I have mentioned before being disabled. Well, I saw my neurologist on Tuesday for lower back nerve block injections. He asked me how my upper back and shoulders have been(I get spasms and soreness/stiffness regularly from carrying around a set of 34Gs. I was honest, and the result shocked me. Short background:
I had binded that day to flatten my chest for the injections(have to lay on stomach and usual bras have always hurt. My makeshift binder currently is a waist cincher with not straps.
On instinct I said, "horrible, I can barely wear strapped bras anymore because of pressure(not a lie). Look, I had to use a waist cincher to hold them up and in, because them jostling hurts(also not a lie)."
His response? "Well, when you get your insurance settled, you will be reffered to *blank* place for a reduction....you don't mind traveling iut of county, right?"
So now I am wondering how to handle this. Do I go and get the reduction down for health reasons and wait mch lonfer for my full surgery? Will that be too risky? Being reduced would allow a more flat bind...but the appearance would still be feminine out of the binder...
A reduction now is going to be an extra procedure and more scars/scar tissue in your future.
Do you think he would let you select your own surgeon?
Maybe you could find a surgeon to completely perform your top surgery that way?
I don't know but it might be worth a shot.
How long do you think it would take you to have the full chest surgery?
If it's going to be awhile, it might be worth it to at least look into getting the reduction, especially if you already have a lot of pain from it right now from just being so big. I wonder how small a reduction would be able to make you? If it's only a little smaller like a D or so, I'd probably wait unless the back pain is unbearable, but anything smaller... I'd probably go with it if I expected to wait a few years before the full chest surgery.
One of my coworkers just got a breast reduction, she went from probably your current size down to a C, and she said it was the best thing she's ever done. She only took a month out of work, but was out shopping etc. about a week after the procedure.
Quote from: Simon on December 22, 2012, 10:43:15 AM
Maybe you could find a surgeon to completely perform your top surgery that way?
I don't know but it might be worth a shot.
I heard from some other trans guy that doctors won't give you the top surgery if you're just going in for a reduction; but it might be different on your insurance and state.
Ask the surgeon if they will do a full removal. You'd be surprised. Let them know you're male, tell them you need it all removed. The worst they can say is no, but you have a chance that way. A responsible doctor will not do less work so you have to go under twice. No responsible doctor would refuse to take out someone's uterus with their ovaroes if they said they needed both out. Every anesthesia is a risk, and if they cause more risk they are causing potential harm, which is a no no.
I will say though, typical surgeons do not go careful on appearance all the time. There have been people with cancer whose doctors hacked away because it 'didn't matter' what they would look like. Most doctora aren't like that, but just get a very detailed description of what sort of scarring, etc to expect. One surgery is better than two because adhesions can cause dimpled skin, puckering, and lumps that may stay 6-12 months on average and in some people may be permanent unless they have them surgically removed.
Quote from: LearnedHand on December 22, 2012, 11:24:24 AM
How long do you think it would take you to have the full chest surgery?
If it's going to be awhile, it might be worth it to at least look into getting the reduction, especially if you already have a lot of pain from it right now from just being so big. I wonder how small a reduction would be able to make you? If it's only a little smaller like a D or so, I'd probably wait unless the back pain is unbearable, but anything smaller... I'd probably go with it if I expected to wait a few years before the full chest surgery.
One of my coworkers just got a breast reduction, she went from probably your current size down to a C, and she said it was the best thing she's ever done. She only took a month out of work, but was out shopping etc. about a week after the procedure.
I heard from some other trans guy that doctors won't give you the top surgery if you're just going in for a reduction; but it might be different on your insurance and state.
I would not be able to get my surgery for years. It costs me more than my yearly income because of my disability. So I have a long road ahead.
My insurance should cover the reduction. I am hoping they will bring me to a B at most. I can work my chest down from there....I think, lol.
Quote from: ChaoticTribe on December 22, 2012, 11:57:44 AM
Ask the surgeon if they will do a full removal. You'd be surprised. Let them know you're male, tell them you need it all removed. The worst they can say is no, but you have a chance that way. A responsible doctor will not do less work so you have to go under twice. No responsible doctor would refuse to take out someone's uterus with their ovaroes if they said they needed both out. Every anesthesia is a risk, and if they cause more risk they are causing potential harm, which is a no no.
I will say though, typical surgeons do not go careful on appearance all the time. There have been people with cancer whose doctors hacked away because it 'didn't matter' what they would look like. Most doctora aren't like that, but just get a very detailed description of what sort of scarring, etc to expect. One surgery is better than two because adhesions can cause dimpled skin, puckering, and lumps that may stay 6-12 months on average and in some people may be permanent unless they have them surgically removed.
I am being reffered to a plastic surgeon, that should be more helpful appearance wise, I think. I will have to see how the consult goes.
My understanding is that reduction is not necessarily a easy surgery (I mean easier than top surgery).
--Jay
Is there any breast cancer at all in your family? Maybe you could use that as an excuse to get rid of the things entirely.
If not, talk to the surgeon and see how far he or she is willing to go. You might get lucky.
There are dudes who have had success with getting a reduction first, and then going back and having top surgery to fix things up. It really depends on the individual, though. Circumstances like which surgeon you see/how much scarring and tissue exist after/how well you recover/etc can affect the outcome. If I were in your shoes and knew that top surgery was a long way off, I'd take the reduction and see how far the surgeon would be willing to bring me down. Less breast tissue is better in the long run, right?
Quote from: Zerro on December 23, 2012, 12:11:48 AM
There are dudes who have had success with getting a reduction first, and then going back and having top surgery to fix things up. It really depends on the individual, though. Circumstances like which surgeon you see/how much scarring and tissue exist after/how well you recover/etc can affect the outcome. If I were in your shoes and knew that top surgery was a long way off, I'd take the reduction and see how far the surgeon would be willing to bring me down. Less breast tissue is better in the long run, right?
I agree with that too. It is better to be a B-C than a D+. You won't even always need to bind.
--Jay
Plus some plastic surgeons are just plain awesome. Mine agreed to do it as gynecomastia surgery, aka male enlarged breast removal (I started out as about a C but with only 28" or so rib cage, so yeah still big) and then he is going to use my photos as his sample pics in addition to previous gynecomastia patients so he had an interest in showing what he can do, O.P. may have the same luck after all their joy is in making patients happy with their bodies hence why they become plastic surgeons and their idea of treatment is more flexible than average doctors because they always are looking toward the customer's visual preference to get business.
Quote from: ChaoticTribe on December 23, 2012, 08:21:52 AM
Plus some plastic surgeons are just plain awesome. Mine agreed to do it as gynecomastia surgery, aka male enlarged breast removal (I started out as about a C but with only 28" or so rib cage, so yeah still big)
Yeah I have heard of this as well. (I mean in real life.) Some surgeons will look for an excuse to charge your insurance company. They aren't going to commit fraud saying you need something you don't. But if you want a reduction, I don't think there are any measurements of exactly how much they have to reduce-- but it does matter what procedure it is. A bit of lipo isn't going to bring you down to nothing. So that much matters.
--Jay