Quote from: Simon on May 12, 2013, 05:17:18 PM
Dr. Macphee doesn't advertise that she does ftm top surgery. She mainly specializes in females who need reconstruction after a mastectomy. She is however the only surgeon available in this State (and any surrounding State) that I am aware of that any trans person has recommended.

Before you are dead set on Dr. G's "Mansculpture" option you might want to ask him about specifics. If I am not mistaken it is mainly for guys with excess hip fat and side curves. It's liposuction so if someone has excess stomach bulge or big thighs it might end up looking disproportionate. Not saying it absolutely would but it is something to consider.

New Beginnings is an awesome option for guys who have nobody who is willing to go with them. Call me a weenie but my gf is definitely going to be there regardless of where I go. I don't think top surgery is a big procedure based on recovery time and no hospital admission but having someone there to help so you don't stretch out the incisions is a big deal to me. Funny enough I think the greatest potential for stretching them will be when trying to wipe your butt.

As far as making it a memorable experience, that's not important to me. I've had plenty of surgeries out of State (as well as been stuck in a layover at the airport after one) and I can tell you the whole time I was gone the only thing I wanted was my dog, my own bed, my couch, and my own toilet. The comforts of home do mean a lot when you're in pain.

I can respect that.  I do tend to exaggerate on my behalf (probably because this will be the biggest thing I will have ever done so far).  I definately have considered the potential downside of the Mansculpture procedure and I think what it comes down to is just to make a consultation to see what he has to say about my particular case.  Hopefully I will still qualifty, but if not, then that's fine.  Nevertheless, I am planning on joining a gym in the near future so that will definately help.


For me, it is a little discouraging that not many larger guys show their top surgery results online.  About 95 percent of the results I've seen from Dr. G on Youtube comes from skinny, average sized, or muscular guys.  I've seen only one guy who is close to my body size that has went to him and posted on Youtube recently.  There was another larger guy I was following who went to someone else and he was even more closer to my size that showed off his results but for some reason, he deleted all of his videos.   There was another guy that looked around my size that discussed his consultation with Dr. G, but never posted his results. Other than that, I can rarely find any guys around my size that post.


I understand why many of them wouldn't post.  Heck, I'm not going to post my results (on Youtube at least).  Because very body concious.  Yahoo groups and Transbucket may be another story though.

Regarding Dr Garramone doing surgery on larger guys, if it helps, when I went with my friend when he had surgery with Dr  G (he wanted a travel buddy as he had never been out of the UK before, and obviously Ive had some experience, to say the least, in top surgery :p) we stayed at New beginnings retreat and were there for, I cant even remember now, but around 11 days. We saw several people come and go, and a few of them were not your typical skinny/fit guys. Post surgery, most of them were happy/comfortable enough to walk around with open shirts once their drains were taken out, and pretty much everyone had similar results; all had small nipples (they didnt look like they needed trimming), and had the thin incisions and were more straight, then curved, from what I remember.
   
As for choosing my surgeon, I didnt get a choice, I was just put forward for one in Leicester, UK. But I do hear that alot of guys in the UK do get to state a preference. I dont know why I didnt get the option....but Im not complaining :p

I figured it was a once in a lifetime procedure and I wanted good results.  Also, I wanted the letter and the closest surgeon to me did not provide one.  I was overweight but not big.  Garramone was on the list, but since I needed to travel far, I picked a place I'd never been.  So I chose Brownstein.  If I was a candidate for keyhole I would have chosen Fischer.  I enjoyed my SF vacation, visited friends I hadn't seen in years.  It was nice.  Travel post op sucked, though; my chest was burning by the time I got home.

Find surgeons whose work you like, then weight them by what other factors are important to you: travel, cost, etc.


Jay

I chose my surgeon based on the technique he would use. I wanted to come away from surgery without getting the long scars along my pecs and I also wanted to keep my nipples, but reduce their size. I got just what I wanted and one of the surgeons who used the technique was even in my county.

I honestly went in blind with surgery. He had no results I could see because who mainly worked with ciswomen and men. He used the same technique for them in reductions and the men typically refused post op photos. I had to trust him and his staff doing this. He was a genuine guy and I felt that he honestly cared. So I took the plunge despite it being a top price at $8950. He also didn't need a letter and didn't make me stop taking my shots.

I'm 4 months post op and I couldn't be happier. 

I'm not sure about the size department though. I weigh 270 now, but around surgery I weighed 260 and I'm 5'8. My chest though was fairly small. Guys here had said they looked like man boobs, which I was told many a time by my SO, and what I'm taking from here is that you're large in that department as well.

I also forgot to state that retaining nipple sensation was a big hairy deal for me, and I don't heal well--so I was worried about grafts. One reason I opted for this surgeon was that he was the only one I could find west of Chicago who did the procedure I wanted. And, as I said before, he was close and respectful, and he had an open schedule. He was originally booked pretty solid for a while, but he opened up another day of the week, and I nabbed the first opening I could get.

I have the nipple sensation, but I do wish the nipples were smaller.