat it helps more to think in triangles than straight lines. Also because that's the most common form of breast reduction done by him and by keeping to something he's familiar with he felt more confident in his ability to provide a good result (with a significantly less risk of dog ears).
_

Thanks everyone. ^^

Miniar, you look great, keep us posted here on how you are doing.

;) That's the plan.

As a side effect of losing the chesticles I've become acutely aware of the size of my belly.
While there were chesticles sticking a bit further out then I could ignore it, but now that the chest is flat I've started noticing that it sticks out a bit...
I need to lose weight!

Yes, your tummy shows more without chesticles out in front.

And another week has passed, time for an update!

This is "100% unbandaged" because I was cleaning myself.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy189%2FFreetha%2Fweek3post1.jpg&hash=eb739b35b336038b4f1c3864bcb87349b7193852)

And this is how it's taped/bandaged.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy189%2FFreetha%2Fweek3post3.jpg&hash=1291033eb89b9ce2cb644393ece1a940aeb486aa)
(And under the bandages you can see that little pudge there that's starting to make me all irked!)

Looking good!

Looking good Miniar.

^^ Thank you.

It's been 5 weeks now, and so I took this shot after a fresh shower;

feelin' pretty!

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F27.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_lmy56qaXpG1qdbe0ro1_500.jpg&hash=c3687a1f431a9cb58bfbf1b7b8b8b79f64079f93)

Hubba Hubba.  Man-chest.   ;D

Quote from: Miniar on June 17, 2011, 01:13:31 PMfeelin' pretty!

I guess this means that you're feeling better psychologically, too. ;D

Apologies for only just finding this thread but congratulations Miniar- you're looking really good

^^ Thanks guys.

Just need to shave off some of the belly flab and I'm "perfect" ^^

Had a doctor's appointment this morning and he took a peek at the chest and is happy with how the healing's going, and so am I.

I still have moments where I realize just how much this has alleviated by stress and discomfort in my own skin and I'm honestly surprised.
I didn't really believe that I was "that" affected by the chest.
I mean, I knew I was "very much" affected by it, but it was considerably more than I believed it was.
Denial's a powerful thing.

I'm still waiting for the "post-op high" to drop that the radfems love to talk about but honestly, it's never been much of a "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" thing, it's more of this soft and gentle change which doesn't seem to be ebbing what so ever, a gentle "removal" of mountains of stress that I didn't see there to begin with.
(Am I making any sense?)

Miniar, congrats, and you're looking great.

I know what you mean, too, about all the stress that gets removed, much more than you were aware of. That's precisely what happened with me. It was a major life-changer, in every positive way. If this is a post-op high, well... it's been a year since my surgery and it hasn't faded. If anything, I feel better and better.

So, again, congratulations.

I just came across this today too, for the first time strangely.

Congratulations, looks like a terrific job and a great recovery. My son is FtM (why have a normal family?)and you look better than his result.  He also had problems with drains, so another win there too.

Don't worry about the tum. You don't need to see your toes, you know what they look like!! :laugh:

Karen.

Quote from: Kvall on May 27, 2011, 10:18:53 AMYou probably don't have a scar there yet, just the very thin incision line. I was confused about this first, too. It'll form a scar in a few weeks.

That happened to me too. I think he'll do well as long as he takes care of the scars afterwards.

Also, congratulations Miniar! I agree about taking the chance and not waiting forever. At the worst you can always get revisions, but I think you'll be O.K.

Thanks again guise. ;)

I didn't even have drains myself...

I can't wait to be rid of the black crust from the nipples, and I already have an awesome lotion I'm rubbing into the forming scar as is.
I got that lotion thing when I had my hysto and it did a good job with that scar so it seemed like a good idea to carry on using that. :)

Quote from: Kvall on June 21, 2011, 06:39:15 PMThere's no quick cure, but it's so much easier to actually go to the gym once the chestage is gone!

True fact! :)

Might help if I would lay off the sweets... which I probably won't. ;)

looking really good!!

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F28.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_loy23seboY1qguqqao1_500.jpg&hash=d248d972725ea4a4a59489a8d41b61be0c8b2048)

It's been a while now,...
Just wanted to show off.. cause it's been warm and I've been walking 'round topless.

Dang, your scars are looking good. Is that from the magic lotion, or do you just heal well?

bit of both, I'm a fast healer, and I've been good at rubbing my scars using that herbal lotion in place of massage oil...
^^

Quote from: Miniar on July 27, 2011, 09:58:06 AM
It's been a while now,...
Just wanted to show off.. cause it's been warm and I've been walking 'round topless.

Lucky! Wish so much I could do that, it's been roasting up here XP

Looking good. Haven't seen a mastectomy done like that before, has got me thinking.

Quote from: Nemo on July 30, 2011, 11:35:36 AM
Lucky! Wish so much I could do that, it's been roasting up here XP

Looking good. Haven't seen a mastectomy done like that before, has got me thinking.

I've seen it before, it's called a "T anchor" or "inverted T" method and it's standard for breast reduction, 'specially for large breasts.
Since my doc has done a lot of those and is familiar with that method he wanted to use that method, just take "more" than usual.
Using a familiar method helps to get predictable results.
I still have a little swelling in a couple places, a deep tissue swelling that'll take a while to fade away, but I'm actually really happy with how it's turned out.

I believe that using the T anchor method has resulted in a lot less dog ears than I would otherwise have gotten, what with starting out with floppy DDs.

Quote from: Miniar on July 31, 2011, 09:11:34 AM
I've seen it before, it's called a "T anchor" or "inverted T" method and it's standard for breast reduction, 'specially for large breasts.
Since my doc has done a lot of those and is familiar with that method he wanted to use that method, just take "more" than usual.
Using a familiar method helps to get predictable results.
I still have a little swelling in a couple places, a deep tissue swelling that'll take a while to fade away, but I'm actually really happy with how it's turned out.

I believe that using the T anchor method has resulted in a lot less dog ears than I would otherwise have gotten, what with starting out with floppy DDs.

:icon_yes: Yes, I know of that procedure and when it's most used - I've had it done (albeit on one side to re-balance with the other). Just not seen it done for a mastectomy before. I'm glad to see it though, it means there's a way to lose the excess but keep the nipples as nipples, rather than grafts. (Yes, I know about peri, but they're the wrong shape and size for that :P )

Mine are grafts, never the less, as I had DD's before and in order to keep it on a stalk a really long stalk would have been required and that would have left a rather sizable ball of tissue under them.